The Totally Sweet ’90s: From Clear Cola to Furby, and Grunge to “Whatever,” the Toys, Tastes, and Trends That Defined a Decade
Authors: Gael Fashingbauer Cooper,Brian Bellmont
Advance Praise for
The Totally Sweet '90s
“Mr. Dewey gives
The Totally Sweet '90s
an A+! Should be on the required reading list for all Baysiders. But don't worry, no need for caffeine pills, Jesse. Each page is a delightful reminiscence of that sometimes glorious but all too often ignominious (look it up, slacker) decade that polished off the twentieth century.”
âPatrick O'Brien, actor from
Saved by the Bell
THE
TOTALLY
SWEET
'90
S
From Clear Cola to Furby, and Grunge
to “Whatever,” the Toys, Tastes, and Trends
That Defined a Decade
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
and Brian Bellmont
A PERIGEE BOOK
A PERIGEE BOOK
Published by the Penguin Group
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Copyright © 2013 by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper and Brian Bellmont
Photographs by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper and Brian Bellmont
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cooper, Gael Fashingbauer.
The totally sweet '90s : from clear cola to Furby, and grunge to “whatever,” the toys, tastes, and trends that defined a decade / Gael Fashingbauer Cooper and Brian Bellmont.
pages    cm
“A Perigee Book.”
Includes index.
ISBN: 978-1-101-62399-2
1. Popular cultureâUnited StatesâHistoryâ20th century.  2. United StatesâSocial life and
customsâ1971â  3. Nineteen nineties.  I. Bellmont, Brian.  II. Title.
E169.Z82C675Â Â Â Â 2013
973.929âdc23Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2013000219
First edition: June 2013
Text design by Tiffany Estreicher
While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
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This one's for our siblingsâ
Rudge, Claudia, Drew, Clio, Anne,
and Dave on Gael's side,
and Mike, Dave, and Kevin on Brian's.
And also for the friends who helped us survive and thrive in the 1990s.
For Gael, that's Lisa Olchefske Gilbert, Sue Dillon, Bob Seabold and
Bobbe Norenberg, Scott and Stacy Pampuch, Todd Mannis, Dan Dosen,
Scott Feraro, and Matt Gillen. For Brian, that would be Chris Moore,
Mike Zipko, Kathleen Hennessy, Dave Aeikens, and all the folks
at WEAU, CONUS, Axiom, and Shandwick.
Adam Sandler Songs on Saturday Night Live
America's Funniest Home Videos
Bob Ross and The Joy of Painting
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Books
“I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up” Ads
Scrunchies and Little Kid Barrettes
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Terrible Saturday Night Live Movies
“The More You Know” Public Service Announcements
Kids of the '90s, Unite!
W
e
know, you've spent a lifetime celebrating the nostalgia of older generations. Every other week a magazine cover remembers the enormous social changes of the 1960s, a shaggy 1970s band goes on tour, or a hideous fashion trend of the 1980s returns. That's all well and good, even if jelly shoes haven't gotten any more comfortable in thirty years.
But maybe you still smile when you hear someone mention
The Oregon Trail
, or when you find your old Lisa Frank notebook in your mom's closet. Or maybe you get sucked in to watching the entire
Big Lebowski
every time it pops up on cable. Or you can't bear to throw away your cassette tapes, even though you haven't owned a tape player for years. There's nothing wrong with holding fond memories of your own chosen decadeâeven if you still can't figure out why Urkel was ever popular.
The reason we wrote this bookâand its 1970sâ1980s-themed predecessor,
Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops?
âis that we believe the lost toys, tastes, and trends of an era do more than just remind us of what we liked as kids. They tell us a lot about who we were then, and who we are today. You can't figure out where you're going until you understand how you got there.