BEFORE THE CRASH: Here's What It Was Like When 'Everyone' In America Was Rich

Looking back on it now, the years leading up to the Lehman collapse seem like a dream.

This was the era when:

-- Your friend who had majored in English went to work for an investment bank.

-- Your parents thought it would be a good idea to buy a second (or third!) home upstate.

-- "My Super Sweet 16" came into existence.

We wanted to go back to see just how absurd this moment was.

So we've scoured American (and a slice of global) culture and society from 2003 to 2008 to find the most absurd examples and reflections of financial excess. 

In retrospect, it is now ludicrously clear that we should've seen it all coming...

Bravo's "Flipping Out," the show about trying to buy homes, renovate them, and put them back on the market, may have best captured the Zeitgeist.

Though "Cribs" is arguably a close second.

MTV's "My Super Sweet Sixteen," about rich teenagers' lavish 16th birthday parties, was another good sign we'd reached peak excess.