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Amazing Things from the 80s

 "The question isn't 'What are we going to do?' The question is, 'What aren't we going to do?” That one Ferris Bueller quote sums the 80’s up to a tee. It was a decade like no other; riding off the free and easy 70’s, the totally tubular 1980’s saw society progress into the future. Advances in technology exploded, pop culture was richer than it has ever been and the social revolutions defined a generation. Growing up in this time meant you worked harder, played harder and consumed more creating a plethora of fads that we all look back (or cringe) on nostalgically. If you didn’t sport a mullet, neon spandex, spritz yourself with Lynx Africa or end your sentences with ‘like, whatever,’ you clearly weren’t on trend. Let’s take a look back at a few of the best (or worst) fads of the 80’s.


Cabbage Patch Kids
These chubby and slightly creepy faced figurines where undeniably THE doll craze for kids throughout the entire decade. No toy was fought over more, and once you found out your best friend had one, you begged your Mother for weeks until she finally caved in. Originally called Little People (don’t you just love the political incorrectness of the 80’s) the dolls were sold (or adopted by) over three million children by the end of 1983.
 
Photo from Wikipedia
Rubik’s Cube
At the time of release, the aim of the game seemed simple. Just twist the squares until each side had a solid color. Easy, right? For some smart minds maybe, the rest of us just gave up and peeled the stickers off the squares and rearranged them. Rubik’s cube became so popular, that Budapest hosted the very first annual Rubik’s Cube tournament in 1982. The current world record stands at 8.72 seconds.   
The Walkman
Before the overwhelming popularity of the iPod – way, way before – there was the Sony Walkman. Ok, so it wasn’t that long ago, thirty five years give or take. The portable cassette player sold accumulatively 200 million units and undeniably changed the way people listen to music. Before Walkman’s, people still listened to vinyl albums in their homes; besides the invention of a portable vinyl player (which to no one’s surprise never took off,) the Walkman was the first device that made it possible to listen to music on the go. Fun Fact: Despite the wave of digital music, Sony only puts the Walkman to rest in 2012, thirty three years after its initial launch.

MTV
MTV used to play music? No… That’s impossible. Sorry to disappoint every person under the age of fifteen, but MTV stands for (well at least it used to) Music Television. While other countries had been toying with live music shows for numerous years, none of them had thought to create a network where music videos were played twenty four hours a day. It’s safe to say that every Tom, Dick and Harry remembers the launch of MTV. The words ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll, so finely articulated by co-creator John Lack set the stage for what was about to be a music revolution. Who would have thought that the first song ever played on MTV; one that was originally just a silly novelty (Video Killed the Radio Star) would turn out to be so prophetic? The industry soon realized the potential of video and began pouring money into their production. Thriller anyone?


What is your fondest memory from the 80’s? Tell us in the comments below.

26 comments:

  1. I was an 80's girl and loved the generation I grew up in.We pretty much watched computers take over the World.Loved my Rubik's cube.played with them all the time

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  2. I miss the 80's. It's one of the best times. Kids are kids. Adults let kids be kids. Adults act like adults. The world is more complicated now than ever before.

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  3. Music of the 80s is the best music ever for me, my walkman is still with me and the cassette tapes are still working :)

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  4. I always tell my kids 80'2 music - the bands and the synthesizers - were the best music of all the decades. I never outgrew my love for anything 80's :) The music, the metal glam, and yes, MTV!!!

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  5. i still have my rubix cube and play with it so awesome

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  6. I am more of the70s guy but I have good memories of the 80s specially of the Walkman.

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  7. Oh the walkman... How can I forget that? And I was kind of bratty I just wanted Sony - no less (lol). Those were the days.

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  8. Anonymous7:04 AM

    I had a walkman and a rubiks cube but had to take both apart as I did with most of my stuff. I never got into the in things even growing up though remember them all.

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  9. One summertime I was too crazy about the Rubik's cube...so glad I learned how to fix it haha, but I was no longer a kid when I did :)

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  10. Kelli Avery11:21 AM

    lol, I'm always amazed when i see toys I grew up with coming out new and better for my kids and then the next generation. This posts makes me lol. I remember playing with Cabbage Patch babys and now I see them everywhere, and the Rubik's cube.. oh my.. My kids still use and love them. They of course have figured out the algorithm of it and can complete it within minutes. My daughter school friend can do it behind her back in less than a minute. Crazy.. Me I take the stickers off ;)

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  11. I grew up nothing fancy but I remember them through my friends.

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  12. I remember the Walkman and the Rubik's cube! We used to have these two before, I was a small girl then. Oh yeah, MTV should be music and not those other shows...

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  13. I am an 80s child and yes I remember Rubik's Cube, Cabbage Patch, Walkman and MTV. I was a huge fan of the MTV show like I know a lot of the music videos. I even know what song it is just by looking at the beginning of the music video.. LOL! My mom and dad would tell me to stop watching the show because I got really addicted to watching it. I mean, I grew up in the Philippines (born and raised), but I was so into MTV a lot! Even during HS time me and my classmates would come home from school, watch the show together and buy those posters or our favorite arttist. LOL! Crazy .

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  14. Ohhh my .... talk about memories. I was an 80s child too, hard to believe it's been so long. We've come a long way since then ! :)

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  15. The 80's well some would say I'm still their! I still cut my shirts up and wear them lol and i'm 40 now lol I shaved the sides of my hair in the 80's and Cyndi Lauper was my idol!

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  16. My fondest memory of the 80's is the music. The various genre in the 80's definitely rocked the world yesterday, today and even tomorrow. There's something on it that won't make you grow tired listening to the melodies of the 80's.

    And ahh! The heydays of cassette tapes and the walkman!

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  17. 80's hmmm I was only 7 years old by that year :-) I am still a child and enjoy life to the fullest by playing with my cousins. Those are the years with my happy childhood -)

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  18. Miss the rock best of music from this time

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  19. I love the music in the 80's... melow flow of music and not violent wordings. I remember I used to watch MTV in high school :D

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  20. I don't even know cabbage patch wahhh.

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  21. What a fun decade :)

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  22. Oh the walkman! It was my first gadget. :) I still love the 80's music.

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  23. I was born in late 70's and I do love 80's. I have some good memories during those years.

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  24. I am not a fan of the cabbage patch kids. They have always creeped me out and still do. I am very happy that they eventually went out out toy style.

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  25. I was born in the 80s. I don't really know what was happening around this time since I was too young to understand. but I do love rubik's cube.:)

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