Sara and Melissa Talk About...Life in the 90s

We've been running a column series to get more personal with our readers. We are now into our seventh year!

This month, we were inspired by those posts where people shared pictures of themselves in the 90s. However, we had done a post similar to that a few years ago, before it was trendy. So instead we are talking about what life was like in the 90s. (And just for fun, we're using our retro pictures in this post.) I'm sure a lot of you can relate to 90s memories, but for those who were toddlers in the late 90s or not born until after 2000, this post is also for you.

We're always open to topic suggestions, so please don't hesitate to share those in the comments. We'd also love to know if you can relate to anything we've said or hear your own thoughts on the topic. So don't be shy. 😊 We look forward to getting to know you as much as we're letting you get to know us. You can find our previous columns here, in case you missed them.

Sara Steven:

I had a lot of fun watching the “What were you like in the 90s” trends that hit social media not so long ago. Most of it was focused on celebrities, but it made me think about the 90s in general and what that decade was like for me.

There was a lot of freedom–the expectation was to rely on myself for mostly everything. I had to walk a mile to get to the closest city bus stop to get to school, then walk another half a mile once I’d been dropped off. The cycle repeated itself when school let out. Since I had a city bus pass, I’d often run around and take various bus routes to visit friends or see family, or I’d hang out in the downtown area and walk around the mall. There were no cell phones to check in with anyone. I’d have to scrounge up a quarter and use a pay phone and that was only for extreme emergencies.  

Wow. Look at that old school computer screen.

When I was fifteen, my grandparents (who I lived with off and on during my teen years) started traveling and going on week-long vacations, leaving me alone to keep an eye on things. Family members would check in on me from time to time, but it was up to me to get myself to school, keep the house clean, feed myself, and during summer breaks, they’d leave their dogs with me, too, so I had to ensure that all of us were alive and well when they’d return. It was scary, but it also made me feel highly independent and capable.

My best friend and I loved ordering free samples of things from magazines; you’d have to call the toll-free number on the bottom of an advertisement or write in to request the item. We received free feminine products, perfume samples, skincare, and makeup. The anticipation of waiting for our samples in the mail was part of the fun of it, too. You never knew what you’d find when you opened the mailbox that day. That same concept pertained to receiving anything in the mail. Correspondence would take days, or weeks, depending. But that sweet feeling when you’d find something with your name on it was well worth the wait.

Me and my best friend at Christmastime circa 1995 - we're still extremely close

I wore baggy, boot cut jeans–I’m so glad they’re available and back in fashion now. I borrowed 70s-style clothing from those who still had corduroy skirts and bell bottom pants from that decade, and when I’d wear dresses, I always paired them with my Converse chucks. It’s so funny to me how the 90s style is making a comeback right now, and when I lived the 90s, we were trying to get back to the 60s and 70s.

I remember listening to Madonna’s Erotica album on the radio when it first came out in 1992. The station we listened to on our boomboxes actually released the music–so, we did what any self-respecting 90s teen would do, and recorded the whole thing on a blank cassette tape. I remember making a lot of mix tapes for myself, for friends, for those I was romantically linked with. Nothing said love like a mix tape. Of course, once CDs entered the scene, burning music onto CDs was the new thing. The same excitement applied to VHS tapes. Once, I pulled an all-nighter recording various music videos from MTV–I still have that VHS tape. 

At a work event

I’ll be honest–I sometimes miss the simplicity of my life and how I grew up in the 90s. Of course, I was enthralled when I first heard the sounds of dial-up internet, and my first cell phone (2000) was a huge turning point in my life. But I liked filling my days with less technology and more outdoor exploring. I don’t recall ever feeling bored with my life. There was always something to do, someone to see, or somewhere to be, a sweet nostalgia that I wouldn’t trade for anything.   

Melissa Amster:

I was recently talking to my son about the stuff I brought with me to college and mentioned how I had a lot of videos and cassette tapes. He made a comment about how much has changed since then. (Way to make me feel old...)

In any case, life in the 90s was definitely a lot more simple. While we had the Internet, it was in early phases and there was no social media. If you wanted to communicate with your friends, you could just email a big group of them. I had a website, thanks to the guy I was dating at the time. He helped me set it up. I think it's long gone now! (I even had a V.C. Andrews club website.) Eventually, I joined these chat groups and became friends with some people with whom I am still in contact today. We also accessed the internet through a dial-up modem. We had to share that with the phone line. So yes, there were some drawbacks. 

I liked going to the mall a lot more in the 90s. The stores were more fun, instead of the tacky and pointless ones I see in malls today. The malls even had bookstores! Obviously my favorite reason for going to the mall. 

Courtesy of WKYC.com

The music was really good in the 90s. I prefer to listen to 90s music now instead of whatever is currently on the radio. That is, when I'm not listening to showtunes. Alanis was just starting out and I listened to her Jagged Little Pill cassette constantly. I also listened to Toad the Wet Sprocket a lot. 

I went to the movies all the time because they were actually reasonably priced. The most I usually paid was four dollars for a ticket. There were a lot of second-run dollar theaters around too, so that made it even easier to see movies more than once in the theater. I also didn't mind spending on candy at the theater because it was a lot less expensive. Maybe a dollar for a box of Raisinets. 

My favorite theater chain in the 90s
(Photo courtesy of YouTube)

There were a lot less options for TV, even with cable. We didn't have all the streaming channels, so it was basically whatever was on any given TV channel on any given day of the week. I had my shows that I watched regularly and sometimes had to record them on the VCR if I was going to be away. I think my first real binge-watch was Party of Five, when Lifetime started showing episodes every night in the late 90s.

Rent was huge for me in the 90s. I still love Rent and it will always be my top favorite musical, but there's something about how it felt to see it in the 90s that just added something extra. (Also, "What You Own" is different when we're 26 years after the end of the millenium. Still one of the best songs though!) My sister, a friend, and I spent all day waiting outside in the cold for $20 front row seats when it came to Chicago. I'm currently listening to Anthony Rapp's memoir, Without You, and it's bringing back all the feels from the early days of Rent.

At the end of an amazing day (March 10, 1998)

If you took photos, you did not receive them automatically. You had to go to a store and have the film developed, which took a few days. Then you'd get a packet with your photos printed out. There were also disposable cameras that you could bring to the store to have developed, but the camera was done after that.

A roll of film. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

We didn't have cell phones and usually had to use a pay phone to call our parents if we needed a ride home from school. Before cell phones came about, we had phones that connected to the car in order to activate. I had one and of course got in trouble the one day I forgot to call my parents when I got to school. I'm receiving my karma now though! 

With my first car.

Things felt safer back in the 90s. I could just go all over the place on bike rides or drive into the city late at night without feeling like there would be any problems. Nowadays, there have been acts of violence all over the place (just recently a bunch of teens were causing a huge ruckus inside a DC Chipotle and then I heard about a kid being stabbed at a local carnival) and it makes me just want to stay home all the time and constantly worry about my kids, who like to go out a lot. 

I wouldn't mind time traveling back to the 90s, to enjoy when life was easier in some ways, even with the lack of today's technology. I will leave you with this post that I wrote at my personal blog back in 2015, but it still epitomizes how I feel about the 90s.

What were the 90s like for you?

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