I will admit
it. I got totally sucked into this article about things that made life…life…for kids of the 80s. I was actually
surprised at how many I either didn’t remember at all or I just didn’t participate
in them. (Ahem…video games.) But can we talk about some of them today, because
I have absolutely sailed back into the best parts of my childhood. You can refer
to the original article for pictures and descriptions!
I don’t remember Boondoggles, but I do remember jelly shoes. And
jelly bracelets. I remember how the jelly shoes would eventually crack right at
the toe and rip apart until you had to just beak down and buy new shoes. And I remember the jelly bracelets were thin
and you would pile as many on your wrist as you could, and when you got bored,
you’d weave them together to make chains.
I don’t remember blowing into
Nintendo 64 cartridges, but I do remember carefully extracting cassette
tape from the player after it unwound and tangled. I remember using a pencil to
wind the spool, trying to coax the tape back into place without ripping it so
the tape would still play!
I absolutely can still taste the wooden spoon that came with the
ice cream cups. I also remember the creamsicle push pops that looked like
toilet paper tubes. How many of those did I eat over at the neighbors’ pool the
summers I went swimming there?
I remember the pull-down maps
at school and how irritated the teachers would get when they would pull it all
the way down to make it roll back up…and it wouldn’t. And it was always the map
on top that did that, so the maps underneath became inaccessible.
I don’t remember the Jetsons’
robot maid because I didn’t watch the Jetsons, but I do remember ALF! I
lovvvvvvvvvvvvved ALF!
I remember the webbed lawn
chairs, and for all the nostalgic things I would return to, these are not among
them. They always left weird patterns on the backs of my legs.
I remember the kitchen (corded)
phone and how amazing
it was when Mom and Dad upgraded from rotary to push button. I also remember that
even though I pushed buttons to dial, the tone still sounded like a rotary dial,
so I was always done punching buttons before it was done dialing. I also remember
how amazing it was when they replaced the cord with an extra long cord
so I could stretch it into the utility room and have privacy for my tweenage
conversations. And then they bought a cordless phone, and I could talk
literally anywhere in the house.
I remember the school lunch trays
and the rectangle pizza…and the “beef stew” and bread and butter and cartons of
chocolate milk that sometimes failed to open well. And pudding. So much
pudding.
I remember photo envelopes and developing film in general. I remember
when we all had to wait a week or two to see if everyone had their eyes open
for the picture. I remember when one hour photo development became a
thing – and double prints, for that matter.
I’d forgotten all about the
sit-and-reach box in PE class until I saw this article, but I do remember it
now. I also remember the little squares on wheels that we sat on and pushed with
our feet – and the giant parachute we all grabbed and waved up and down
collectively. I also distinctly remember hiding in the back of the dodgeball
line and then getting pelted with those rubber balls that smarted when they
whacked my legs.
I remember Beverly Cleary books.
And Nancy Drew. And The
Boxcar Children. And books all day. Oh how I loved reading from the very beginning!
I not only remember overhead
projectors, I had one. The grandest gifts were fresh transparency sheets
and new Vis a Vis markers! I also remember when churches started supplementing
hymnals with overhead projectors to share the lyrics to the worship choruses.
And sometimes they’d put the lyric sheet up backwards without realizing it
until people pointed…
I don’t remember rocket slides, but I remember the old metal slides
that scorched you in the sun and often ran out of slide, leaving you stuck
halfway down.
Ahhhh, memories. These made me
smile. How about you? Any of these part of your life – or your kids’ lives?
