Why Aren’t Neighborhood Kids Shoveling Driveways to Earn Money Anymore?
You’ve most likely seen the viral memes that begin circulating once again every winter. It seems like every cold season, folks reminisce about how children in the 70s and the 80s used snowstorms as an opportunity to make some extra cash, going around from house to house to offer their services shoveling snow. Gone are those days, they say, thanks to the distraction of social media and video games and texting. Kids simply...
Quite a Feet — The Rabbit’s Foot
There were so many hot accessories in the 1980s: everything from ribbon barrettes to gummy bracelets and from leg warmers to nameplate necklaces. But there was one hot trend in the early 80s that made its way onto belt loops, purse zippers and keychains everywhere – both boys and girls enjoyed this fashionable item: the rabbit’s foot. Ah, yes. Where to begin with this weird wonder? The rabbit’s foot was supposedly a symbol of good...
The Mask Makes It — Halloween Costumes of the 1980s
There was so much to love about Halloween in the 80s. The horror movies, the free range trick-or-treating, the candy (I’m looking at you, Mr. Bones), mild fears about razor blades in apples (never happened), and the costumes. The costumes were the best of all. When I think back to one of my favorite Halloween costumes of my childhood it wasn’t the homemade costumes that my grandmother spent hours painstakingly putting together for me....
Call Me! Phones of the 80s
Since my teen years in the 1980s, phones have changed immensely. They have gone from big, clunky, curly-corded devices to sleek, tiny, talking computers that you can take anywhere with you. Where you were once tied to the kitchen chatting endlessly with your B/F/F or nervously hanging up on that boy you had a crush on after he said hello, now you can blab away while in your car, walking down the street, grocery shopping, trying on...
Passion for Posters
Walk into any drug store or mall in the 80s (and we spent A LOT of time in malls), and you’d be sure to find one of these bad boys front and center, getting lots of traffic and attention. Remember, these were days before Pottery Barn began designing teenagers’ bedrooms. In the 80s, teen bedroom décor grew organically out of the tastes of the room’s owner. The walls served as a medium for self-expression—no fancy “themes” needed. My...
The 80s Underage Dance Club
Awesome Beats, Smoke Machines, Lip-synch Contests and Mocktails As I entered my teen years in the mid-80s, I was completely obsessed with the following: Boys Music Dancing Fashion Thinking about it, I guess Prince was onto something with DMSR. There was one place and one place only where each of these obsessions could truly be fulfilled – and that place was Faces Teen Night Club in Tampa, Florida. Faces was located in a strip mall by...
The Good, Green Stuff: Hi – C!
By Lori Ferraro In the summertime in the 80s there was one drink of choice that my brother and I drank by the giant tin can-full. With flavors like Cherry, Fruit Punch and my all-time favorite Ecto Cooler, we would come running in from a long day of bike riding with our friends to get a big glass of the good stuff. All hail Hi-C! We drank Hi-C morning, noon, and night . . . Orange in the morning with breakfast . . . Sometimes...
The 80s Signoff
By Lori Ferraro Browse through the back pages of any autograph book or yearbook from the 80s and you will find a variety of letters, numbers, periods and slash marks that may not make much sense to you unless you were a teenage girl of the decade. See, you couldn’t just write “Love, Lori” after you signed someone’s yearbook telling them how much you’re going to miss them, to have a good summer, see you next year, etc. You had to use...
Choose Your Own Adventure Books
By Thomas Zizzo The 80s was an era of many changes in music, movies, fashion and technology. One such innovation was a series of books originally conceived by Edward Packard as the Adventures of You series. It was under the name Choose Your Own Adventure, published by Bantam Books, that the concept really took off. As a kid I can recall rainy days at home and what we used to do for fun. Unlike today, we didn’t have iPads, computers,...
Holly Hobbie
By Julie Anderson Eighties girls will totally recognize this bonnet-clad little girl and the way-back-when lifestyle she conjured up: http://youtu.be/XnNlbl0EYhU It’s Holly Hobbie, the artistic creation of author/artist Holly Hobbie. (I know, right? I was fascinated to learn that she named her character after herself.) Denise Holly Ulinskas marred Douglas Hobbie in 1964. In the late 60s, she created the Holly Hobbie character and sold...
Latch Hook Rugs in the 80s
By Julie Anderson Latch hooking rugs was an awesome activity for eighties kids. The yarn craft was simple and inexpensive, yet super satisfying. With a single easy-to-master move, we made plush, colorful rug squares. Of course, we didn’t use them as actual rugs… but they were perfect for wall hangings and pillows. The nice thing about latch hooking was that you were pretty much guaranteed a great looking and feeling product....
Note Passing in the Eighties
In the 80s, we didn’t have texts or emails to send to our friends during school. Puh-leeze. When our history teachers were droning away about the Battle of Hastings and our minds were focused on anything BUT William the Conqueror, we had just ONE way to let get our message across that expanse of linoleum flooring. We passed notes in class. Here’s the J. Geils Band with their 1981 megahit, “Centerfold,” to help you remember the drill:...
80s My Little Pony and Today’s Bronies
By Julie Anderson Eighties girls will totally remember My Little Ponies, those hugely popular plastic horse figurines. The first herd of candy-colored toy horses was created in 1981. My Pretty Ponies were significantly bigger than My Little Ponies and were nowhere near as popular. In 1983, Hasbro’s My Little Ponies hit the jackpot with the elementary-age girl crowd. They were perfectly sized for little hands and little purses. We...
Taking the Plunge
By Julie Anderson The NESTEA plunge, that is. The hugely successful Take the Plunge commercial campaign for Nestea began in the 70s, so our older siblings and cousins knew all about it. (Random trivia – from 1978-1980, Six Flags St. Louis’s Log Flume ride was called the Nestea Plunge!) However, we 80s kids sure loved it as well. Taking the Nestea plunge was a favorite pool and lake game when I was growing up. The commercial campaign’s...