Tags
1980s, 1980s cereal, 1980s food, 1980s movies, 1980s music, being a kid in the 1980s, Burger King, childhood, Chuck E. Cheese, fun, living in the 1980s, McDonald's, McDonals, nostalgia
My whole childhood was mostly the 1980s, I remember it well. I also remember how weird stuff was, the clothes, the awful haircuts, the neon colors, it was all just so yucky, right? I used to think back then, that I would never miss the 1980s and that I was going to be so glad to grow up and not have to be a kid anymore. I wasn’t even a Michael Jackson fan, if that gives you an idea about how “not into it” I was. Michael Jackson was like the #1 most popular musician in the 1980s.
Just recently, I have actually started getting nostalgic for the 80s, I thought I’d really never see the day that would happen. The feeling started to creep up on me and the more I think about all the **good and fun things** the more it’s getting to me.
We had good movies. I mean, the 1980s was full of them.
Back to the Future, E.T., Ghostbusters, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, The Princess Bride, Gremlins, Beetlejuice, The Goonies, Indiana Jones, Karate Kid, Top Gun, The Shining, The Lost Boys, Sixteen Candles, A Christmas Story, and on and on.
We had pretty good music too, actually it was amazing music.
David Bowie, Elton John, Queen, Pink Floyd, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Prince, U2, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, The Human League, Bruce Springsteen, Billie Joel, The Police, The Eurythmics, Tears for Fears, The Bangles, so many iconic 1980s bands and songs. It just transports you right back.
We had cool toys.
Video Games! Nintendo, Atari, Sega, Super Nintendo, Speak and Spell, Gameboy, Rubik’s Cube, Cabbage Patch Kids which may not have really been “cool” but they were so popular, the main thing there is that they spoofed them and made Garbage Pail Kids – which were the cool collectible and funny cards that looked like messed up Cabbage Patch Kids, and that was hilarious. We had other funky things like fatboy laces, and plastic charm necklaces, pound puppies and kitties. Oh, and the slip and slide, not everyone had one, but our neighbors did.
We had great cartoons and those Saturday Morning Cartoons!
Disney cartoons, Thundercats, He-Man, She-Ra, Scooby-Doo, Inspector Gadget, The Muppet Babies, Garfield, Smurfs, Ducktales, Carebears, Gummi Bears, Rainbow Brite, Jem, GI Joe, Transformers, Voltron, TMNT, Monchichis, Snorks, Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, and so many more obscure ones too.
Our parents bought us fun and sugary cereal, a perfect accompaniment for watching said cartoons. Captain Crunch, Cookie Crisp, Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles, Honeycombs, Pops, Lucky Charms, Trix, Count Chocula, Boo Berry, and Franken Berry, plus dozens more to choose from.
Pizza Hut probably deserves it’s own shout out here.
Who didn’t love Pizza Hut in the 1980s, wow! that was always a fun time. Pitchers of soda on the table, the Pac-Man video game in the restaurant. The cool old vibe of the booths and decor. Deep dish pizza. We didn’t go nearly enough as we should have. And remember the Book It! vouchers.
Chuck E. Cheese’s was awesome in the 1980s.
This must have been the peak era for Chuck E. Cheese’s. This was where all the kids wanted to have their birthday parties. This is where you wanted go if you were a 1980s kid. The ball pit – oh so scary, but also thrilling while you slip and drown under a sea of plastic balls. The ball pit used to be huge in the 1980s. Skeeball, loved it, still do. All the other games like Whack a Munch. The animatronics characters! Plus pizza and soda in the dining room. There was this strange hole in the bottom of the stage area that you could crawl through, you can look up “Mr. Munch’s Magic Madhouse” and see it come up, it was just a psychedelic crawl space with a couple rooms that lead to the other side of the game floor – so weird, but also cool and very memorable.
I think you would be hard pressed to find any kid who grew up in the 1980s who didn’t love Chuck E. Cheese’s.
1980s fast food was better.
McDonalds and Burger King were way better back then. I don’t know if it’s just me or what, but I remember it being better. The McDonald’s theming and characters were awesome. Burger King was awesome, they had amazing chicken tenders, nothing like the “chicken fries” today.
Taco Bell, Wendy’s, and Arby’s too. You name it, it was just better back then.
Awful hairstyles aside, I think I had no idea how good it actually was, or how lucky I am to have lived through it.