’90s Exhibit in Denver Features Blockbuster, More Nostalgic Highlights (Exclusive)

Feed your Tamagotchi and check your pager because it’s time to head back to the ‘90s, all thanks to History Colorado’s totally dope exhibit in Denver.

The ’90s: The Last Decade Before the Future has been on exhibit at the museum since November 2024, and there’s still a chance to visit and reminisce about things like Netscape Navigator and Nintendo 64. The exhibit runs through Oct. 26 in downtown Denver and features the highlights from the decade in history, technology, fashion, movies, music, sports and more. 

As an adult child born in the 1900’s (1990 to be exact), I couldn’t resist the trip back in time to arguably the greatest decade — so great that Gen Z’s obsession with making my childhood “retro” has turned me, a 35-year-old, into Betty White on Golden Girls.  

Walking into a makeshift suburban computer room setup, complete with a teal blue see-through iMac and a box to install Windows ‘98, I couldn’t help but wonder: “Why did we stop making clear and colorful technology? Who doesn’t want to see the inner workings of a landline phone? How come laptops are just boring silver and black and not neon green? Where did all the floppy discs go?”

My body relaxed as I continued through the exhibit listening to the familiar symphony that soundtracked the decade. That’s right, I’m talking about the piercing yet dulcet tones of AOL dial-up, which permeated homes around the world as users waited to log into this newfangled thing called “The Internet.”

There’s even a clip playing on a loop in the exhibit of Katie Couric on the Today show, asking her producer to explain the internet to her as a confused Bryant Gumbel looks on. It’s enough to make you want to log onto AIM and leave a cryptic Alanis Morrisette song lyric as your away message. 

In the fashion section of the exhibit, you will find everything in Olivia Rodrigo’s closet, plus the highlights from Delia’s catalog. Okay, so the former was a joke, the latter less so, as the display was wallpapered with actual print-outs from the tween and teen catalog as well as magazine spreads showing you how to dress like Buffy Summers for under $20. There was also a kid’s colorblock windbreaker jogging suit that left me feeling like a negligent parent for not having one in my own daughter’s closet. 

Getting jiggy wit it in the world of music, there was a moving bracket of top songs of the ‘90s, where I was distraught to discover that Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” was not featured, but encouraged to see that the winners were tied between the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” and The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony.” 

On display was Eminem’s jumpsuit from his 1999 music video for “The Anthem” as well as the white jerseys worn by the Backstreet Boys that can almost make me forget I didn’t get tickets to see “Into the Millennium” at The Sphere in Las Vegas this year. Side note: I’d love to see someone explain the cultural significance of these musical artifacts to my world history teacher parents, who put a question mark in my ‘90s baby book under the “Popular Music” section. 

Sports lovers will appreciate the look back at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, including several gold medals on display and the Team USA tracksuits, as well as a few additional sports artifacts like the game ball from Cal Ripken Jr.’s “Iron Man” record-breaking 1995 game for the Baltimore Orioles. 

But by far the highlight from the exhibit — in fact, the reason I flew across the country to be there in person — was the replica Blockbuster store. Apart from visiting the last remaining Blockbuster in the world in Bend, Ore., (which is certainly on my bucket list), this was my one chance to literally step back into the yellow, hallowed halls of my youth, where happiness was one movie rental and pizza delivery away. 

There were walls of some of the biggest box office hits, including my all-time favorite — Titanic — in all its two-tape VHS glory. Pro tip: If you want a happy ending, just watch the first tape. You’ll never have to let go or spend the next several decades cursing James Cameron for not making enough room on that door. 

So what’s the 411? If you love the ‘90s, as anyone with soda-flavored Lip Smackers should, you’re not gonna want to miss this exhibit. It will transport you back to a time when no one asked you to scan a QR code or to join a Microsoft Teams meeting. Sandals had platforms and cell phones flipped open — if you had one at all. 

And if none of that interests you… as if! 

The 90s: The Last Decade Before the Future is on display at the History Colorado Center in Denver from now until Oct. 26. Tickets cost $15.