What did we have in the 1980's?

[Teaching3bears]

Today I hear about mindfulness, simplicity, gratitude, diversity, hygge, being intentional, having a smaller footprint.

All I remember from my teens in the 1980s was: "We are living in a material world and I am a material girl" and "Girls just wanna have fun" and I do remember everyone being very materialistic.  I wished I had been born in the idealistic 1960s.  

Was that all there was to the 1980s?  Am I forgetting something? 

 

[ktgrok]

Save the whales?

[SquirrellyMama]

I don't personally think we're less materialistic than the 1980's. We just use words like simplicity, being intentional, smaller footprint, mindfulness, etc... to make us feel better.

Kelly

[alisoncooks]

We had "Just Say No"/The war on drugs

I also immediately thought of "we are the world" ?

[Garga]

(I was 8-18 in the 1980s and I think that 80's music stinks.  Sorry.)

[Garga]

Just now, StellaM said:

 

Not forgiven, lol, you heretic!

 

 

?

[LucyStoner]

Lisa Frank.  We had Lisa Frank, the world's weirdest purveyor of school supplies.  Well, people had them.  I mostly just coveted them.  

[BarbecueMom]

1 minute ago, LucyStoner said:

Lisa Frank.  We had Lisa Frank, the world's weirdest purveyor of school supplies.  Well, people had them.  I mostly just coveted them.  

Trapper Keepers full of Lisa Frank folders and notebooks.

Although Trapper Keepers were banned in my school and I could never figure out why.  Mine was an old, tan knock-off anyway.

[ktgrok]

I listen to 80s music while I clean:)

[LucyStoner]

Lisa Frank herself is also weird.  The story of the company is a doozy.  My friend lives in Tuscon and apparently, they regularly hire people who quit or are fired because it's a weird skeleton company and the personalities are legit bizarre.   

https://jezebel.com/inside-the-rainbow-gulag-the-technicolor-rise-and-fall-1179495705?utm_campaign=socialflow_jezebel_facebook&utm_source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

 

[ktgrok]

Degrassi Jr High (the original)

[LucyStoner]

Lace trimmed leggings

Baby Sitter Club Books

 

[gardenmom5]

I was too busy having and taking care of babies to notice.

[Tap]

I remember a lot of "I can do it " and "anyone can achieve anything, you just have to xyz" motivational programs within schools. Girl power and the very beginning of the push for girls in STEM and business fields. 

I remember a lot of environmental talk, especially air/ozone and the beginnings of recycling becoming more mainstream. 

I remember a push to live hard and fast and party harder.  Work the 60 hour work week and then party all weekend.......hence the abundance of cocaine LOL 

I remember After School Specials and TV shows like Facts of Life that tried to help kids understand family drama, suicide, drug addiction and illicit activities and tried to give advice to teens in those situations.

I remember big hair and dark makeup. LOL

I remember the push for everyone to be accepting of each other and that everyone is the same and can have the same things/opportunities. It is a weird contrast to the 'cultural appropriation,' that people now fight.  My view in the 80s was that color/culture/ethos were all going to merge in the future and the way to achieve unity was to accept everyone into one big world. Now it seems like everyone wants their own unique world, and unless your ancestor's genetics predisposed you to certain traits, or your ancestors claimed certain parts of society as part of their culture, then no one else is allowed to explore it. It is like the world cultures are claiming Copyright infringement if someone wears the wrong braids in their hair. I know I am over simplifying these topics, and can't say that one way or the other is right or wrong, just a contrast of current times with my perception of the 80s

[SKL]

I do think there was more can-do in the 80s than now.

Higher education was affordable for middle and working class people.

Health care was affordable.

Volunteering was pretty big in my experience.  (Not forced community service, but actual volunteering.)

Materialism definitely was not more then than now.  Most of us did not relate to Material Girl at all.  We were more interested in what we could do than what we could have.  As kids, most of us had darn little compared to kids today.  We also had more chores and many of us had a job (on top of school / homework), so "just wanna have fun" was also fantasy.  Actually I could not stand Madonna or Cyndi Lauper or either of those songs.  ?

