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Step back in time and uncover the iconic relics and institutions that faded away during the transformative 1990s. From the dawn of the internet’s predecessor ARPANET to cultural shifts like the end of the Women’s Royal Naval Service, and nostalgic staples such as the Atari 2600 and McDonald’s McDLT, this trip through the decade reveals what we lost and what shaped the future.
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00:00The beach stays hot, the cool stays crisp, put it together, you can't resist.
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at things that disappeared from each year of the
00:101990s. But a clunky and costly rollout combined with shifting shopper behavior and an economic
00:16slump in the early 90s hasten the company's demise. 1990, ARPANET. Introduced in the late
00:2460s against a Cold War backdrop, the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, or ARPANET,
00:31was proposed as a way to exchange resources between computers. If that concept sounds familiar,
00:37it's because ARPANET was essentially the earliest predecessor to the internet.
00:41What's the internet? Don't worry about it. It's just gonna change the world.
00:45Almost two decades before the World Wide Web became a reality, ARPANET connected four computers
00:50from American universities. Although ARPANET would expand its reach across the U.S. and
00:55to Europe, it was ultimately a stepping stone to the modern internet, which became the dominant
01:00force of cyberspace. It was, I think, the single largest engineering invention of the 20th century.
01:08Internet protocols, which I developed along with my colleague Vince Cerf, were really what enabled
01:15this whole collection of worldwide components to work together seamlessly.
01:19The internet was more open to the public than ARPANET, which came with restrictions as
01:24a government-funded project. By 1990, ARPANET was decommissioned, being folded into the internet
01:30as we know it today.
01:31My own observation I gave, you know, I think the military standard is obsolete by this point
01:37in time. So that the commercial standard is what most people who built commercial products
01:42around, as far as I can see. So I'm not too concerned with that trend. I think it's just correct.
01:471991, the Soviet Union. Of all the countries that don't exist anymore, the Soviet Union perhaps made
01:54the loudest noise when it officially dissolved on December 26, 1991. Of course, empires don't crumble
02:00overnight, especially ones as big as this. The Union's three Slavic republics announced they are
02:06forming a separate commonwealth of independent states. Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarusia control
02:12much of the Soviet Union's economic power, enough to challenge the rapidly fading strength of Gorbachev's
02:19central government.
02:20As powerful as the USSR was at its peak, even rivaling the United States, its strength had been
02:26waning with the Chernobyl disaster, the war in Afghanistan, and the fall of the Berlin Wall,
02:32among various other economic and political misfires.
02:35I think this really has caught people in a way that it's difficult to imagine just precisely how
02:41this thing will manifest itself. No one had expected that something like this was about to happen.
02:46Mikhail Gorbachev sought reform, with policies like Glasnost expanding freedom of speech. Even this proved
02:54to be divisive though, leading to a coup in August 1991. While the coup was a failure, it signified the
03:01end of the Soviet Union, which would collapse four months later. Mikhail Gorbachev said to himself,
03:07quote, when you have to go, you have to go. He then officially resigned as president of the Soviet Union
03:13and turned over the nuclear codes to the new top man, Russia's Boris Yeltsin. You are looking at a live
03:19shot of the Russian flag flying tonight over the Kremlin. 1992, Atari 2600. Before there were true
03:28console wars, Atari stood pretty much unopposed. Intellivision arguably being its strongest
03:34competitor, Atari was synonymous with the industry. Unfortunately, that industry's failure was called
03:40into question with the video game crash of 1983. Confidence in the nascent industry evaporated.
