Let me just tell you that the oldest millennials have turned 42 this year. And while we’re well aware of the fact we’re no kids, we don’t feel that ancient either. Dad jokes and cargo pants seem to be a boomer thing, but what if we’re not that far from them?
So today, my fellow millennials, we’re about to feel not just old, but ancient thanks to this walk down memory lane right back to our simpler and happier childhood days.
“The Ultimate '80s Page” Facebook page is a notorious source for nostalgia–inducing content, and below we wrapped up some of the best examples shared here. The page’s whopping 2.7M followers show just how much we all relate to the long gone days, and honestly, it’s no surprise.
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Lauren McMenemy, a professional writer, journalist, and writing coach who runs workshops and training to help people get their words down right, told Bored Panda that the immediate thought when someone says "1980s" is the cliches: “neon, big hair, shoulder pads, power ballads. It was an era of multitudes.”
She commented: “There was indeed that break-out fun, bright and fluffy, everyone's excited angle - but there was also the ‘Greed is Good’ angle, the Wall Street tycoons, the money-at-all-costs which really started to dominate at this time (and still does).”
When you get a perfect picture but your finger sticks out in the corner…
Dear other generations: Just in case you forgot, we drank from garden hoses. Sincerely, GenX.
Lauren argues that what was unique about the '80s - aka her childhood - “was the sense of adventure and exploration, particularly as technology started to infiltrate the home. It was the first era of home computing consoles, of Nintendo and Atari.” So for her, as a kid, it was the absolute best time.
I got to spin the wheel once (relative works for CBS & he was giving us a backstage tour). It's *really* heavy.
Since the '80s style, from clothing to music, has been coming back to fashion in recent years, we asked Lauren why she thinks this bygone era has this enduring appeal.
Lauren believes that there isn't anything unique about the '80s that's driving this comeback. “As humans, we are inherently nostalgic, and there seems to be a trend that we go back every 30 and/or 50 years.”
In fact, Lauren argues, “in the '80s, we were obsessed with the '50s. In the '90s, it was the '60s, and so on. It's a long enough time-lapse that we can remember things with rose-tinted glasses.”
and it is resistant, since the 70s, we are in the 4th generation to play with, still works "Ding!" !
I have a car that pre-dates wind-up windows. It has side screens with a sliding panel! Always fun trying to get a ticket from a car park barrier with the roof on. I have to put my elbow out first and then extend my arm.
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Do today's kids say "roll down the window?" Do they even know what that means? What about "hang up the phone?" These things are not valid verbs for the devices they are used to.
These have actually made a big comeback, since people now know what a nightmare it is to try and fix/replace automatic windows. My 2010 has them.
Plus if your car becomes unfortunately submerged in a pond, lake your electric windows won't work, right?
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Boss move was managing to partially open the passenger window from the driver seat on the freeway cuz no AC but didn't want the noise right in your ear. And your car was size "seats about 20" "it's as big as a whale".
Thanks for the B52s ear worm! I'm a Planet Claire fan myself.
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Omg these were so annoying. Especially if you're the one driving and someone leaves the window down in the back so now YOU need to go over to it to roll it back up. Don't miss this at all.
Or as a driver you courted death by trying dangerous flexibility with your arm and winding it up behind you. I once had an near stand up argument in the car showroom with my husband when he was trying to force me to agree to purchase a new car with no electric windows after having them in my old car. That was the hill I chose to die on.
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I miss these have you ever tried opening an electric window a tiny bit just to get a little bit of air, it's a nightmare!
My ‘86 bmw has electric windows, but my 2016 truck does not. Lol
My dad had a '07 vehicle with power windows, my moms '15 has cranks! Guess who got tired of the repair bills for having fancy options fixed?
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Kids today will never know why we say “roll down the window”. I actually had a zoomer kid who was telling me a story and instead of doing the motion for roll down the window he “pressed” the button. I felt so old in that moment
The window down was the easy part 🤪. Getting it back up required two arms!
Anyone else still hear their parents in their heads, "Don't forget to lock your door!" Followed by a heavy metal slam as the door closed.
Or the struggle when it slips off the rail and your window is stuck in limbo
My 85 Chevy chevette had those. Of course by the time I got done with the car there was just a pair of vice grips along with the missing rare window holes in the roof and puke in the folded over back seat. I miss those days
Before we were married, my husband had a '76 Chevette. He chuckled at your comment. What a tin can!
