the summer of

What it was like to be 15 in 1993 in America

To be fifteen in America in 1993 was to have “Linger” by The Cranberries everywhere, Jurassic Park on every screen, and Seinfeld on after school. That year, gas cost $1.11 and the Intel Pentium processor was the new thing. Born in 1978? You turned 15 in 1993 — a teenager from 1991 to 1997, right in the window a soundtrack bonds to you for life.

Compiled by the Original Lore archive from period charts, box-office and price records. How we build these · sources noted throughout.

▶ Play your 1993 reel with sounda 30-second video of your year — the song, the screen, the turn.

the mixtape of 1993

Linger — The Cranberries

  1. Linger — The CranberriesDolores's aching lilt scored a first betrayal you replayed in your head a hundred times.
  2. Creep — RadioheadThat guitar stab hit like self-loathing set to music, and you loved it for understanding you.
  3. Cannonball — The BreedersThe wobbly, joyful noise-pop that made feeling weird suddenly feel like the coolest thing possible.
  4. Loser — BeckBeck's slacker shrug became the ironic anthem of a generation refusing to try too hard.
  5. All Apologies — NirvanaCobain's weary lullaby carried a sadness that would only deepen with everything still to come.

▶ Play your 1993 reel

why this one mattered

Dolores O'Riordan's lilting ache became the year's universal crush song for 15-year-olds in 1993 — wistful, dreamy, and endlessly replayed on the bus and in bedrooms. It captured that specific teenage limbo of being strung along by someone, and that opening guitar line still floods the cohort with first-love melancholy.

the year-end #1 was I Will Always Love You — Whitney Houston.

the movies you are watching in 1993

  • Jurassic Park
  • Mrs. Doubtfire
  • The Fugitive
  • Sleepless in Seattle
  • Schindler's List

the tv shows you are binging in 1993

  • Seinfeld
  • Home Improvement
  • The X-Files
  • Frasier
  • Roseanne

the games you are playing in 1993

  • Star Fox
  • The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
  • Disney's Aladdin
  • Mortal Kombat
  • Secret of Mana
  • Doom

what things cost in 1993

What things cost in 1993
a gallon of gas$1.11
a movie ticket$4.14
a loaf of bread$0.75
minimum wage$4.25/hr
a first-class stamp$0.29
the average income$31,241

trending this year

Jurassic Park
Photo by Eduard Solà Vázquez, CC BY 3.0
Jurassic Park
Doom
Rae Angeles (r-angeles), Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Doom
Intel Pentium
Photo by Pdesousa359, CC BY-SA 3.0
Intel Pentium
Beavis and Butt-Head
Wilfredo R. Rodriguez H. (Wilfredor), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication
Beavis and Butt-Head
Mosaic web browser
Adrian Pingstone (Arpingstone); labels/edit by Marcusvox · Public Domain
Mosaic web browser

the gadgets you just got

Apple Newton MessagePad
Photo by Felix Winkelnkemper (Winfel), CC BY-SA 4.0
Apple Newton MessagePad
Sega Genesis (Mega Drive)
Evan-Amos (Vanamo Media), via Wikimedia Commons · Public Domain (released to public domain worldwide)
Sega Genesis (Mega Drive)
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)
Photo by Evan-Amos (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nintendo-Super-NES-Console-FL.jpg · Public domain
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)
Sony Discman portable CD player
Ubern00b, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Sony Discman portable CD player
Motorola MicroTAC flip phone
Photo by Ross Padluck (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Motorola_MicroTAC_9800x.jpg · Public domain
Motorola MicroTAC flip phone

what everyone is snacking on

Doritos
Bananasoldier, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Doritos
Dunkaroos
taylorhatmaker (Flickr), CC BY 2.0
Dunkaroos
Gushers (Fruit Gushers)
Thomson200, via Wikimedia Commons (File:Betty Crocker Fruit Gushers pieces.jpg) · CC0 1.0 (Public Domain Dedication)
Gushers (Fruit Gushers)
Warheads sour candy
Adam Zivner, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 (also GFDL)
Warheads sour candy
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
jules / stone-soup (Flickr), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

what everyone is drinking

Crystal Pepsi
Farside268, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crystal_Pepsi_Cristal_Canada.jpg) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Crystal Pepsi
Hi-C Ecto Cooler
Masashi Yanagiya · CC BY-SA 2.0
Hi-C Ecto Cooler
Snapple iced tea
Mark Guim, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Macro_test._Snapple_-nokia_n97_(3654284015).jpg) · CC BY 2.0
Snapple iced tea
Capri Sun
Photo by Tamzin Hadasa Kelly (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capri_Sun_pouch_standing.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Capri Sun
Clearly Canadian sparkling water
Arkpafisto, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clearly_Canadian_Orchard_Peach.jpg) · CC0
Clearly Canadian sparkling water

what made the news in 1993

  • Bill Clinton is inaugurated president, ending twelve years of Republican control of the White House
  • A truck bomb explodes beneath the World Trade Center's North Tower, killing six people
  • The Branch Davidian siege near Waco, Texas, ends in a deadly inferno after 51 days
  • Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls clinch a third straight NBA championship over the Phoenix Suns
World Trade Center bombing in New York City
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), U.S. Dept. of Justice, public domain · Public Domain (PD-USGov-DOJ/ATF)
World Trade Center bombing in New York City
Waco siege of the Branch Davidian compound ends in fire
FBI, U.S. Federal Government, public domain · Public Domain (PD-USGov, 17 USC 105)
Waco siege of the Branch Davidian compound ends in fire
Bill Clinton inaugurated as 42nd US President
Official White House photograph (Executive Office of the President); via Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division (ppmsc.02865) · Public Domain
Bill Clinton inaugurated as 42nd US President
Israel-PLO Oslo Accords signed at the White House
Vince Musi / The White House · Public Domain (US federal government work)
Israel-PLO Oslo Accords signed at the White House
European Union formally established by Maastricht Treaty
Håkan Dahlström (CC BY 2.0)
European Union formally established by Maastricht Treaty

what everyone is saying

  • "All that and a bag of chips"Hip-hop/teen slang for something excellent and then some
  • "Whoomp! (There It Is)"Tag Team's smash hit dance chant of 1993
  • "Yada yada yada"Catchphrase popularized by Seinfeld in the early/mid 1990s
  • "Not!"Wayne's World sarcasm tag, huge in 1992-93 pop culture
  • "Da bomb"Slang for the very best, peak early-90s usage

top-performing stocks in 1993

Top-performing stocks in 1993
CompanyTickerPriceChange
Micron TechnologyMU$45+250%
Compaq ComputerCPQ$74+60%
Newbridge NetworksNN$55+120%
CyrixCYRX$20+45%
U.S. HealthcareUSHC$58+80%

worst-performing stocks in 1993

Worst-performing stocks in 1993
CompanyTickerPriceChange
Apple ComputerAAPL$29-40%
Philip MorrisMO$56-25%
Borland InternationalBORL$13-65%
Westinghouse ElectricWX$13-10%
KmartKM$22-10%

the summer of 1993.

the best of it still feels like it's coming.

…and then it cools. Play the reel to feel where 1993 goes.

Turn 1993 into a 30-second reel →

▶ Play your 1993 reel with sound