[Ellie]

You know, I was just a mother with young children. The 80's didn't feel any different to me than the 70s or the 90s. Just trying to bring up my children, keep house, love my dh, love God. And it kind of annoys me when people try to characterize the 80s as materialistic or whatever. No. We were all just trying to live our lives, and if we were able to improve our lifestyle some, we did, as every generation has tried to do.

[Stacia]

Feed the World by Band Aid about the famine in Ethiopia (1983-85).

And, songs by U2 like Sunday Bloody Sunday and Pride (In the Name of Love) -- raising social consciousness.

So, some of the music was promoting social causes & awareness.

[SKL]

I identified more with Whitney Houston's The Greatest Love of All, or One Moment in Time, vs. Material Girl / Girls Wanna Have Fun.

We also had Boy George, whom my mom liked a lot for some reason.  ?  My brother used to dress up like him and go outside and sing when my dad was due home from work.  Fun times!

[SKL]

Oh, and my city had an actual football team.  Man how we loved football.

[Wishes]

I remember Hands across America

[Farrar]

In terms of spiritual type movements ... the 80's gave us EST and the Moonies, I guess.

I think it was a sort of material decade. Then again, my parents basically decided to drop out and homestead (though before the term was big), so I didn't necessarily get to participate in all the excesses until the end.

[SKL]

2 hours ago, SquirrellyMama said:

I don't personally think we're less materialistic than the 1980's. We just use words like simplicity, being intentional, smaller footprint, mindfulness, etc... to make us feel better.

Kelly

 

I will say that my friend who is most into all that "mindfulness" stuff is the biggest hoarder I know.  And she is constantly buying new stuff.

Not that mindfulness really has anything to do with how much stuff you have, but ....

[Carol in Cal.]

Guys, you are missing the Main Thing.

We had Flashdance.  Total empowerment--'I can really have it all'.  A girl can be gorgeous, independent, blue collar effective, AND pursuing her dreams.  And everyone will love it.

Well, all that and shoulder pads to match.  

Plus wasn't that the decade where it rained men?  And Whitney Houston got her start on the same album, with 'Eternal Love', the obscure fave that Stephanie Mills made famous later on.

I do not miss Dallas, and I do not miss Big Hair.  But optimism and the go for it mentality were really great.

[Pawz4me]

I was pretty darn busy in the 80's and don't remember a ton. I sure don't think I was materialistic. I was making good money but I was working 80-100 hours a week and had little to no time to shop for anything more than the essential groceries. I worked and I slept and I tried to keep the lawn mowed and my laundry done. Those are the highlights I remember.  

Plus there was no Amazon to make all the things magically appear on my doorstep.

And the grocery store did not have 1000 choices of cereal, milk, bread, detergent, etc.

Mostly I agree with Ellie--There is/was no magic or evil to any particular decade or generation. I don't like to see decades made out to be great or awful any more than I like to see it done to generations (Boomers, Millenials, etc.). I guess I just don't like oversimplification of anything. And that's an age thing. The more history I've witnessed the more I realize how complicated most things are. ?

[ktgrok]

As for materialism...I did have a large collection of big dangly earrings. But I gave up aerosol hairspray in favor of that drasted pump bottle in order to try to save the ozone, so no, I wasn't really. (and we used a ton of hairspray back then, lol)

 

[ktgrok]

I do think society/culture was more upbeat, if not actual people and their lives. I vividly remember music taking a sharp downward turn into melodrama and sadness in the 90's. We went from sex/drugs/rock and roll to existential stuff that made you want to curl up in a ball and cry. 

 

[Carrie12345]

I was only 12 when the 80s ended, but I still love them!  I changed my hair spray to save the world.  I never even had the chance to say no to drugs as a minor, because drugs weren't really being used (by minors, at that time) in my town. Ryan White left an impact. The concept of world hunger got me thinking outside of my little bubble.  Popular music was becoming much less white.  Rock the Vote didn't start until 1990, but that's close enough for me. I knew I was going to vote as soon as I was able.

Helicopter parents weren't a big thing, thank goodness! Even with scary things going on in the world, most parents I knew wanted their kids to exercise their independence and were able to do so without the cops being called.

[HomeAgain]

The 80s were about ignoring reality.  We had the AIDS epidemic and a government that turned their backs on them.  We had a poor financial system and a push away from cash to credit.  It was about appearances of excess - clothes were larger, hair was larger, and people bought more and treated more things as disposable. 

