Crayola's 'Net-Themed Crayons Prove No One Knew How The Internet Worked In The '90s

When Crayola released its oh-so-quaint set of "Techno Brite" crayons in 1997, it was clear how much everyone loved the idea of the digital world. Judging by the names of the coloring utensils, however, the general public probably didn't know anything about how the Internet actually worked. Behold:

In 1997, the Internet was a baby. We logged onto AOL Instant Messenger (after making sure no one was on the phone), using our clunky desktops than ran Windows '95. We'd head over to Yahoo! or AltaVista to see what times the movie theater was showing "Titanic." The Spice Girls were on the radio -- but good luck streaming "Wannabe" online. Most people's Internet speeds were a fraction of what they are now, so the digital realm just wasn't as crucial to everyday life.

How else do you explain "www.purple"? (Where's the domain, Crayola?) Or "point & click green"? And then there's "web surfin' blue" -- an adorable reminder of the days when using the Internet was full of odd surfing metaphors.

Sadly, these have long been discontinued. We rediscovered them thanks to, well, the Internet.