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75 Photos That Bring Back The Good Memories Of Life In The ‘80s
Forty-six years ago, the world welcomed the ’80s. It was an era of bright neon colors, big hair, unforgettable music, and the rise of modern gaming. Few people probably realized then just how iconic those years would become.
Like every decade, though, the ’80s eventually came and went. Now, all we can do is look back and enjoy the nostalgia. We gathered some of the best throwback posts from the Old School Cool ’80s subreddit to bring those memories flooding back. So if you grew up during this time, fair warning: they might hit you right in the feels.
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#1
Remember When These Were The Norm
RELATED:
#2
Do You Remember Being Kept Entertained With One Of These?
Sue Denham 3 hours ago
Great fun. And if you got totally frustrated you could pull all the tiles out and put them back in the right order.
#3
Who Remembers The Free Little Bottles Of Milk Every Morning School?
Imagine you woke up this morning and somehow ended up back in 1985. You reach for a can of Aqua Net and tease your hair as tall as physically possible. The radio kicks on and Madonna is blasting through the speakers.
You throw on a windbreaker, grab a Pop-Tart on the way out the door, and head off to meet your friends at the arcade. Sounds like a pretty solid morning to us.
#4
Who Else’s Parents Had One Of These In The 80’s. Classic
#5
I Remember Warming Myself Infront Of This On A Winter Morning Before School
Gracie Jay 3 hours ago
Try fighting over this in the morning with 6 siblings!:) jk, you’d actually be surprised how well kids could rotate turns warming up when you’re still mostly asleep in the morning. You stand in front of it on high till your about to catch fire, then move over. It’s one of the only things we didn’t have to fight over:)
#6
Do You Remember This Piece Of Apparatus From School?
Sadly, none of us actually have a time machine tucked away in the garage. Reminiscing is about as close as we can get, and it usually comes with a soft ache. That feeling even has a name with a pretty interesting origin story.
According to Time magazine, the word “nostalgia” was coined all the way back in the 1600s by a Swiss medical student. He used it to describe homesick soldiers fighting in European wars, and it basically translates to a kind of pain about returning home.
#7
Who Remembers These Bad Boys. Used To Love Em
#8
Do You Remember Fuzzy Felt?
#9
Remember This?
For a long stretch of history, people genuinely thought nostalgia was a medical problem. Clay Routledge, a psychologist at the Human Flourishing Lab, told Time it was “originally thought of as a brain disease.”
Some of the early theories were pretty out there. Doctors floated ideas about demonic forces being at play, and at one point folks even blamed the clanging of cowbells for damaging soldiers’ inner ears. Scholars kept treating that yearning feeling like something dangerous for centuries after.
#10
The Old Days
#11
I Could Just Eat A Packet Of These, Much Better Than Today’s Version
#12
Anyone Remember Reading Adrian Mole?
Turns out they had it backwards. Newer research, including studies Routledge himself has led, shows that missing the past can actually be really good for you. It helps you feel more connected to the people around you and softens judgment toward folks who might seem different from you.
Leaning into old memories can also boost your self-esteem and add a real sense of meaning to your everyday life. Some studies even suggest it can make you a little happier overall.
#13
Only Ever Had These At Christmas , Used To Love Em
#14
Who Remember?
T'Mar of Vulcan 3 hours ago
We still have these in South Africa. We call them "prefabs" because they were prefabricated.
#15
Remember This Bad Boy?
Gracie Jay 3 hours ago
Did it manage to always stop you from riding it barefoot? Me either:) I’d always regret it though!
As much as nostalgia belongs to the past, though, it has a way of pointing us to the future. Someone might think back on summers spent with a grandma who’s no longer around, feel that familiar pang of sadness, and then use those memories as motivation to build something similar with their own kids.
As Routledge put it, “It’s looking backwards, but it’s because you want ideas for how to move forward.” Pretty cool way to reframe the whole thing.
#16
Was Anyone Else Given Lucozade As A Cure-All?
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 2 hours ago
Still use this in my house. Not so much a cure-all, as a way of getting hydrated after being sick.
#17
Do You Remember When Smarties Lids Had A Letter Underneath?
#18
Did You Have Stickle Bricks At School?
So besides scrolling through throwback posts like the ones on this list, there are some fun ways to really soak up that warm fuzzy feeling. One easy option is putting together a playlist of songs from your teens and twenties, since that’s the music most people gravitate toward for the rest of their lives.
Think “Take On Me” by a-ha, a bit of Whitney Houston, some Prince, maybe “Livin’ on a Prayer” for good measure.
#19
Anyone Else Remember When Easter Eggs Were Actually Chocolate With The Sweets Inside
#20
Loved Having These! Always Went For The Panda 🤭
#21
Another Use For Tape
Food is another easy one. One study cited by Time found that people reach for comfort meals from their past when they’re feeling isolated.
Smells are especially powerful, whether that’s a Sunday pot roast simmering on the stove or fresh cookies coming out of the oven. If you grew up in the ’80s, you might want to break out the fondue set or dig up a box of Dunkaroos while you’re at it.
#22
Do You Remember Danger Mouse?
#24
Do These Bring Back Memories To Write Home About?
Even better, none of this has to be a solo activity. Call up an old friend or invite the family over and put on a movie like The Breakfast Club. Swap stories about mixtapes and whatever wild fashion choices you made back then.
