Let's Have a Thundering Thread Throwback! What Games, Music, Trends, and Pop Culture Take You Back to Your Childhood?

[seoulsearch]

Hey Everyone,

This thread is partially inspired by @Billyd's wonderful thread, "The Front Porch," and a YouTube channel I follow (whatitlooklikeTV) where the host has been featuring stories from people who grew up during the 80's (which I can relate to!)

Some of the things brought up that I had completely forgotten about (but was delighted to remember!) are:


1. Merlin, the handheld game that was apparently a prequel to cell phones!




2. Roller skating, especially when the rinks were all about flashing neon lights and crazy-patterned carpets! I love seeing YouTube shorts in which people in their 50's, 60's, and 70's are roller skating like they are young again!





3. The humble Walkman!

I spent many hours on morning walks with a fanny pack that carried my beloved Walkman and a small library of mix tapes!





4. Boom Boxes! Telephones with Cords! Atari! VCR's! Etch'a'Sketch!! Oh My!



5. And how could I forget my beloved Garfield telephone:




6. I also had a Garfield stick-on plush in my car continuously (I replaced them as they got too sun-faded) until I could no longer find them in stores (this was long before the internet.) A friend even found my apartment once not because I'd given them the number, but because they guessed it was me when they saw a car with a Garfield plush in the window!

(I should probably look for a modern rendition...)




What can I say?!!

There is a part of my heart that will never grow up. Now days when I have time off, I'm always wearing a t-shirt with some kind of character from the 80's (Transformers, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., etc.) I once had a dental hygienist who told me she loved it when she saw me on her schedule, because she always wanted to see what t-shirt I'd be wearing next!

How about YOU?

* What are some toys, characters, gadgets, activities, songs, movies, fads, etc. that remind you of the past? (Whether your own childhood or that of your kids, grandkids, etc.?)

* What did you love most about those things and what do you miss about them? (I miss when cartoons tried to teach kids basic lessons in being kind or a good friend, etc.)

* Are there any things you bought yourself as an adult that you wanted or had as a kid? Maybe you couldn't afford it then, but you can now! (For me, it's a Hello Kitty backpack!) Or maybe you're just replacing a beloved old friend.

* Have you passed your love of certain things from your time on to your own kids or grandkids?

Feel free to tell us about your favorite things through descriptions, stories, and pictures (but no worries if you can't find or don't know how to post a picture.) We're interested in anything you have to share!

I would love to hear about some of the things you enjoyed most and miss!

 

[Lanolin]

Ditto

Walkmans! Mixed tapes. Mixed tapes were what you made for friends. It then went to burned CDs. I am not sure what it is now - Spotify playlists?

Garfield. Yes big Garfield fan!. I heard there was another movie recently, but I think it was never better when they had the TV specials that I collected on video tape. Here Comes Garfield, Garfield in the Rough, Garfield in Disguise, Garfield in Paradise and Garfield goes to Hollywood. They had Pet Search and this was before American Idol became popular (it was a Pet talent quest) and the songs were great. I also had a Garfield phone (that didn't work as it was incompatible with our phonelines in NZ) and a stick on Garfield...that didn't stick.

I am sad that I gave away pretty much most all of my collection, I think to my little cousins. I do think I kept the scrapbooks of the comic strips I cut out of the newspaper, before I could buy all the books I could find.

I had a Garfield party once where everyone had to come dressed in orange, and we had orange food - fanta, twisties,..oranges...
I had a pinata made that was Garfields head filled with lollies - actually that was a bit disturbing... I really was the biggest fan. I even wrote to Jim Davis...and he wrote back! I kept the letter. Dad bought me the Garfield magazines that came out every month from the UK and were delayed about 3 months behind due to shipping. They had posters and comics in FULL COLOUR. I put my name in for as a penpal and receivved hundreds of letters, because everyone wanted to write to a Garfield fan from New Zealand, but I could only write back to a couple as of course it cost to send a letter overseas.

STAMPS and penpals. Yes. That's what we did. Exciting to receive a letter in the post. And yes I collected stamps. Or rather Dad bought them for me and I saved the them. He also got me first day covers (that was a thing) I gave them away too, actually I gave away my entire stamp album to sell because in church they had a stamps for missionaries (used ones) but some of mine were new. You cut the stamp off the letter and soaked it and then put the stamp in the album in the little pockets.

The most prized ones were from overseas and I tried to have as many different ones as possible. The boring ones were from the UK because they only ever had the Queens head on them, just in different colours. The ones from the US and Australia had pictures, but in NZ they were like a miniature ART FORM! They weren't just mini photos, artists were commissioned to make stamps and they could be engraved wood cuts, or lithographs, or water colours, oil paintings etc. They weren't just stickers, they came in sheets you had to tear off and lick.

When I look back, I think I kind of regret giving away all those things I collected that gave me so much pleasure, but I don't collect those things anymore. I needed to save my money for other things, like food and gas for the car lol. I really had a material rich childhood, we were all material girls in the 80s.

 

[Templar62]

i can remember the Osmonds and David Cassidy in the Partridge Family.oh and the Jackson five.those were the days.

 

[Billyd]

Old westerns. Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers dance movies. The Thin Man Movies. Ester Williams movies. TV series like I Love Lucy, Jack Benny, Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone and early game shows. I could go on and on, Just take some time to watch TCM.

 

[Lynx]

I got this for five bucks at an auction decades ago. It lasted more than 20 years. The nose is the snooze button.

 

[Lynx]

The records my mother used to play when I was a kid always take me back.

 

[RodB651]

Merlin, the handheld game that was apparently a prequel to cell phones!

