the summer of

What it was like to be 15 in 2009 in America

To be fifteen in America in 2009 was to have “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga everywhere, Avatar on every screen, and American Idol on after school. That year, gas cost $2.35 and the Motorola Droid smartphone was the new thing. Born in 1994? You turned 15 in 2009 — a teenager from 2007 to 2013, 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 2009 reel with sounda 30-second video of your year — the song, the screen, the turn.

the mixtape of 2009

Poker Face — Lady Gaga

  1. Poker Face — Lady GagaYou bluffed your way through the chorus at every sleepover, poker face masking who you actually liked.
  2. I Gotta Feeling — The Black Eyed Peas'Tonight's gonna be a good night' was the pregame anthem before you were even old enough to party.
  3. Party in the U.S.A. — Miley CyrusHopping off the plane with a dream and a cardigan felt like the whole country moving somewhere new.
  4. Use Somebody — Kings of LeonThose aching guitars filled the long drive home when you finally wanted somebody to use you up.
  5. Down — Jay Sean ft. Lil WayneBaby-are-you-down glowed out of every party while the whole grade swayed with their arms up.

▶ Play your 2009 reel

why this one mattered

The song that crowned Lady Gaga and rebooted pop. 'P-p-p-poker face' was the inescapable hook of 2009, the disco-stick spectacle every 15-year-old imitated. 'The Fame' made being weird the new cool — this is the year's defining electro-pop detonation, bigger to teens than the year-end BEP cut.

the year-end #1 was Boom Boom Pow — The Black Eyed Peas.

the movies you are watching in 2009

  • Avatar
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  • Up
  • The Hangover
  • The Twilight Saga: New Moon

the tv shows you are binging in 2009

  • American Idol
  • Glee
  • NCIS
  • House
  • The Big Bang Theory

the games you are playing in 2009

  • New Super Mario Bros. Wii
  • Wii Sports Resort
  • Mario Kart Wii
  • Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver
  • Wii Fit
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

what things cost in 2009

What things cost in 2009
a first-class stamp44¢
a gallon of gas$2.35
the federal minimum wage$7.25/hr
a movie ticket$7.50
the average income$49,777

trending this year

Avatar
Snaily, CC BY-SA 3.0 (also GFDL), via Wikimedia Commons
Avatar
Windows 7
Photo by Raimond Spekking (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gamescom_2009_-_Microsoft_Windows_7_(5127).jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Windows 7
WhatsApp
Photo: Dennis Cortés (CC0) · CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication)
WhatsApp
FarmVille
Photo: BARAKA JOACHIM (CC BY-SA 4.0)
FarmVille
Kanye's 'Imma Let You Finish'
Photo: freestocks (CC0) · CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication)
Kanye's 'Imma Let You Finish'

the gadgets you just got

Apple iPhone 3GS
Artem Beliaikin (via Flickr / Openverse), CC0
Apple iPhone 3GS
Motorola Droid
Dennis Cortés (Unsplash), CC0 / public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0
Motorola Droid
Nintendo DSi
Photo by Evan-Amos (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nintendo-DSi-Bl-Open.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Nintendo DSi
Amazon Kindle 2
Photo by ShakataGaNai (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kindle_2_-_Front.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Amazon Kindle 2
Flip Video UltraHD camcorder
Photo by Parkrocker.com (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flip_UltraHD_03_500.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Flip Video UltraHD camcorder

what everyone is snacking on

Doritos Late Night (Last Call Jalapeno Popper)
Photo: Bananasoldier (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Doritos Late Night (Last Call Jalapeno Popper)
Cheetos
annulla, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cheetos
Pringles
Quant, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pringles_Chip.jpg) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pringles
Oreo
Evan-Amos, via Wikimedia Commons (File:Oreo-Two-Cookies.jpg) · Public Domain (author release)
Oreo
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

Monster Energy
Bxxiaolin, edited by Pittigrilli, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Can_of_Monster_Energy_drink_sold_in_China_(0.33_l),_on_white_background.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Monster Energy
Red Bull
VincentLR, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lattina_di_Red_Bull.jpg) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Red Bull
Vitaminwater
Coca-Cola Enterprises Sverige AB, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Glac%C3%A9au_vitaminwater.jpg · CC BY 3.0
Vitaminwater
Coca-Cola
Christian Gidlöf, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coca-cola_50cl_white-bg.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Coca-Cola
Starbucks VIA Ready Brew instant coffee
Matt @ PEK from Taipei, Taiwan — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Starbucks_VIA_instant_coffee_(4042072057).jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0
Starbucks VIA Ready Brew instant coffee

what made the news in 2009

  • Barack Obama sworn in as the first Black US president before huge crowds
  • Pilot ditches a crippled jet on the Hudson River and all 155 aboard survive
  • Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, dies suddenly at age fifty
  • H1N1 swine flu sweeps the globe as the WHO declares a pandemic
Barack Obama inaugurated as 44th US President
Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo, U.S. Air Force (public domain, no attribution legally required) · Public Domain (PD-USGov, US Air Force)
Barack Obama inaugurated as 44th US President
US Airways Flight 1549 'Miracle on the Hudson' landing
Greg L, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · CC-BY-2.0
US Airways Flight 1549 'Miracle on the Hudson' landing
Michael Jackson dies at age 50
White House Photo Office / National Archives (public domain, no attribution legally required) · Public Domain (PD-USGov, White House Photo Office)
Michael Jackson dies at age 50
H1N1 'swine flu' pandemic declared
CDC Influenza Laboratory (public domain, no attribution legally required) · Public Domain (PD-USGov, CDC/HHS)
H1N1 'swine flu' pandemic declared
GM files for bankruptcy amid auto industry collapse
Indy beetle (CC0), via Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0 (Public Domain Dedication)
GM files for bankruptcy amid auto industry collapse

what everyone is saying

  • "Imma let you finish"Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMAs
  • "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"Beyonce hit and viral dance / hand gesture
  • "Too big to fail"ubiquitous phrase of the financial crisis and bank bailouts
  • "Play him off, Keyboard Cat"viral YouTube meme that exploded across the internet in 2009
  • "FAIL / Epic Fail"ubiquitous internet meme caption for any mishap

top-performing stocks in 2009

Top-performing stocks in 2009
CompanyTickerPriceChange
XL Capital (XL Group)XL$18+395%
Tenet HealthcareTHC$5+360%
Advanced Micro DevicesAMD$9.68+342%
Ford Motor CompanyF$10+336%
Genworth FinancialGNW$11.39+300%

worst-performing stocks in 2009

Worst-performing stocks in 2009
CompanyTickerPriceChange
Marshall & IlsleyMI$5.46-60%
Huntington BancsharesHBAN$3.65-52%
CitigroupC$3.31-51%
Apollo Group (University of Phoenix)APOL$60.66-21%
Frontier CommunicationsFTR$7.81-15%

the summer of 2009.

you can't wait to be older.

…and then it cools. Play the reel to feel where 2009 goes.

Turn 2009 into a 30-second reel →

▶ Play your 2009 reel with sound