The Twelve 80s Songs of Christmas
So, have you been a righteous dude or babe this year? Hoping that Santa will put some bitchin’ 80s themed presents under your tree? And, of course, it’s the time of year for, like, hot apple cider (and hot toddies), carol singing, and thirty varieties of cookies. (But if Mom thinks I’m putting on that gnarly reindeer sweater again for the family card photo, she can totally think again. I’m so sure, Mom!) Crank up these tubular holiday...
Great Gift Ideas for 80s Fans
We’ve scoured the 1980s time capsule for great gift ideas for your favorite 80s fan and found a bodacious list of things that will make, like, the most totally awesome gifts – ever! Moxi Roller Skates Head back to the roller rink and feel the wind in your hair as you cruise around the floor in these totally cool roller skates by Moxi Lolly. There’ll be no sad-brown-rental-skates for you after you get a pair of these babies for...
Roller Skating in the 80s!
Couples skate, the hokey-pokey, Simon Says and the amazing feeling of cruising around the skating rink backwards – that was roller skating in the 80s. When the weather was bad or you needed a cool escape from the summertime heat, the roller rink was the perfect retreat. It offered good music, a fun activity, junk food a-plenty and the promise of cute boys. Dark and wondrous inside, even in the middle of the afternoon, the roller rink...
Patrick Nagel — Art in the 80s
It’s not often that a single person can take responsibility for defining a large part of a decade’s visual motif, but it would be hard to deny the impact that artist Patrick Nagel had on the 1980s. From his contributions to Playboy to his dabblings with music industry icons, Nagel would create a style so uniquely his own that is work is still easily recognized today. Yet, his style was more than just his own; it would become...
80s Halloween Songs
There’s a chill in the air, the leaves are starting to change, and your neighbor has once again tied weirdly shaped squash to her mailbox. It can only mean one thing: Halloween is just around the corner! After putting together your bitchin’ costume and doing your party prep work, you need to get your eighties Halloween tune list lined up. These awesome eighties songs are perfect for your night of terror and treats. They range from...
Sugar in the Morning … Breakfast Cereals of the 80s
By Julie Anderson Bowl + Cereal + Milk = Big Smiles. What could be easier? In the eighties, my mom initially tried to keep sugar levels low for us at breakfast time. However, when subjected to ultra-bland Rice Krispies, my brother and I improved the “lightly sweet” beige bubbles with generous scoops of white sugar. The gritty gray sludge at the bottom of the bowl helped the Krispies’ flavor TREMENDOUSLY. Mom eventually threw in the...
Rock Star / Model Couples of the 80s
By Julie Anderson A Tale as Old as Time… She’s a devastating beauty, paid big bucks to wear expensive clothes and be photographed. It’s fun being gorgeous and all, but she’s looking for some excitement and romance… He’s a successful rock star, whose face and music are known the world over. He’s had his share of groupies, but he’s ready for a steady girlfriend, the younger the better… They meet. Birds sing, shutters...
Speak & Spell
Speak & Spell was created by Texas Instruments’ Paul Breedlove in the late 70s and introduced to American markets in 1978. It went through several redesigns, but the basic idea remained the same: in a British-ish accent, the toy would ask you how to spell a word. You’d type it in, and the toy would tell you if you were correct or wrong. Minigames, such as Mystery Word and Secret Code, were included in the original console. All of...
Fruit Stripe Gum
So, so good, and gone so, so fast. Isn’t that just the way of things? But, despite its lightening fast flavor expiration, Fruit Stripe gum is worth every precious chew. Like no other, the 5 juicy flavors (the originals) are so much more than their names would indicate (cherry, lemon, orange, mixed fruit, and lime). Maybe it’s the painted-on stripes that add the extra fabulousness. Whatever the source of all that flavor, the result is...
Dungeons and Dragons
By Julie Anderson It’s 1984. A little girl eavesdrops outside her older brother’s bedroom. Inside, he and three of his teenage friends are clustered around a card table littered with exotic dice, tiny metal figurines and complicated hand-drawn papers. She listens. They talk about “hit points” and “melee rounds” and the all-powerful “Dungeon Master.” They visit the “elemental plane.” They encounter a “water weird” and a “gray slime.”...
Trapper Keepers
By Julie Anderson 05.13.11 It’s mid-August of 1982. You’re with your Mom doing some back-to-school shopping. You want to project just the right level of cool for elementary school. To do that, you need a binder that’s trendy yet functional, well-organized yet hip. You need a . . . Trapper Keeper, baby! Oh, they were just the coolest; a whole new breed of 3-ring binder. The “keeper”, or outer shell, came in bold colors or mega-cool...
The Green Machine – Childhood Bliss
Ok, so this toy is technically from the late 70s (see the awesome commercial below from 1978), but for those of us that were teens in the 80s, we played with the toys of the late 70s! The Green Machine was so cool – so much cooler than its ride-on-vehicle-rival, the Big Wheel. It left a regular ole Big Wheel in its dust; the nimble Green Machine’s rear wheel swivel action design ran circles around the lumbering, clunky Big Wheel....
Chat with Author of Totally Tubular 80s Toys
We recently had the good fortune to review a copy of Mark Bellomo’s newest book, “Totally Tubular ‘80s Toys” and ask the author a few questions. If you haven’t seen this book, it is a veritable treasure trove of information on the toys of the 80s. With great photography of the toys and a year-by-year structure, this is as much a reference work as it is a fun trip down memory lane. For each year, he leads off the chapter with all the...
Bronze and Beautiful: Tanning, 80s Style
DISCLAIMER: Getting a Tan = Sun Damage. Regular tanning, from the sun or from a tanning bed/booth, is a cancer risk. We all know that nowadays, right? The following article describes how we tanned in the 80’s when we were younger and foolish-er. It is NOT meant to instruct you to actually run out and do it today. Like, if I told you to jump off a twenty-story building, would you do it? I DIDN’T THINK SO. Anyway! It’s almost...
Fashion Plates
By Julie Anderson My mom was a career woman; she earned two Master’s degrees and was (and is) a computer systems analyst. So, it may not surprise you that she wasn’t all into girly toys for me when I was growing up. Macintosh computer and calligraphy set = YES Barbie = NO French horn and piano lessons = YES Princessy dress-up outfits = NO Add to that the fact that my dad was a structural engineer and I didn’t have a sister, and you...
