Completely random find on an internet forum I frequent: an FTP site with screencaps from Clarissa Explains It All, better known as “that show Melissa Joan Hart had before Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.” Why am I bringing up teen situation comedies from the early 90s? Because one of the screencaps is a bit weird:

Yes, she’s lying on a box that says “baby prison.” This is perhaps not so strange; it’s probably some sort of in-joke or set design prank. The weird thing, though, is if you actually try to search for clarissa “baby prison” on Google, all you get is the aforementioned FTP site and someone’s blog, completely unrelated.

Let’s run the tape back, shall we? There appear to be no sites on the internet that mention the baby prison thing except for that one FTP site with the Clarissa caps. This is the internet, where every possible subculture has ample representation. There are sites devoted to the possibly fake fetish of women crushing small pests with high-heeled shoes. How is there not a Clarissa fan site that has wondered about the “baby prison” thing? There are only two answers:

1. The “baby prison” picture is a fake. But all the other screencaps seem legit and don’t seem to feature any other weird details.
2. There simply isn’t enough of a fanbase on the internet. For whatever reason, early and mid-90s phenomena are poorly covered by the all-consuming force that is rabid internet fandom. In other words, anything that came just prior to and during the early stages of widespread internet use is basically lost in the ether.

Everyone loves a mystery. Even ones about early-90s after-school teen comedies on Nickelodeon.