Groovy Photos That Reveal A Different Side To The '90s

The cast of Friends on a trip to Las Vegas in 1994 before the show premiered. The show’s director took them on a trip so they could bond more, he told them: “This is your last shot at anonymity. Once the show comes on the air, you guys will never be able to go anywhere without being hounded."

After the end of the Cold War the 1990s were a time of dramatic cultural transformations. People were ready for the new millennium even if they weren’t exactly sure how that whole Y2K thing would shake out.

These photos from the ‘90s show that it wasn’t all grunge and flannel, but that there were different aspects to the decade that you can find only if you look closer. The stories that you’ll find with these photos illustrate a time before the internet felt all consuming and when stars like Pamela Anderson were still down to Earth…

Through these rarely seen snapshots of the 1990s we can challenge our perceptions of the last decade of the 20th century. After all what better way to understand where we came from and gain new insights into recent historical events than with photos? Proceed with caution… some photos may be too hot for TV.

source: courtney cox

Can you imagine what it’s like to lose your anonymity in the blink of an eye? That’s exactly what happened to the cast of Friends when their show premiered on September 22, 1994 on NBC. The series followed six friends as they faced complex issues of life and love in New York City. The cast were all plucked out of obscurity to star in the series, but now they’re some of the most famous faces on the planet.

Before the show premiered they were taken on a trip to Las Vegas by the show’s director as a last hurrah before they faced the scrutiny of the public eye. Series director Jimmy Burrows took them to the city of sin for an evening of pre-fame dinner and gambling, but he also wanted to make sure they knew what they were in for. Jennifer Aniston recalled:

[Burrows said] ‘This world can be pretty dark, and you guys gotta really stick together and take care of each other.’And we took that to heart for sure, obviously. And then he handed us each a couple hundred bucks and said, ‘Now go into the casino and go gamble because this is the last time you’ll be able to walk into a casino anonymously.’ And we had no clue what he was talking about… and sure enough, that was the last time we were able [to do that].