The 80s, myth and reality?

[HoosierDaddy]

Was there no periods after every sentence in the eighties or is that a new phenomenon..??

 

[scotrace]

This is an early one from the 60s, but I mostly remember the brief, sung campaign:

To get right to the heart of the matter
Where there's smoke
Where there's smoke
WHERE THERE'S SMOKE

Anncr: "Where there's smoke, there's danger of heart disease and cancer."

I remember that one up into the 80s.

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[Trenchfriend]

Were versatile pocketknifes still common around US-kids and teens, in the 80s?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Those anti-smoking spots from the 60s were required by law. After the Surgeon General's report, the idea that we allowed cigarettes to be freely advertised on television and radio quickly became untenable. A ban on such advertising, taking effect after January 1, 1971, was enacted -- and as part of the runup to it, stations were required to air one unpaid anti-smoking PSA for every paid cigarette commercial they broadcast. This gave stations a serious incentive to start ramping back on the cigarette advertising they accepted during the last years in which such spots were allowed.

Cigar and chewing tobacco advertising was not included in the ban, and you still saw the occastional TV spot for such products until 1986, when the ban was extended to include smokeless tobacco. Cigar and pipe tobacco commercials are technically still legal, but they are heavily restricted as to content, which effectively discourages their use.

 

[Juanito]

It seems that with the exception of myself and a couple others, the 1980s were not viewed favorably. That begs the question: If the 80s were so bad, what decade was better and why? Extra points if you actually lived through it.

 

[green papaya]

Were versatile pocketknifes still common around US-kids and teens, in the 80s?

Yes, high school kids would often carry a large pocketknife in a belt pouch to school , especially the "cowboy types"

they wore a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, wore a pocket knife in a leather pouch, and a can of chewing tobacco in their rear pocket

 

[Frunobulax]

Yes, high school kids would often carry a large pocketknife in a belt pouch to school , especially the "cowboy types"

they wore a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, wore a pocket knife in a leather pouch, and a can of chewing tobacco in their rear pocket

And a trucker's wallet.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[Juanito]

Were versatile pocketknifes still common around US-kids and teens, in the 80s?

Just with the farm kids or farmer wannabes.

The hilarious part about that is that the FFA (Future Farmers of America) club was mostly farmer wannabes since most of the actual kids that came from farms didn't want to have anything to do with more farming and a club run by a non-farming shop teacher.

 

[BlueTrain]

I was born in the 1940s and so I lived through all the decades since then. Mostly they just sort of run together without any distinctive break, although I divide my life into certain segments, but not neatly by decade. And I see the rest of time that way, too. For instance, the 1950s only ended in 1963. And the 1960s only ended in around 1974. There was a brief interval between then and when I got married in 1979. It's been steady since then without a break.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It seems that with the exception of myself and a couple others, the 1980s were not viewed favorably. That begs the question: If the 80s were so bad, what decade was better and why? Extra points if you actually lived through it.

Why does it lead to that question? Who says any decade has to be compared empirically and in totality against any other, even assuming such a comparison is possible? Trenchie's original question simply sought impressions from those of us who lived thru the 1980s, and most of us, it seems, were not especially fond of or impressed by what we saw going on around us.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Were versatile pocketknifes still common around US-kids and teens, in the 80s?

I've carried a Girl Scout knife since the 1970s, and find it useful all the time -- stripping wire, opening packages, undoing or tightening screws, slicing apples, cleaning fingernails, chipping ice off frozen car doors, you name it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

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"You know, Pee Wee, there's a real twisted side to you!"

If only Captain Carl had really known how twisted..

Pee Wee was one of the few popular-culture figures of the 1980s that I appreciated. Especially because he owed nearly all his schtick to Joe Penner and Pinky Lee.

 

[Juanito]

Why does it lead to that question? Who says any decade has to be compared empirically and in totality against any other, even assuming such a comparison is possible? Trenchie's original question simply sought impressions from those of us who lived thru the 1980s, and most of us, it seems, were not especially fond of or impressed by what we saw going on around us.

It leads to that question via human nature or philosophy via the Socratic method, or maybe out of simple curiosity; if X is not viewed as favorable, then is Y or Z better or is X simply the most favorable of the unfavorables?

I would agree with Blue Train and yourself that decades and societal trends do not fit neatly into the chronological box ending in zeros but the comments in response to Trenchfriend's original question would tend to indicate other decades are viewed much more positively than the 1980s, which I think was referred to as the "herpes of decades" in an earlier post.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep. And I stand by that description, given the way so many of the unsavory trends and attitudes that were prevalent in that decade seem to have lingered thru the 90s, 00s, and the present period. It's very hard not to look at the events of the moment and not feel a sense of unpleasant deja vu, like discovering that gob of dog excrement you stepped in thirty years ago is still stuck in the treads of your shoe.

In terms of decades, I think "The Eighties" fit pretty neatly into an actual decade, more so than most others. They began with the inauguration of Mr. Reagan in 1981, and ended with Gulf War I in 1991. That's a pretty close fit compared to some other periods.

 

[2jakes]

Sadly, I'm born in 1984. And I'm very interested in how the 80s really were, especially in the US.

How was it really, for the masses? Feel, atmosphere, popculture and all that?

In a nutshell:

In the 80s...I woulda been in deep waters for looking!

Today,...they know that all I can do is just....look!

 

[ChiTownScion]

Pee Wee was one of the few popular-culture figures of the 1980s that I appreciated. Especially because he owed nearly all his schtick to Joe Penner and Pinky Lee.

The sad part was that Paul Ruben's public indecency bust- and the show's immediate demise- took place right before my wife and I became first time parents. We loved watching the Playhouse as we were enjoying breakfast in bed together and would have loved sharing its genuinely creative antics with our child, but 'twas not to be. My son eventually discovered the reruns on his own and appreciated the zany humor.

 

[HadleyH1]

Miss the 80s

 

[Harp]

Mostly they just sort of run together without any distinctive break...And the 1960s only ended in around 1974...

April 30, 1975 Saigon fell. A very important bookend.

 

[navetsea]

I don't like the overly padded shoulder in jacket both on men and women fashion in the 80's and overly baggy clothes in early 90's
totally hate those boxy cars my parent had, I always thought the curvy shape from the previous decade looked much better.

I think this year (or 2) stylewise we is back with the 90's in clothes, and 80's in cars I see how boxy new car models this year.

science fiction both in movie and manga/comic book was awesome, cyborg, cyberpunk, giant robots, Gundam, Alien, Star Wars.
digital watches with calculator, and sometime, digital watch that can turn into a robot made by Takara!!

loved them all

at least from elementary school boy's perspective. I missed those simple handheld computer game made by casio and nintendo from those days.

 

[HadleyH1]

A tribute to the 80s my friends and foes.....deep into the 80s with "Miami Vice"