#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Sept. 5, 1999 -- Are You Ready for Back to School Parochialism?

September 5, 1999: For this Sunday before Labor Day, we lead with a blonde presumably 20-something actress portraying a teenager in some teen-focused TV show. No idea which one.

The first link is "Back to School," which was probably a bit more parochial in retrospect: at the time, schools in Virginia usually didn't start after Labor Day, due to a law popularly known as the Kings Dominion Law (it was repealed in 2019) -- there's a good chance that the rest of the country was like, "What are you talking about, we've already been back to school for weeks":

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Sept. 4, 1999 -- Build a Fan Page Contest

September 4, 1999: For Saturday, we went with a tout to AOL members to build free fan pages (using either 1-2-3 Publish or AOL Hometown, I don't know which). The graphic is a lazy, text-as-image block that says "BUILD A FAN PAGE AND ENTER TO WIN." (all caps, of course), leading me to assume some sort of contest was involved:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Sept. 3, 1999 -- Get Out Now; Labor Day Weekend Fun

September 3, 1999: Monday was Labor Day, so Friday featured a few low-effort promos, including a "Get Out Now" that didn't refer to Hurricane Dennis evacuations, but to holiday traffic. Also note the continuing AOL 4.0 ad jackpot:

For the PM update, we went with generic beach ball art and weekend events, forecasts, and chat. The My News headlines refer to investigations over the Waco siege and another Middle East peace plan:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Sept. 2, 1999 -- AIM 3.0; Hurricane Dennis; House Hunting; Geek Chic featuring Heather Matarazzo

September 2, 1999: I think we started with an AIM 3.0 promo, though the timestamps are cut off so I can't be exactly sure. The images didn't print out for whatever reason; hence the "AIM Static" handwritten alt-text. [Also, for this last batch of scans (we'll run out later this fall, FYI), I'm learning to live with a lot more misalignment]:

We did a mid-day swap to refocus on Hurricane Dennis, which would end up glancing off Florida and mostly dumping on North Carolina and Virginia:

Somewhere in the daytime mix, we also went with Real Estate:

For the PM update, we'd go with "Geek Chic," featuring a teen star gallery leading with Heather Matarazzo, who was starring in Now and Again, which was a show that I actually watched and liked. It only lasted one full season and ended on a cliffhanger.

Also note the double ad jackpot for AOL 4.0:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Sept. 1, 1999 -- Fall Fare Sale; Beanie Babies

September 1, 1999: We started midweek with a fall airfare sale (featuring covered bridge stock art); in the My News headlines, we had an Argentinian jet crash that killed 65, as well as the continued movement of Hurricane Dennis (1999):

For the PM update, we went with the fashionably popular (for the time) Beanie Baby craze:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 31, 1999 -- Buy a House; "Angel" Heads Back to School

August 31, 1999: For the last day of August, we went with Real Estate listings; the My News headlines reference an aftershock in Turkey and Hurricane Dennis skirting the Carolina coast:

For the PM update, we went with a preview of the Buffy spinoff Angel, which would kick off later in the fall:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 30, 1999 -- Save Money; Watch Hurricanes

August 30, 1999: We started the week with a Personal Finance money saving quiz and calculator:

For the PM update, we went again with a hurricane watch for Hurricane Dennis, which as the My News headline notes, was dumping rain on North Carolina:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 29, 1999 -- Another AIM 3.0 Promo

August 29, 1999: Oh joy, yet another AIM 3.0 promo. Free Chat! Click Here! Exclamation points!

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 28, 1999 -- Find Love

August 28, 1999: Another weekend Love@AOL personals ad, with generic white smoochy couple:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 27, 1999 -- Hurricane Watch; Jennifer Love Hewitt, Just Because

August 27, 1999: As we headed into the weekend, we led with a hurricane watch for what would eventually turn into Hurricane Dennis (1999):

For the PM update, we went with Jennifer Love Hewitt for... 1999 Teen Trends? (We didn't even bother to try tying in Party of Five or her spin-off, Time of Your Life.) Also fall fashion and "Join Teen Chats," which I am pretty sure no actual teen would have been caught dead in:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 26, 1999 -- New AIM 3.0; WWF [sic] Wrestling

August 26, 1999: Here we supported the new AIM 3.0, with the same old animated gif:

For the PM update, we went with WWF wrestling (it was still WWF, not WWE, back then):

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 25, 1999 -- End of Summer Airfares; More Hot "Teens"

August 25, 1999: As we moved to close out the summer, we led with airfare sales:

For the PM update, once again we went with the hot "teens" from the WB show Popular, featuring Leslie Bibb and Carly Pope:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 24, 1999 -- Get a New Job; Christina vs. Britney

August 24, 1999: We went (for no apparent reason) with money raining down from the heavens to illustrate job listings and salary comparisons:

For the PM update, we went with a hard-hitting teen stars featuring, namechecking Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears in the headline, though using a Christina photo:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 23, 1999 -- College Costs; Find a Friend (Dog or Cat Edition)

August 23, 1999: We started the week with a feature on college costs (2019 looks back at this headline and laughs hollowly), with a cost calculator and back to school chat:

For the PM update, we went with a pet finder and pet chats:

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]

#20YearsAgoOnAOLcom: Aug. 22, 1999 -- Which Spicy Teen TV Drama Set at a Fancy Private School Is Pictured Here?

August 22, 1999: The lead promo was another excuse to use a photo of the latest hot teen drama (probably from the WB or Fox)--I don't know which show it was, but it was evidently set at a tony private school. Guess that doesn't really narrow it down.

[Series note: In the late 1990s, I programmed the content for the AOL.com home page, which relaunched with a new design on July 14, 1998. I printed screencaps and saved them. 20 years later, I'm scanning them in and posting them with a little commentary under the tag #20YearsAgoOnAOLcom.]