Blast from the Past: Taking a look at America the last time the Hoosiers were 4-0

Not even Joe Pesci can believe it's been 25 years since Home Alone was on the Big Screen. But what else was going on in 1990?

Written By: Nick Holmes (@HoosierHolmes)

If you’ve picked up a newspaper or read any sports blog that covers Indiana Football, you know that the Hoosiers are 4 and 0 for the first time since 1990. It seems like a lifetime ago, and for many of our readers it probably was, because there’s a good chance they weren’t even born yet. As such, I thought it would be interesting to look back at a much simpler time, before technology ran every aspect of our lives, when internet was a buzzword and cell phones were the size of a brick. So hop into your DeLorean or that Hot Tub Time Machine because we are traveling to the beginning of one of the greatest decades in American History, the glorious year that was 1990.

George H. W. Bush was in the oval office and Dan Quayle was second in command.

The cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gas was $1.16, a dozen eggs were a dollar, and a first-class stamp was a quarter.  

The Dow Jones closed at 2633.66 on December 31, 1990.

McDonald's slogans during that year included "The good time, great taste of McDonald's" and "Food, folks and fun."

Hollywood gave us quite a few memorable movies that year, including box office smash hit and Christmas classic Home Alone. This movie was chalked full of so many great lines, “Keep the change you filthy animal,” and “Look what you did you little jerk!” Both of these are still used affectionately around my household.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (no, not the one with Vanilla Ice, but the one where they were allowed to use their weapons to fight) took the nation by storm, boasting the top performance by an Independent film in the box office at that time. This movie was dark and gritty, before dark and gritty was hip.

And how could anyone forget Goodfellas? Although it did not have the box office success of some of its peers, this film has stood the test of time. “…but I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?”

There was no shortage of entertaining programming on the small screen in 1990.

Bob Saget was the king of primetime television, with two top 20 shows, Full House and America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Law & Order, Beverly Hills 90210, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and the Rugrats all debuted on the small screen in 1990.

The NBA on NBC aired in November of that year. Possibly the greatest intro music of all-time? Yes.

Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider and Julia Sweeney all joined Saturday Night Life that year.

1990 also brought musical hits such as Vanilla Ice’s "Ice Ice Baby," Madonna’s "Vogue," MC Hammer’s "Can’t Touch This,” and Technotronic’s “Pump Up the Jam.”

The top selling toys at Christmas were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures. Let me take a minute as nostalgia washes over, oh the feels.

The top three selling cars in America were the Honda Accord, Ford Taurus, and the Chevrolet Cavalier.

I only skimmed the highlights, or low lights depending on how you look at it, but hopefully you enjoyed this brief jaunt down memory lane.