[Carrie12345]

14 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

I do think society/culture was more upbeat, if not actual people and their lives. I vividly remember music taking a sharp downward turn into melodrama and sadness in the 90's. We went from sex/drugs/rock and roll to existential stuff that made you want to curl up in a ball and cry. 

 

Aw, I loved the 90s, too.  I found the expression of angst to be freeing, lol.  "Life sux, so keep your b.s. to yourself as I try to find my way in this messed up world. I'll do it my way!"

[ktgrok]

8 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

Aw, I loved the 90s, too.  I found the expression of angst to be freeing, lol.  "Life sux, so keep your b.s. to yourself as I try to find my way in this messed up world. I'll do it my way!"

The 90's is when I switched to country music, because all that alternative stuff was depressing me, lol. Even my husband, when he listens to 90's music now, is like "OMG why weren't we all catatonic with depression from listening to all this?"

But was also into hair bands like Poison and Warrant so my taste is obviously not high brow lol. 

[Carrie12345]

1 minute ago, Ktgrok said:

The 90's is when I switched to country music, because all that alternative stuff was depressing me, lol. Even my husband, when he listens to 90's music now, is like "OMG why weren't we all catatonic with depression from listening to all this?"

But was also into hair bands like Poison and Warrant so my taste is obviously not high brow lol. 

I'll give you that!

I had a real thing for GnR and Skid Row, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Garth Brooks and Reba MacIntire, and still held onto Billy Joel and Journey.  You really could be anything in the 90s! ?

[fairfarmhand]

I was born in '79. So the 80s are not really my time.

 

But here in the last few months, me and my kids have been rediscovering the music of the 80s. They love it! Such fun music.

[ktgrok]

26 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

I'll give you that!

I had a real thing for GnR and Skid Row, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Garth Brooks and Reba MacIntire, and still held onto Billy Joel and Journey.  You really could be anything in the 90s! ?

I listened (heck, still listen) to all of the above ?

[Bluegoat]

Well, one thing I think of is the 80's was when scientists were really starting to realize the implications of CO2, climate change, and warming.  And it wasn't controversial, either here in Canada or in the US.  Scientists and political types took it seriously and tried to act.  Canada implemented some of the strongest environmental policy we've ever had, under a Conservative government - the PM hired Elizabeth May who is now leader of the federal Green party to deal with environmental policy issues.

It was still controversial too when politicians outright lied, though that was soon to be destroyed in the Regan era.  

I remember people spending a lot more time outside, especially kids.  More chores.  Way, way fewer toys, even the affluent.  Which kind of makes me doubt this stuff about mindfulness and having less.

One interesting thing about the 80s here is there was a massive influx of Buddhists from the US.  They really changed the character of the city in many ways.  That being said, to some extent I associate that group with the whole mindfulness and materialism thing of the 90s and beyond.

I like the music of that era a lot too, even the silly stuff like Material Girl ( a very good karaoke song BTW).  It's fun, there are some great harmonies, you can dance to it.  Some was more serious - like U2 in their pre-Joshua Tree years, and there was still some punk around too.  But Aha, Toto, Pat Benatar, the Thriller album.  Even Bowie put out a great album in the early 80s.

I also think it was a great era for kids' movies.  Disney was still producing some really bad stuff like their 70s things, but OTOH it wasn't this slick generic made by committee marketing thing as we see today, and which has increasingly taken over the whole of the film industry.  There were tie-ins to things like Star Wars of course, but it was low-key compared to today.  But there were movies like ET, Goonies, Adventures in Babysitting.  They were silly at times but also more real (I know parents now who won't let their kids watch these kinds of things.) Even some of the teen stuff was more interesting, though again, not PC in tdays terms.  But more food for thought underneath the silliness - there seemed to be less focus on being didactic and promoting the right values.

 

[Bluegoat]

20 hours ago, LucyStoner said:

Lace trimmed leggings

Baby Sitter Club Books

 

 

Those books are now available in "graphic novel" form.  So weird, they are mostly people sitting around.

[happypamama]

So I taught this US history co-op class for 7-10 year olds this year, from the pre-US beginnings to almost modern times. We looked at a lot of aspects of daily life: music, communication, transportation, housing, food, clothing. (Side note: it’s really true that the best way to learn anything is to teach it yourself.). They REALLY liked the clothing. 

