In the mid-late 90s, 40-bit encryption was common due to US export control restrictions, and even then, that was thought to be insecure against a nation state attacker.
In 1998, the EFF built a custom DES Cracker[0] for around $250k that could crack a 56-bit DES message in around 1 week. As was the custom at the time, they published the source code, schematics, and VHDL source in a printed book to evade (and, I guess, mock) export restrictions.