03:48Total losses for the year stacked up to half a billion dollars. No amount of marketing can save
03:54Atari from the truth. Even with that crash and the rise of the Nintendo entertainment system,
04:00the Atari 2600 remained in production until 1992. It even outlived its intended successor,
04:06the Atari 5200. That said, Atari's newer consoles struggled to compete with emerging giants like the
04:12Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. After a 15-year run, the Atari 2600 was retired in 1992,
04:28along with the Atari 7800. The Atari Jaguar came out the following year, although it was another sign
04:35that Atari had peaked with the 2600. 1993, Women's Royal Naval Service. I hope that as well as highlighting
04:49all the wonderful work which the men did going across and actually doing the job, that they will also
04:57highlight the work that women took a part in, of preparing for that. With World War I increasing the need
05:06for soldiers at sea, the United Kingdom introduced the Women's Royal Naval Service. Wrens, as they were
05:12called, assumed duties like cooking, communications, and meteorology, among others. While few wrens would seek
05:19combat, many were involved in code breaking, radar plotting, and analyzing weapons. Although the branch was
05:25disbanded following the war, it was revitalized during World War II. Patricia Davis was 18 years
05:31old when she joined the Women's Royal Naval Service. Fluent in German, she was soon intercepting coded
05:36messages from German naval ships. You were aware that these messages mattered, and it could be life and
05:44death. Even after the Second World War ended in 1945, Wrens remained a staple of the Royal Navy for almost
05:51another five decades. By 1993, it was decided that the Women's Royal Naval Service should no longer be
05:57a separate branch. It was merged with the Royal Navy, reflecting a changing landscape that allowed women
06:03to serve on ships. You work on board. Why is today so important for you? Well, as you just said,
06:08it's 100
06:08years of women in the Royal Navy, and we now make up 10% of the total population in the
06:13Navy. 1994, Nirvana.
06:16Various bands continued even after losing a key member. With Kurt Cobain's tragic passing, though,
06:21Nirvana died alongside its lead singer.
06:32The future of the generation-defining grunge band was already called into question as Cobain's history of
06:38substance use led to health issues and other conflicts. Nirvana played what would be their final concert in
06:44Munich on March 1, 1994. The following month, on the heels of several canceled performances, Cobain was
06:52found dead. The Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday that Nirvana was breaking up and that
06:57Cobain was planning to undergo drug rehabilitation. A source close to the band told MTV News earlier this
07:02week that while that story sounded bad, it was better than what was, quote, really going on.
07:07His fatal injuries were deemed self-inflicted, although conspiracy theorists
07:11questioned whether his wife, Courtney Love, played a role. Drummer Dave Grohl went on to form Foo Fighters,
07:18while Krist Novoselic has played with several musical acts. Grohl and Novoselic have even
07:23performed together since, but without Cobain, there's no Nirvana.
07:28No, I'm sorry, this is the last song of the evening. 1995, Calvin and Hobbes.
07:36It is so joyful and very much in the imagination of this kid, and yet he is
07:41hyper aware of world events and pop culture and ironies and social concepts. And I just, I found that
07:48really, really exciting. A premise so simple yet so smart, funny and poignant,
07:53Bill Watterson's comic strip chronicled the misadventures of the brutally honest Calvin
07:58and a tiger named Hobbes. First published in 1995, Watterson decided to retire his acclaimed comic
08:05after a phenomenal 10-year run. So the fact that we were, you know, turning down huge opportunities
08:14also meant that he was turning down huge opportunities too. The final strip was printed
08:19on December 31st, 1995, with Calvin saying, it's a magical world, Hobbes, old buddy. Let's go exploring.
08:26We live in an age where finality means nothing. Even when something ends, it's revived. Watterson
08:32never wavered from his decision to conclude Calvin and Hobbes, however. He's also prevented it from
08:37becoming a corporate-owned franchise. While part of us will always want to see Calvin and Hobbes return
08:43in some official capacity, endings don't get more perfect than this. It won't be in the public
08:48consciousness, particularly with younger people, as much as we older folks think it should.
08:58But it will be remembered in a, you know, in the proper way, which is based on the work. 1996,
09:06USA Cartoon Express In 1982, the USA Network launched the USA Cartoon Express,
09:23the first cable block dedicated to animation. Yes, Nickelodeon already existed by this point,
09:29but that channel wouldn't find its footing with the Nicktoons until the early 90s. In many ways,
09:34USA Cartoon Express foreshadowed what Nickelodeon would become, almost feeling like a place kids
09:40could visit. All you had to do was hop aboard a train, where the Ninja Turtles, real Ghostbusters,
09:45and various Hanna-Barbera characters were waiting.
