Remember Bonkers? The Candy Treat You Could Chew On Forever
There are plenty of forgotten candies from the golden era that is the 80s. Each week we’re going to feature a some of the hard-to-find candies of the decade in hopes to point you in the right direction if you get that craving you can’t get rid of. First up is Leaf Brand‘s Bonkers. Remember popping open a box of Bonkers and endlessly chewing on the candy pieces. Well these fruit chews are looking to make a comeback....
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...
Stores That Were Huge In the 80s That Are Now gone
It’s hard to link a store to a decade, but a number of chains just scream 1980s. Even if they weren’t created in the decade, these retailers made their biggest mark during the period. Here’s a look at some of our most-beloved dearly departed favorites: Blockbuster Video: Like the videotapes and later DVDs it rented, Blockbuster had a meteoric rise and an equally spectacular fall. The chain, which was born in the 1980s, replaced the...
One of the Biggest Games from Your 80s Childhood Gets a Modern Update
Launched in 1978,(just in time to be one of your favorite childhood toys) memory-game Simon has gone through plenty of updates over the decades. The most recent update of the popularized version of Simon Says is called Simon Air, which uses touch-free technology to let you select colors by hovering your hand instead of physically pressing buttons, says Mashable.com. This is an even more high-tech version of the last update to...
80s Candy: Big League Chew
When Big League Chew first hit the market in 1980 the product seemed like an odd mix of brilliance and bad idea. It’s a pretty simple concept on the surface. It’s a pouch of gum clearly designed to look like the pouches chewing tobacco comes in which were at the time very popular in Major League Baseball. The baseball tie-in was overt, with an amped up slugger appearing on the packaging (which would soon be very...
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...
You Mean These 80s Performers Have Died?
Though far from a product of the 1980s, David Bowie certainly made an indelible mark on the decade: he had a bunch of hit singles, including “China Girl,” “Modern Love,” “Blue Jean,” and “Let’s Dance” (which went to Number 1); he performed at Live Aid in 1985, and then released one of the songs he sang at the event, “Dancing in the Streets” (with Mick Jagger); heck, even Peter Schilling’s song “Major Tom (Coming Home)” is an homage to...
The TV Specials of Christmas Past
Christmas in the 80s was the best! We had giant unruly trees heavily adorned in swag tinsel in our living rooms, we wore footie pajamas and we drank Hi-C Ecto Cooler spiked with maraschino cherries to get into the holiday spirit. And of course, we watched classic Christmas specials on TV! Remember, this was time before the DVR, there was no pausing live television, and there were no DVDs to buy. You had to be there when the networks...
Interview With Kate Reigstad, Author of Fast Forward
The editorial team at LT80s loves a good 80s read. So, you can imagine my pleasure in receiving a copy of Kate Reigstad’s new book ‘Fast Forward.’ This is a fun read for anyone that lived through the 80s as a teenager. Nat, the protagonist, wakes up after 26 years and finds herself not in 1989 as she thought, but in present-day 2015 — without having aged. It is the story of her adjustment to a new high-tech reality (with flat...
80s Holiday Gift Guide
Hey 80s lovers, do you know it’s Christmas time at all? We do! Once again we’ve rounded up some of the some of the most totally awesome gift ideas for the 80s fanatic in your life. Pac Man Heat Change Mug Let’s kick this off with a gift item featuring a classic character that any 80s fan would be glad to get! This cool mug features the Pac Man video game screen where the star of the show, Pac Man, reveals himself once your hot...
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....
Stairway to Heaven and the Last Dance Desperation
Donna Summers may have sung about the “last dance, the last chance for love,” but personally, the soundtrack to all of my “last chances” in the 1980s involved not the Queen of Disco but the moody strings of Led Zeppelin. For me, Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” was an essential song of the 80s — which may seem weird, since “Stairway” is definitely not an 80s song, and in fact, is barely even a 70s song. (It was released in 1971.)...
Q&A with with Susannah Gora, Author of “You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation”
If you love the 1980s — and if you found your way to this website, you probably do — you MUST read Susannah Gora’s 2010 book, You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation. Gora was first inspired to write the book when she was a sophomore at Duke University. She says she was sitting in her dorm room with her friends, watching one of the John Hughes films...
Q&A with Dave Kinzer, Author of “The 80s Music Compendium”
I just had the pleasure of reading the new book by Dave Kinzer, “The 80s Music Compendium” that released in paperback this week (Sept 13). Dave Kinzer, a music teacher, sought to find new ways to teach music structure and theory to students in a way that would hold their interest longer than say Bach. As an avid fan of 80s music, he turned to the treasure trove that is the catalog of Hot 100 hit songs from the 80s. He...
6 Toys Teens of the 80s had in the 70s
Before we were teenagers in the 80s, before Aquanet, MTV, new Coke, and bomber jackets took over our lives, we were babies and little kids in the 70s. My memories of the 70s are a little blurry, mostly triggered by FM radio songs and my early school pics (polyester leisure suit, anyone?), but one thing that takes me straight back are the toys. Let’s take a trip back a little further than we usually do on Like Totally 80s to the time...