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I'd love to restore a classic car, keep the crank for the look, but install an electric mechanism that you "crank" it clockwise to roll down and counter clockwise to roll up
at least when crank windows are "frozen shut", you can brute force them
I love how the winding hand signal is still used by police etc. It's like the floppy disc icon being used for saving, youngsters probably don't even know where they originated
Especially if something gets spilled in it! Had a girl at Dog 'N' Suds spill my tray, when she was handing me my food. The soda went all over and into my door, and my window was never the same, lol. I wasn't mad though. My car was an old beater, anyway. It was just an accident. And the poor girl was just a kid, and she was absolutely mortified. I still feel bad for her, 20 years later.
How many of y'all had that window that wouldn't go back up, so you'd have to yank it up with one hand while you furiously cranked with the other?
or how flimsy they were. I kept breaking the handles off trying to get the dumb things to wind down
I would rather have these than power. I had to replace power, it was expensive.
My brother has a '99 jeep Cherokee that has these so believe me I know exactly how much strength it takes to roll down those windows
But they go up and down so much faster when you do it yourself!! No window motors giving out
I drive a 2014 Smart Fortwo; has a hand-crank window--but heated seats🤷♀️
I do, my grandma has a car with one of those, that handle is committed to staying exactly where it is 😂
I have a 2017 Chevy Spark. It even has a back up camera.... but crank windows! Its the weirdest thing!
Or that you can avoid getting wet when someone next you drives through a puddle, ‘cause I can roll that window way faster than the motor raises it.
The universal sign language for "roll down the window" which isn't miming pushing a button
I think it's safer, when you need to get out of your car in an emergency
I'm 19 and can confirm, I know how hard these can be. I've got them in the back doors of my car, and they are still common in cars in my area (not new ones obviously).
Unless you drive a Jeep Wrangler. They still have them. So does the tiny little car my coworker drives.
Or be driving and roll down the passenger side window WITHOUT having an accident! Skills
The "roll window down motion" is still used even though most windows are electric now.
Especially with snow and ice and everyone was smoking in the car and I'm 7.
My moms 2015 Chevy still has crank windows. So did her previous car. Lucky her doesn't know the pain of paying +$1k for a power switch. I miss my 2005 S-10 manual transmission with crank windows.
I remember these from the car we had a few years ago, I'm a teenager XD
I had a 2007 Toyota Yaris with this. My GenZ kiddos had the pleasure of riding in it. I upgraded in 2015, and my top of my must-have list were automatic windows and remote locks. I can’t tell you how many times I accidentally locked my keys in the Yaris… running as well.
I truly miss those because they always work. Electric windows fail and you're stuck with a window that won't open. I read a story recently of a woman who was trapped in a Tesla after the battery died and she called Emergency Services because she was freezing to death. The windows were closed and the locks were engaged. The fireman was considering breaking a window but he looked up the owner's manual online and found instructions to unlock the door with an emergency bypass.
Exactly! I’ve replaced soooo many window regulators in my life. Older BMW’s are notorious for having them go out.
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We also asked Lauren what’s her favorite '80s thing, and she said it’s “Back to the Future. Hands down, my favorite movie ever. And you get the double whammy of '80s and '50s nostalgia, too!”
“I'm also partial to hair metal and power ballads; put on The Final Countdown by Europe and I'll sing at the top of my lungs,” she added.
I recently went to a high school reunion. Those of us who are still alive are turning 75 this year. :)
We called the theatre phone number and listened to the recorded listings on repeat
I'll can tell you, as the teacher writing on and teaching from an overhead projector, that thing gave off massive amounts of heat! I pitied the kid sitting behind it.
I remember when those were called "hard disks" and floppy disks were larger and literally floppy.
Maybe, but Ford has had a spontaneous combustion issue WAY before Tesla. Think it started with the Windstar
“I have little feet because nothing grows in the shade.” - Dolly Parton Don’t you just love her. And here’s a cheesy joke. Q. How can you spot Dolly's children in a crowd? A. They're the ones with stretch marks round their mouths.
Yeah we had some, bloody horrific seeing them again. Somethings you don't need reminding of
Is this American? I think the UK equivalent is chip paper and those foam ceiling tiles!