 

Because we had to cancel for illness and weather a couple of times, I ended up having to condense the 60s, 70s, and 80s into one one-hour class. So I brought out pictures of the 60s clothing. They snickered at beehive hairdos. Then I brought out the 70s bell bottoms and sparkly satin jumpsuits, to much giggling. They liked the tie dye Woodstock photos but couldn’t believe people actually wore some of those things. 

 

Then I showed them the 80s/early 90s neon, big hair, shoulder padded jackets, and Zach Morris’s sweaters. And they completely lost it. They were totally horrified. “That’s how our mothers dressed when they were kids??”  It was hilarious!

 

i remember “Just Say No” and “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”  SquareOne, charm necklaces, jelly shoes, brand names being prominent on clothing, video game consoles, heavy metal, and New Kids on the Block. (My little class howeled at the brief clip of NKOTB I showed them.)

 

Oh, and though it wasn’t something my mother bought, apparently microwave popcorn was invented in the 80s. My class liked that I brought that for snack that day. 

[Garga]

I remember that it was during the 80s that we went from firemen to firefighters, policemen to police officers, and stewardesses to flight attendants.  

I remember that it was also when girls’ sports took a jump forward. 

I remember because I wasn’t sure if I should be ok with the changes or not, so they kinda scared me.  Now, of course, I see them as a very good thing, but back then, I remember being confused by the changes in job titles.  And since I hated sports I completely didn’t understand why girls would even want to be part of them—seemed like such a waste of time and something that boys did because boys were goofy like that.  

Obviously the sports thing is a personality thing.  I ended up being married to a man and mother to two sons who all greatly dislike sports.  But I have friends whose girls LOVE them.

[Katy]

Most of the responses mentioned above are in the later 80's rather than most of the decade.

The things mentioned by the OP are a social trend largely because of the economic, political and environmental circumstances of millennials.

If you look at the economic, political and environmental circumstances in the 80's baby boomers were coming out of a cycle of the poverty of youth, getting away from the fallout of the Vietnam war and environmental issues (like the oil embargo), so the trend was at least initially for everything to increase- cars got bigger, jewelry got bigger, ceilings that had previously been lowered for heating efficiency started to rise again. Trump became a celebrity.  A generation raised in the midst of political turmoil and legitimate reasons to distrust government found their fears and hopes groomed by Regan - get government out of your lives and the economy will boom, improving your lives. Media with similar themes about libertarian-ism and economic prosperity (Little House on the Prairie, the Cosby Show) showed how great life could be without government and with economic prosperity.

[Jen500]

My parents told me that mortgage interest rates were very high in the 80's--up to 18% I think.

[MFG]

9 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

I was too busy having and taking care of babies to notice.

This is why I call the 1980s my lost decade. Pregnancy/nursing brain through the whole time.

[Pawz4me]

21 minutes ago, Jen500 said:

My parents told me that mortgage interest rates were very high in the 80's--up to 18% I think.

True. I think the average national mortgage interest rate in 1981 (or at least somewhere in the very early 80's) was around 17 percent for a 30 year mortgage. My BIL and SIL's first mortgage was 14 percent. I cannot imagine. By the time I bought my first house in the fall of 1985 the rates were much more reasonable. I don't remember exactly how much mine was, but I want to say somewhere around 8 percent for a 15 year loan. Which of course still sounds astronomical to many younger people nowadays (and even to most of us older folks who've gotten so used to lower rates).

[wintermom]

Boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics. 

1984 LA Summer Olympics and the birth of Olympic games becoming somewhat self-sustaining instead of completely government funded by the host city. Canada is still paying for our Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics.

What is now considered "Classic Rock" mostly came from the 80s - and is also most of the "Elevator Music" I hear. ?

AIDS

 

 

[marbel]

1 hour ago, Bluegoat said:

<snip>

I like the music of that era a lot too, even the silly stuff like Material Girl ( a very good karaoke song BTW).  It's fun, there are some great harmonies, you can dance to it.  Some was more serious - like U2 in their pre-Joshua Tree years, and there was still some punk around too.  But Aha, Toto, Pat Benatar, the Thriller album.  Even Bowie put out a great album in the early 80s.

<snip.

 

Even Bowie?  

