Where To Watch
18 things you will only recognize if you grew up in the 1980s
See how tubular you truly are and try to name these objects from the Reagan Era.
The 1980s never died, they just went away for a decade. Since the turn of the millennium, the Reagan Era revival has been in full effect, recognizable everywhere from the movie screen to the radio. Synth-pop, Ghostbusters, neon clothing, popped collars — it all came back.
That being said, there are still some things you might only recognize if you lived through the era, especially as a kid. (Or, perhaps, as one of the parents who had to buy / clean up all this stuff.)
See if you can name these 1980s objects without cheating.
1. It couldn't help you tell time, but who cares.
Everyone had to have a Swatch watch, and no Swatch was complete without this Swatch Guard. A good way to drive your teacher nuts was to snap this rubber band against the face of your watch in class.
Image: squiggly
4. A mixup from the Cheerio factory?
No, it was the delicious way to start your day the Star Wars way, C-3PO's cereal.
5. A VHS tape with a window missing?
Errrrr. Wrong. It's a Betamax tape. Some people thought this would rule the market.
6. You had better give yourself a good 20 minutes to print up that book report.
Remember ripping off all the ribbons of dots and tearing apart the pages on dot matrix paper? Oddly, we kind of miss that.
7. That's just a boring watch?
Psych! It's a totally radical robot!
Image: wishbookweb
8. Yes, it's the Coke logo, but…
It was also the hottest clothing line circa 1986. The Coca-Cola rugby shirt was a must for any cool kid.
Image: Pinterest / liketotally80s
9. Uh… Nintendo made tops?
If you had an early Nintendo Entertainment System, hopefully you were lucky enough to get the one with the light gun for Duck Hunt and gyros for Gyromite. Of course, you had to have your Robotic Operating Buddy (R.O.B.) to spin the gyros.
10. What is that, a heated coffee mug coaster?
Nah. It's a Lazer Tag target. Pyew pyew!
Image: wishbookweb
11. You mean he wasn't magic?
That is the interior of a Teddy Ruxpin. Sorry, the bear could not actually talk. He took tapes in his back.
Image: theredwoodconnection
12. For those who found Monopoly a little slow.
Crossbows and Catapults was the greatest board game ever. You got to blow up castles with rubber bands and poker chips!
Image: mikemonaco / brooklynwargaming
13. Pump up your jams.
We had to lower the basket in our driveway to slam dunk, but jacking up our Reeboks Pumps with air had to give a boost, too.
Image: highsnobiety
14. "You have died of dysentery."
Man, playing Oregon Trail in the school library was dark. That was one depressing — and addictive — computer game. Who could forget your trusty green oxen?
15. Groucho Marx would have loved this game.
Contestants had to reach up and "pick" the flag out of this giant nose on the Double Dare obstacle course. There was no better show to watch after school in '86.
16. You're never too old for a choo choo and race car.
Ricky lived in the coolest house on television on Silver Spoons. He slept on a race car! He rode a train around a first floor filled with arcade games! Of course, his dad was pretty into the toys, too.
Image: NBC
17. What did you do to my Wacky Wallwalker?!
Actually, that is Big League Chew, the bubblegum introduced in 1980 that let kids pretend they were chewing tobacco like a real ballplayer.
Image: wikipedia
18. Um, your socks have some pretty big holes in them.
Leg warmers put the tube in tubular and were the must-have lower body accessory of the aerobics craze.
Image: Pinterest / Julep
Related
1 Comments
I remember people playing Oregon Trail on the school computers but never did so myself.
Use that paper all the time for business but didn't know that's what it was called. And my dad/brothers like Big League Chew. ^^