"UUUUUUPPPPP next it's COUPLE'S skate!!! Grab your sweetheart and head to the floor!!!!" ::: Every middle schooler::::: immediately skates to the exit
OMFG! I got this toy and I loved it I was convinced that I was going to be a fashion designer. I'm not.
By the time I was a kid we were playing Cruisin' USA. We earned those book-it pizzas.
Lol it's true. There was a point where everything had to be see-through so we can see the workings inside. Phones, toys, etc.
I remember the day they replaced the blackboards in my school with whiteboards (2001)
A lot of my pants cut off around the ankles because I have long legs. I still rock these bad boys.
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I don't even care that I commented on almost every post. This was the best compilation I've ever seen on BP. I was borne in 80 and my brother in 81. We were 11 months apart. He died in 2020... I relived so many memories with him; things I haven't thought about in decades... This made my day 🥹 I miss you, man. ♥️
I agree this is the best one, took me waaaaay back. Sorry about your brother 😞
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Like always, many of these still exist, or were at least still around in the 2000s. Still enjoy reminiscing but linking them to a single generation (or this case a decade) is not factual.
And like always, many of these existed long before the 80s.
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Usually I don't like these kinds of posts; they end up being so "We're cooler than millennials" type things. But this one celebrated the sheer insanity of age without criticizing (much, anyway). Mainly I just enjoyed being feral and wearing my jelly shoes. I wouldn't go back, though.
I'm a 90s kid, there were loads of upsides, but I don't miss being called 'Gay' as an insult and I don't miss the bullying and general awful treatment of women by the media
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I’m a boomer and this was so much fun to go through. Some of this was also from my childhood. All of these are so great to remember. Smiled through the whole thing. Thanks BO. Best one in a long time.
Agreed. Why the concept was there, it took hold in the US and UK particularly and.... yeeesh. What a ....
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I wish I was born earlier y’all!!! No offense or hate to my generation, but I feel like an old soul. I loved seeing you guys talk about the good times in the old days I had no part in 😭😅 and talking about some stuff I didn’t know about… y’all probably sounded as crazy as my generation’s slang heheh
Stop acting like there's any decade that wasn't a sh*t show. Please. Warm fuzzy nostalgia for Grandma's cookies, fine. For any given decade or era as if it wasn't horrible in its own ways, no.
This generational argument over who had it best is so exhausting. Everyone's experience is relative. What I don't get is that so many adults actually have no idea who today's kids are outside of social media. They're smarter and more aware of global issues than we ever were. And our generations mucked it up for them too. We created those cell phones. We created that demon you call technology. Kids today are only living the life we planned for them.
Yes! to all my fellow GenXers... we are the most amazing generation and this post proves it!
They are missing the View Master and there miniature versions of the View Master that was the size of two flash drives which I can not remember the name of. Does anyone know?
considering I was born in '95, I can still relate to quite a lot of these hehe x3
Went to so many good concerts as a teen in the 80’s. Once I had tickets to see my fav band (besides Duran Duran -saw them in 1984 Maple Leaf Gardens - first concert ever), Platinum Blonde as part of the Kingswood $5 concert series at Canada’s Wonderland. Met Chris Steffler and Sergio Galli waiting in line at the broken down MineBuster roller coaster ride and talked to them for half an hour & they signed my tickets. Later in the 90’s would hang out with Kenny MacLean doing gigs in Toronto bars as my sister dated his keyboard player. He asked if I wanted to meet my former teen crush, the gorgeous Mark Holmes who was playing pool nearby but I croaked No because my sis had embarrassed my sensitive 22 year-old self by saying to everyone at the table how I was part of their fan club and drew pictures of him. So dumb. Who cares now? I should have said yes and I think he heard me and looked a little disappointed. Sorry Mark! Kenny was a great guy.
*inhales, it's time to be that kid* AcTuLlY aside from the technology and general safety, kids today can relate to most of these! Just because you grew up in a different time period does not mean that you miss out on the simple joys of childhood.
Me being born in 2004 and relating to most of these... This was a great list. I am obsessed with all things 80s, so much so that I want a Macintosh from '84.
So many of these were around way before and way after the 80s. A lot of this list is true for 2000s kids too. Y’all act like y’all are tougher or superior because y’all didn’t have modern tech. Calm down.
