One of the many computer companies offering products or services to assist with transitioning to the year 2000 was TSR, Inc. They provided “Catch 21” a Y2K software solution for IBM-based computer systems. Although Guardian Life Insurance Company did not use the software, they did use the TSR marketing gift, a three-minute sand timer encased in clear and blue acrylic.
Since the Y2K project had an unchangeable completion date, deadlines had to be met, decisions needed to be made without delay, and the people who could make high level decisions had to attend scheduled meetings. This sand timer was used at several meetings to reinforce these points. If given a response of “we need to get back to you,” the Assistant Project Director would set the timer on the table and give them until the sand ran out for a decision.
The project was completed on time and Guardian encountered no application outages or loss of business with the transition to the new millennium!
The University of Miami, School of Medicine, Jackson Memorial Hospital Medical Center hired Lee I. Taylor as their Y2K project manager in 1998. He was responsible for ensuring that nearly 14,000 devices, applications and systems were ready for the year 2000. The State of Florida’s Y2K Governor’s Advisory Council required that institutions create a public awareness campaign as part of their remediation efforts. The donor, in talking with the university’s General Counsel’s Office, was informed that any campaign statements should not make any definitiveY2K readiness assertions, in case they were wrong.
The announcement Mr. Taylor submitted to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) read: “Are we Y2K OK? That’s a good question. I can tell you that we’ve done everything humanly possible – short of actually spending money – to handle this issue. We’ve wasted countless hours dealing with people we don’t like and frankly don’t trust, compiling data I wouldn’t bet my life on to conclude this project in a manner that makes our lawyers happy. What does this mean to you? Not much I’m afraid. But, then again, I bet 12:00 midnight has been blinking on your VCR since the early 1980’s, so who are you to judge us? 1 JANUARY 2000 IT’S A CRAP SHOOT.”
While it is not certain that this compliance statement satisfied the governor’s office, the CIO did have it printed on the back of t-shirts. These shirts were given to the Y2K team members who had to work through New Year’s Eve 2000. (The front graphic was designed by the chief web designer and co-donor, Lynne S. Cohen.) Co-donor Lee Taylor wore this t-shirt from sunset on December 31, 1999 until well past midnight – the School of Medicine and its three hospitals experienced no major glitches.
This Y2K advertisment was from Computer Associates, a system and application software company now owned by Broadcom of California. The front features a man standing before a very large chalk board pointing to an endlessly long scientific equation. Below the image it reads: “And Now, A Simple Explanation Of How To Prepare For The Upcoming Century Date Change.” On the reverse is a letter from the company’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, Rich Chiarello. The letter invites readers to attend a free 7-hour seminar titled “The CA Discovery 2000 Seminar.” Participants would learn the size of the problem, available options, where to start, and how much it would cost to remediate their Y2K problems.
UUNET, founded in 1987 in Virginia, was the first commercial internet service provider (ISP). In the beginning they offered e-mail and news services. As the company grew, they provided a comprehensive range of internet service products. By the late 1990s they delivered internet services to the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. The UUNET brand has been retained through numerous acquisitions. Today UUNET is an internal brand of Verizon Business.
This polo shirt is one of a collection of UUNET corporate logo sportswear produced to celebrate specific company and industry events. In 1999, the focus was on remediating potential Y2K issues. According to the donor, a senior executive, hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on the Y2K issue in the U.S. and at foreign subsidiaries. The shirt was produced by the UUNET Y2K team in Germany for their colleagues in the U.S. The clock-shaped design reads “We are OK with Y2K.”
This collection was donated by Joan Krammer, who worked on the Y2K issue for the Canadian newspaper, The Globe and Mail. Headquartered in Toronto, the paper was founded in 1844 and, as of 2019, had 1.5 million daily readers.
The newspaper’s Y2K team was responsible for ensuring that all computer systems, those critical to the production of the newspaper as well as equipment such as elevators and thermostats, would continue to operate correctly in the year 2000. They examined, corrected, upgraded, and tested 878 systems that relied on computer clocks.
Included in the collection are eight proof sheets and 28 photocopies of letters. To prove that the newspaper could be produced, the clocks on all computer systems were rolled forward to 2000 and a test run was made. These proof sheets show the content for all departments, and a 2000 year date. The letters represent a sampling of those received by The Globe and Mail from vendors, advertisers, and subscription holders requesting assurance that the paper was Y2K compliant. It also contains sample reply letters in which the newspaper, to minimize the risk of legal action, states that proper attention was given to resolving Y2K related issues.
This turquoise and gray jar has a cork lid. It contains eighteen colorful plastic bugs.
Donor Jan Lilja received the jar as a gift from a colleague at the time she was the Y2K Executive at the Food and Nutrition Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Food and Nutrition Service administers the nation's nutrition programs such as food stamps (now called SNAP), WIC, and school lunch and breakfast programs. Because most of these programs are administered through the states, territories and local governments, Lilja was also held personally responsible for preventing computer software problems in nutrition programs at these entities when dates changed from 1999 to 2000. To recognize the hard work done, the U.S. government created Y2K medals. She requested about 100 of these for individuals within FNS and arranged an awards ceremony. When the medals did not arrive in time for the ceremony, she purchased plastic bugs to put in the ceramic jar. Rather than receiving a medal, awardees received a bug and a paper certificate (for such a certificate, see 2016.3118.01). These bugs were far more widely displayed than the medals that eventually arrived (for such a medal, see 2016.0138.02).
She distributed the bugs as rewards to those working on the project.
As the "Millennium Bug" gained media attention, some businesses used the hype to market special millennium foods. From cars to breakfast cereal, companies like the Figueroa Brothers, Inc., cashed in on the Y2K name. This bottle once contained "Y2K Millennium Meltdown R-U-Ready?" hot sauce, a spicy concoction that included hot peppers.
The Guardian Life Insurance Company's Y2K Project Team spent over three years working to make their company Y2K compliant. This meant many late nights working and thus many visits to the local restaurants. This bottle of hot sauce was given to the team by the owner of the restaurant most frequented by them.
This computer-generated sheet acknowledges the contribution of an employee of the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to exterminating the Y2k "bug." It is signed by George A. Braley and Janice G. Lilja, and was given to the museum by Lilja.
The Y2K project directors at Guardian Life Insurance in lower Manhattan used objects such as baseball caps and model trains to promote competition between the divisions and to keep team spirits up as the work moved forward. A model train was displayed in the company lobby, and as a division became Y2K compliant, a car with the division’s name on it was added to the train.
The Y2K project directors wore this baseball cap to team meetings when they felt the team was losing focus. The cap is embroidered with "Count Down 2000" and has a digital readout that counted down to the year 2000.
New York License plate, personalized with "IMY2KC." The previous owner of this license plate was the manager of a 5-year Y2K Upgrade Project for Guardian Life Insurance. The plate is red and blue on a white background with the Statue of Liberty on the left.
