Things I miss about the 1980s

As an eighties kid, the recent series of Stranger Things has made me really nostalgic. Here are some of my fave things from the 1980s:

  • BMX bikes (I was literally attached to mine)
  • Telephones with dials that were plugged in with bendy wire
  • Phone boxes which we actually used
  • shell suits
  • cassette tapes which were played on Walkmans
  • the lack of internet and the need to actually be on time (no texting for being late)
  • cars that had chokes that were pulled out enthusiastically to help the engines splutter into life
  • VHS tapes for watching videos in incredibly poor quality
  • Overhead projectors (with wipeable sheets)
  • Cheap, plastic fly curtains that blew in the wind and never really kept the flies out on a hot day

What are your favourite things about the 1980s? Let me know in the comments. If you are too young to remember, then what are the 1980s things that intrigue you the most?

I Remember When…

At work today we were being a little bit nostalgic. I was at primary school in the 1980s and have fond memories of the 1990s as a teenager. There are so many things that have changed since then so I thought it would be fun to remember how life used to be.

Do you remember when…?

– Telephones had dials on them and were plugged into actual sockets. When you picked them up you had to check that there was a dialling tone before you started to ring a number.

– Cars had chokes on them. They were little buttons that you pulled out to encourage the engine to start. I recall my mum struggling to start her car and having to tug on the choke several times before the engine would eventually stir.

– Duffel coats were all the rage. Back when the weather was properly cold, we used to all be snuggled inside these cosy but rather awkward coats which were padded and bulky.

– Trying to get the fire started in the morning. My nan used to get up early and stuff newspaper and kindling into the fireplace, then use fire starters and matches to try and get the coal fire burning.

– If you said you were going to be somewhere at a certain time, you had to keep to it. After all there was no way of letting someone know that you were going to be late. You just had to be on time.

– Record players were all the rage. I remember being so delicate with vinyl because I was really worried that I might scratch one. Often the record player would bounce and the needle would jump and scratch the record, meaning part of the song would always be spoilt at that same place. Many of my favourite songs were ruined this way.

– The chimney needed sweeping. Although there were chimney sweeps in my village, my grandad used to do it himself. He would cover the fireplace in a special sheet and shove a sweeper up the chimney, adding pole after pole, until the brush reached the top.

– Computer games just didn’t exist. When I was very young we had to entertain ourselves by making toys such as bows and arrows out of branches and string.

These are just a few of the things I recall about the eighties and nineties. They were wonderful decades and I often think that life was much simpler then and we were more creative as children than we might have been if surrounded by technology.

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