I’m a young GenXer (‘79) and I’ll say this: Nostalgia is a dangerous thing. It’s okay to look back and have fond memories but we shouldn’t think ourselves superior simply because our childhood was different. There are things we’ve lost but also those we’ve gained and that’s okay. Onward and upward.
Kids thee days will never know the true meaning of carefree play.
I don't even care that I commented on almost every post. This was the best compilation I've ever seen on BP. I was borne in 80 and my brother in 81. We were 11 months apart. He died in 2020... I relived so many memories with him; things I haven't thought about in decades... This made my day 🥹 I miss you, man. ♥️
I agree this is the best one, took me waaaaay back. Sorry about your brother 😞
Load More Replies... Like always, many of these still exist, or were at least still around in the 2000s. Still enjoy reminiscing but linking them to a single generation (or this case a decade) is not factual.
And like always, many of these existed long before the 80s.
Load More Replies... Usually I don't like these kinds of posts; they end up being so "We're cooler than millennials" type things. But this one celebrated the sheer insanity of age without criticizing (much, anyway). Mainly I just enjoyed being feral and wearing my jelly shoes. I wouldn't go back, though.
I'm a 90s kid, there were loads of upsides, but I don't miss being called 'Gay' as an insult and I don't miss the bullying and general awful treatment of women by the media
Load More Replies... I’m a boomer and this was so much fun to go through. Some of this was also from my childhood. All of these are so great to remember. Smiled through the whole thing. Thanks BO. Best one in a long time.
Agreed. Why the concept was there, it took hold in the US and UK particularly and.... yeeesh. What a ....
Load More Replies... I wish I was born earlier y’all!!! No offense or hate to my generation, but I feel like an old soul. I loved seeing you guys talk about the good times in the old days I had no part in 😭😅 and talking about some stuff I didn’t know about… y’all probably sounded as crazy as my generation’s slang heheh
Stop acting like there's any decade that wasn't a sh*t show. Please. Warm fuzzy nostalgia for Grandma's cookies, fine. For any given decade or era as if it wasn't horrible in its own ways, no.
This generational argument over who had it best is so exhausting. Everyone's experience is relative. What I don't get is that so many adults actually have no idea who today's kids are outside of social media. They're smarter and more aware of global issues than we ever were. And our generations mucked it up for them too. We created those cell phones. We created that demon you call technology. Kids today are only living the life we planned for them.
Yes! to all my fellow GenXers... we are the most amazing generation and this post proves it!
They are missing the View Master and there miniature versions of the View Master that was the size of two flash drives which I can not remember the name of. Does anyone know?
considering I was born in '95, I can still relate to quite a lot of these hehe x3
Went to so many good concerts as a teen in the 80’s. Once I had tickets to see my fav band (besides Duran Duran -saw them in 1984 Maple Leaf Gardens - first concert ever), Platinum Blonde as part of the Kingswood $5 concert series at Canada’s Wonderland. Met Chris Steffler and Sergio Galli waiting in line at the broken down MineBuster roller coaster ride and talked to them for half an hour & they signed my tickets. Later in the 90’s would hang out with Kenny MacLean doing gigs in Toronto bars as my sister dated his keyboard player. He asked if I wanted to meet my former teen crush, the gorgeous Mark Holmes who was playing pool nearby but I croaked No because my sis had embarrassed my sensitive 22 year-old self by saying to everyone at the table how I was part of their fan club and drew pictures of him. So dumb. Who cares now? I should have said yes and I think he heard me and looked a little disappointed. Sorry Mark! Kenny was a great guy.
*inhales, it's time to be that kid* AcTuLlY aside from the technology and general safety, kids today can relate to most of these! Just because you grew up in a different time period does not mean that you miss out on the simple joys of childhood.
Me being born in 2004 and relating to most of these... This was a great list. I am obsessed with all things 80s, so much so that I want a Macintosh from '84.
So many of these were around way before and way after the 80s. A lot of this list is true for 2000s kids too. Y’all act like y’all are tougher or superior because y’all didn’t have modern tech. Calm down.
I’m a young GenXer (‘79) and I’ll say this: Nostalgia is a dangerous thing. It’s okay to look back and have fond memories but we shouldn’t think ourselves superior simply because our childhood was different. There are things we’ve lost but also those we’ve gained and that’s okay. Onward and upward.
Kids thee days will never know the true meaning of carefree play.