I was born in 1956 and remember Beatlemania and some of the early days of Rock and Roll.  (Having a brother 10 years older helped; we had all the records.)  

The 80s were the best decade of music, by far.  

And Bowie?!  Oh my.  Though maybe you mean he was more 1970s, which I think is possibly the worst decade in music overall.  Except for Bowie.

:-)  Just having fun here.  :-)

[Bluegoat]

23 minutes ago, marbel said:

 

Even Bowie?  

I was born in 1956 and remember Beatlemania and some of the early days of Rock and Roll.  (Having a brother 10 years older helped; we had all the records.)  

The 80s were the best decade of music, by far.  

And Bowie?!  Oh my.  Though maybe you mean he was more 1970s, which I think is possibly the worst decade in music overall.  Except for Bowie.

? Just having fun here.  ?

 

Yes, I tend to associate him, musically, more with the 70s.  If I recall correctly, Let's Dance had almost a comeback vibe to it - people wonder if he was past it and were happy it was such a great album.

I like quite a lot of 60's and 70's music too.  I don't know that I'd say the 80s was better, just different.  Sometimes it could get too electronic and a little thin sounding.  Too much reliance on drum machines and such.

I felt like the 90s was really the lost decade for music.

[Bluegoat]

4 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

Awe, I have SO many amazing albums from the 90’s.  Everything from Sixteen Stone to Surfacing to The Woman In Me and scads between.  

 

For country, actually, I’d say it was the best decade of the last fifty.

 

I was thinking of pop/rock music.  The whole grunge trend didn't produce much that was lasting.  There was some ok R&B though - I think that has actually gone downhill in the 2000.

I can't listen to pop country, but there has been some good alt country in the last few decades.

[marbel]

24 minutes ago, Bluegoat said:

 

Yes, I tend to associate him, musically, more with the 70s.  If I recall correctly, Let's Dance had almost a comeback vibe to it - people wonder if he was past it and were happy it was such a great album.

I like quite a lot of 60's and 70's music too.  I don't know that I'd say the 80s was better, just different.  Sometimes it could get too electronic and a little thin sounding.  Too much reliance on drum machines and such.

I felt like the 90s was really the lost decade for music.

I guess I think of Bowie as 80s  because in early 1990 I saw him on tour and it was hands down, by far, the best concert I have ever seen.  

[sassenach]

John Hughes movies. 

 

[sassenach]

30 minutes ago, Bluegoat said:

 

Yes, I tend to associate him, musically, more with the 70s.  If I recall correctly, Let's Dance had almost a comeback vibe to it - people wonder if he was past it and were happy it was such a great album.

I like quite a lot of 60's and 70's music too.  I don't know that I'd say the 80s was better, just different.  Sometimes it could get too electronic and a little thin sounding.  Too much reliance on drum machines and such.

I felt like the 90s was really the lost decade for music.

The 90’s was the best music. But probably most people feel that way about whatever decade they were a teen. 

[gardenmom5]

1 hour ago, Jen500 said:

My parents told me that mortgage interest rates were very high in the 80's--up to 18% I think.

as high as 21% in the very early 80's.   then they started coming down.  that's why they came out with ARMs, and we refi'd several times in the 80's.  one year - we paid an extra $100 a month on our mortgage.  dh's goal was to have it all paid off.   a year later when we refi'd - it was as if we'd been paying on it for seven years - our equity was that much higher, just from paying a bit extra.   it's more effective early in the life of a loan when most of the payment is going towards interest.

[TechWife]

I remember some good stuff: Saturday Night Live, music videos, fall of Berlin Wall

I remember some bad stuff: AIDS, Apartheid, Black Monday, Panama, Challenger, Desert Storm, San Francisco earthquake

The bad stuff happened when I was in college or shortly after I graduated (I loved college). Desert Storm was particularly difficult because I knew many people in the Army. That was my real introduction to adulthood. When combined with the recession that started as I was graduating, my entry into adulthood wasn't so fun. Friends at war, underemployed and living in my parents' basement. The 80's set up all of that. The fact is, I learned fairly quickly when I got out of college, that there is always bad stuff happening somewhere in the world and there always had been, I was just oblivious, either to its existence or to its importance. I think (hope) teens today are a bit more aware, but I'm really not sure if they are.