What's something you knew about before it became popular?

a lot of things, things of the net etc.

a worse example is a sketch from a British guy about a supermarket here, anyway, sketch was aired in ‘99, saw it, had it on my computer, then in ‘07 suddenly it starts popping up on youtube, people where even asking me “oh dude, did you see it?” driving me to the point of wanting to kick my own friends in the groin…repeatedly

The song California before it was on the OC.
There’s plenty more but I can’t think of them right now, I’ll be back

the worst part is the achmed the dead terrorist vid. i saw it, grinned, next week going out all i hear is teens yelling “silence, i kill you”

words can not explain these emotions…

The video clip for ‘Here it Goes Again’ by OK GO (and of course the song too), as well as The Shins in general before everyone started talking about them. Same goes for Operator Please (although they are quite average) and… many other things.

I knew about Pilates at least 10 years before everyone started doing it, I also knew about Jackie Chan way before he started making movies just for the American market. I was also in on the ground floor of the mullet, but that probably doesn’t count because the inventor is my sister.

Garth Brooks. I saw him play in a really small venue near Red Oak, Texas in 1988. Way before he was selling out Texas Stadium.

I also met the Gin Blossoms before they hit it big.

Real Simple magazine. I participated in a focus group for the mag about 2 yrs before it was released.

The funny thing is I gave the mag low marks because I thought it looked boring. Even though its a top seller now, I still think its boring!

Aerosmith: Saw them play at a seedy bar at Revere Beach (Massachusetts) in the early seventies.

Black nail polish.

Cell Phones. I used to consult for McCaw Cellular. The birth of Starbucks and the coffee craze. The rise of grunge in Seattle.

Harney & Sons tea; I found it in New England when they were still a tiny tea company and then they literally started selling their tea everywhere a few years later.

M.I.A. – Paper Planes

Muesli.

leather pants… I bought a pair about 6 months before they became a craze in the 90s

America Online. I was with them pretty much since they started up. I always thought that they were going to grow like crazy.
Also Tower Records. They started out here in Sacramento and I frequented them years before they branched out and became the largest seller of music in then world and, of course, their subsequent fall.

Doc Martens. I had them a full decade before they became all the rage.

Most music on Guitar Hero. There was one point where I was driving my girlfriend’s friends home and I had Stone Temple Pilots on the radio, and one girl said “Oh this song is on Guitar Hero. I love this song. I didn’t know you played Guitar Hero.” I replied “I don’t, I just like STP.”

another one, youtube, i remember when i thought “oh youtube, that’s the site were all the emo’s post their video blog” and well, at that time they did…and then all of the sudden youtube became THE site were all the emos post their blog, the same vids get posted 5x and if you’re looking for a song ? good luck digging through tons of bad covers, oh, and if you were thinking about posting a useful comment ? hahaha

Mojitos and Caipihrinas.

FLUTHER!!!!

Little white dresses. I know this is silly, but the little white dress phenomenon (trend) has made me sad. I love white, all its shades and light colors like beige. I’ve been wearing white dresses since high school, but now it’s fashionable to wear them it makes me feel like I’m just following a trend.

I saw Def Leppard when they were in their early teens and just starting to play clubs – opening up for a band that never made it big. They stole the show.

Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches!

When I was doing my MBA, my study group did a marketing project using Skinny Cow and we did a taste test for 90 people. About six months later, they had more prominent placement in Safeway stores throughout our area, was being recommended by Weight Watchers leaders and the company is undergoing rapid expansion.

I swear we made this product and if you haven’t tasted it – do it!

Survivor, I knew about Survivor before it was popular. My husband and I watched that first season, cursing Richard all the way, when it was just summer filler. I haven’t watched it since.

Fluther of course :) some rock bands like Oasis, Blur, the stereophonics… designer sunglasses

You knew about designer sunglasses in the ‘50s? :)

Gmail. Knew that before just about anyone else. _

Toblerone. In the 80’s, we had a treat when friends visited from Switzerland. Now it’s available everywhere…

I knew about gummi bears in the 70s. We used to freeze them. They just tasted better that way. I’m a vegetarian now and wish they would make some without gelatin. The yellow ones were the best.
Oh, and it’s pronounce goo-mee not gum-mee.

@knot: YES! I lived in Munich in the late 70’s and loved that stuff. I could always tell I got one in my stocking by the triangle box.

I bought a pair of pleather( plastic leather) pants in the early 2000 before they became a phenominon

I introduced 4chan to all my buddies. In retrospect… this was a bad thing. Avoid this site if possible.

adding neosporin to a band aid so all you have to do is open the band aid and take it out of it’s band aid packaging and it already has neosporin on it, I thought of that in 1989!

@brybry- And how exactly do you apply the neosporin to a band-aid that is still in its packaging?