The whole point of nostalgia is that it brings people closer, and sharing it out loud tends to make it hit even stronger. So tell us in the comments what you miss most about the ’80s, and please don’t hold back on the details.
#25
Did Anyone Have One Of These Beauties?
#26
The Myth That The Pink Side Removed Pencil And The Blue Removed Ink
#27
Remember This ?
#28
Do You Remember The Days Of Picking A Film From The Video Shop?
#29
Anyone Else's Nan Have A Knitted Toilet Roll Protector? 😄
Roman Arendt 55 minutes ago
Was it just a German thing that (older) people had these on the "hat board" (the board above the boot) of the car?
#30
Did You Ever Eat It Straight From The Packet?
#31
Anyone Remember This?
#33
Do You Remember These? I Put Them On My Pens
#34
Do You Remember Watching The Coins You Put In, Snake All The Way Down?
#35
Who Remembers The Feeling Of Getting A Brand New One Of These. (UK)
#36
Anyone Remember The Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon?
#37
Did You Watch This?
#38
Do You Remember These?
Daisydaisy 2 hours ago
Iced Vovos- they still sell them in Australia but the marshmallow is flat now, not those cute fluffy balls
#39
You Either Had Freezing Cold Water Or Boiling Hot Water Come Out Of It!
#40
The Worst Sweet Ever?
OneWithRatsAndKefir 1 hour ago
Whenever we got candy in secondary school (we had a study supervisor who would occasionally let everybody have one sweetie from a box for good studying), I always picked these if I could. Overly sugary, sweet, loved the slight chalkiness, smelled nice (like sugar and chalk, surprise surprise).
#42
Love It Or Loathe It?
#43
Do You Remember Chocolate Limes?
#44
Do You Remember Topic (Before Chocolate Was Ruined)
#45
Old School Money Box
#46
Remember These?
OneWithRatsAndKefir 2 hours ago
Had a few and got to use them indoors with two friends. Was supposed to chuck them on the floor so it could be easily cleaned up; then got the idea to throw one up at the ceiling. Mark is still visible to this day and nobody got in trouble because no major damage done, just a subtle dusty/dark mark left behind.
#47
Vehicles Of My Childhood
Ace 2 hours ago
These are all earlier than the 80s, the last one actually being around 1968. For you kids, the last letter of the number plate indicated the year of registration, G was from Aug 1968-Aug 1969. It was common to refer to the number plate rather than the year itself when talking about the age of a car.
#48
Did Your Mum Buy One Of These For The Hall Carpet?
#49
Do You Remember Sliding Down One Of These On A Hot Day? It Was Red Hot To Touch!
#53
Do You Remember Half Pennies?
David Paterson 3 hours ago
Ugh. Mine had a kangaroo on the front and Queen Elizabeth on the back.
#55
It Wasn’t A Birthday Party If You Didn’t Have These
PhilosophicalPanda 1 hour ago
The orange ones have disappeared, the colours aren't as vibrant anymore, I'm guessing due to E numbers in dyes. Sad depressing pastel colours now. I miss the orange ones!
#56
Did You Have An Airing Cupboard? Keeping All Your Towels Warm?
#57
Who Else Liked Take Hart (1977-1983)
#58
Who Remembers The Original Sherbet Fountain In The Paper Wrapper?
#59
Do You Remember Paper £1 Notes?
#61
Easter Egg Nostalgia
#62
Do You Remember The Rubik Snake?
#64
Imagine The Excitement Of Opening This, On Christmas Day, In The 1980s!
#66
Do You Remember Golf Ball Chewing Gum?
#67
Anyone Else Remember These?
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 2 hours ago
I had these on my bike. They were free inside boxes of cornflakes.
#68
Anyone Fancy A Screwball ?
#69
Waiting Ages For The Bottle To Be Empty Then Filling It With Water To Write On The Pavement Or Use In Water Fights
#70
When You Went To Class, The Teacher Says Your Doing Something Different Today.. And You See This ! 😁
#71
Did Anyone Have One Of These, Back In The Day?
#72
Did Anyone Else Learn To Wire A Plug At School?
#73
Maybe A Long Shot But Does Anyone Remember Chockablock?
#75
Anyone Remember Astro Wars?
Gracie Jay 3 hours ago
They had versions of that on lots of consoles, Nick, I still like it:) I think we had it on either Atari or Nintendo
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What do you think ?
Kiki Likes Sweets 2 hours ago
That was great! Mostly UK things so as an Australian all really familiar to me, thanks!!!
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 2 hours ago
Yes, nice to have a list that isn't entirely US-centric.
Load More Replies... Gracie Jay 3 hours ago
Well I don’t feel too old, I didn’t know what at least half of these were:)
Charlie the Cat 2 hours ago
Guess I'm old then. I remember every single one.
Load More Replies... Kiki Likes Sweets 2 hours ago
That was great! Mostly UK things so as an Australian all really familiar to me, thanks!!!
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 2 hours ago
Yes, nice to have a list that isn't entirely US-centric.
Load More Replies... Gracie Jay 3 hours ago
Well I don’t feel too old, I didn’t know what at least half of these were:)
Charlie the Cat 2 hours ago
Guess I'm old then. I remember every single one.
Load More Replies...
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