09:52That said, the block lost a significant chunk of its library when the Hanna-Barbera shows moved
09:57to Cartoon Network. The block continued to chug along, but by September 1996, the Cartoon Express
10:04made its last voyage to pave the way for the USA Action Extreme Team.
10:151997, F.W. Woolworth Company. When a brand name exists for more than a century,
10:21you just assume that it's going to be around forever. That was certainly the case with Woolworth,
10:26which started as a New York-based five-cent store in 1879. It laid the foundation for the F.W.
10:32Woolworth
10:33Company, which entered the corporate world in 1905. F.W. didn't expect that owning a few stores
10:39would ever make him rich. So he began to build what would become one of the country's first chain
10:45stores, recruiting family and trusted friends from his early days in Watertown. Woolworth continued to
10:52expand, although by the 80s, it was struggling to keep up with other retailers. Athletic supplies
10:58proved to be a saving grace.
11:00Save $4 on men's Woolworth Sprinter jogging shoes, just $13.97. And save $3 on boys' sprinters,
11:07just $13.97. Woolworth would officially close in 1997, although its remnants lived on through Foot
11:14Locker, which Dick's Sporting Goods later acquired. While you may find stores outside of the U.S. that bear
11:20the Woolworth name, the original remains a fallen titan built on nickels and dimes.
11:24It was a slow and sad fall from grace for a retailer that started all the way back in 1879,
11:29expanded rapidly across the U.S. and the U.K. in the 1900s, went public in 1912 and joined the
11:35Dow
11:36back in 1925. At one point, it was the largest department store chain in the world.
11:431998, McDonald's McDLT.
11:45Hey, you say you're getting tired of lettuce and tomato hamburgers that don't quite make it?
11:48Yeah!
11:49Then look at McDonald's new McDLT.
11:51Arriving on the menu in 1985, the McDLT, standing for McDonald's lettuce and tomato,
11:58is perhaps best remembered for a commercial starring a pre-George Costanza Jason Alexander.
12:03Ironically, the McDLT's lifespan ended the same year that Seinfeld aired its finale in 1998.
12:11Why would there always be a problem? You think just once I could get a break? God knows I earned
12:18it with that score!
12:19Supposedly, the McDLT was retired due to its polystyrene container, which was designed to
12:25keep one side hot and the other cold. But the wrapping wasn't great for the environment. It's also
12:31probably not a coincidence that a year before the McDLT was discontinued, McDonald's introduced the
12:37Big and Tasty, which was fairly similar. Regardless, the fact that people still recall the jingle,
12:42packaging, and Alexander's hair decades later is a testament to the McDLT's staying power.
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13:101999, Talkboy
13:11You can have lots of high-tech fun with Tiger's Talkboy tape recorder.
13:15Hey! Stop grueling on me!
13:17Every 90s kid wanted to be Kevin McAllister, although owning a Talkboy was perhaps the
13:22closest they ever came. Aside from listening to music, this recording device could be used
13:27for sound effects and slowing down one's voice. Even if it never worked as well as Home Alone 2
13:33and the commercials depicted.
13:35I'd like a hotel room, please, with an extra large bed, a TV, and one of those little refrigerators you
13:43have to open with a key.
13:45Yes, sir, you'll need a major credit card upon checking.
13:47A credit card? You got it.
13:50Despite stemming from a 1992 film, the Talkboy, along with Talkgirl, Talkboy Jr., and other variants,
13:56continued to sell for almost seven years. By 1999, though, the Home Alone franchise had seen better
14:03days. What's more, cassette tapes were becoming increasingly obsolete, not just because of CDs,
14:09but the rise of digital audio. It makes sense that Talkboy went defunct in 1999, the same year that Napster
14:16hit the scene.
14:17People are going, you know, wild with it. It's like, it's going into like a candy store. You've got
14:22thousands of songs, anything you want, as much as you want.
14:25So kids across the country are bypassing the music store and instead sharing their favorite songs
14:30over their computers.
14:32What things do you miss the most that haven't been seen since the 90s? Let us know in the comments.
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