Those were so much fun!

 

[RodB651]

How about YOU?

Well, I think back to the late 60s early 70s when I had Hot Wheel cars, the original GI Joe action figures, cassette tapes, the old 45 record players, and my old set of encyclopedias...

By the time I was in high school, all I had left was cassette tapes and encyclopedias. I spent many weekends with those tapes and books and never thought I was missing anything. My folks asked if I was ever going to go out?

Why? .. I'm enjoying what I'm doing.

 

[seoulsearch]

Ditto

Walkmans! Mixed tapes. Mixed tapes were what you made for friends. It then went to burned CDs. I am not sure what it is now - Spotify playlists?

Garfield. Yes big Garfield fan!. I heard there was another movie recently, but I think it was never better when they had the TV specials that I collected on video tape. Here Comes Garfield, Garfield in the Rough, Garfield in Disguise, Garfield in Paradise and Garfield goes to Hollywood. They had Pet Search and this was before American Idol became popular (it was a Pet talent quest) and the songs were great. I also had a Garfield phone (that didn't work as it was incompatible with our phonelines in NZ) and a stick on Garfield...that didn't stick.

I am sad that I gave away pretty much most all of my collection, I think to my little cousins. I do think I kept the scrapbooks of the comic strips I cut out of the newspaper, before I could buy all the books I could find.

I had a Garfield party once where everyone had to come dressed in orange, and we had orange food - fanta, twisties,..oranges...
I had a pinata made that was Garfields head filled with lollies - actually that was a bit disturbing... I really was the biggest fan. I even wrote to Jim Davis...and he wrote back! I kept the letter. Dad bought me the Garfield magazines that came out every month from the UK and were delayed about 3 months behind due to shipping. They had posters and comics in FULL COLOUR. I put my name in for as a penpal and receivved hundreds of letters, because everyone wanted to write to a Garfield fan from New Zealand, but I could only write back to a couple as of course it cost to send a letter overseas.

STAMPS and penpals. Yes. That's what we did. Exciting to receive a letter in the post. And yes I collected stamps. Or rather Dad bought them for me and I saved the them. He also got me first day covers (that was a thing) I gave them away too, actually I gave away my entire stamp album to sell because in church they had a stamps for missionaries (used ones) but some of mine were new. You cut the stamp off the letter and soaked it and then put the stamp in the album in the little pockets.

The most prized ones were from overseas and I tried to have as many different ones as possible. The boring ones were from the UK because they only ever had the Queens head on them, just in different colours. The ones from the US and Australia had pictures, but in NZ they were like a miniature ART FORM! They weren't just mini photos, artists were commissioned to make stamps and they could be engraved wood cuts, or lithographs, or water colours, oil paintings etc. They weren't just stickers, they came in sheets you had to tear off and lick.

When I look back, I think I kind of regret giving away all those things I collected that gave me so much pleasure, but I don't collect those things anymore. I needed to save my money for other things, like food and gas for the car lol. I really had a material rich childhood, we were all material girls in the 80s.

This was an amazing post, @Lanolin!

I wrote to pen pals and as you said, it was ESPECIALLY exciting getting a letter from someone overseas!

I used to collect stamps, and still have a few First Day Covers as well:



For those who might not know, a First Day Cover is a stamp on an envelope or postcard with a postmark that specifically commemorates the stamp's first day of issue (the day it's released to the public.) As seen here, sometimes a specially decorated envelope and specific, specially-designed postmark might be available, too.

This is a rare time when a stamp might be worth more (to collectors) WITH a cancellation mark rather than without one (never used.)

Since stamps now are all self-stick, I wonder how people get them off the envelopes now. I've tried soaking them just as an experiment, but they never come off cleanly (when you're a collector, you don't want any of the stamp's original paper to be peeled off or be damaged.) I no longer collect, but it was fun back in the day.

And you hit the nail on the head as to why I loved stamps -- I saw them as miniature pieces of art.

Also, I am in AWE because you wrote a letter to Jim Davis and he wrote back!!! WOW!!

I have always been a huge Garfield fan. When I was a teen, my appendix broke and I had to have emergency surgery. I was in the hospital 2 weeks, had all kinds of complications, and they almost had to operate a second time.

My Dad brought me a Garfield balloon while I was in the hospital, and I have loved Garfield ever since.

 

[seoulsearch]

i can remember the Osmonds and David Cassidy in the Partridge Family.oh and the Jackson five.those were the days.

I once saw Donny Osmond in the starring role of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!

He's a terrific singer. I liked that his voice is very clear and how every word was enunciated well, even in a packed theater.

 

[seoulsearch]

Old westerns. Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers dance movies. The Thin Man Movies. Ester Williams movies. TV series like I Love Lucy, Jack Benny, Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone and early game shows. I could go on and on, Just take some time to watch TCM.

I have just now discovered some old episodes of the Twilight Zone via YouTube. I was recently introduced to the "To Serve Man" plot line, and WOW, just WOW!!

(Aliens come to earth, and seeing as they have a book called, "To Serve Man," mankind thinks they just want to help. In the end, they find out this is actually the title of an alien COOKBOOK.)

I wish we had as good of writing for shows now as there was back then!

 

[seoulsearch]

Well, I think back to the late 60s early 70s when I had Hot Wheel cars, the original GI Joe action figures, cassette tapes, the old 45 record players, and my old set of encyclopedias...

By the time I was in high school, all I had left was cassette tapes and encyclopedias. I spent many weekends with those tapes and books and never thought I was missing anything. My folks asked if I was ever going to go out?

Why? .. I'm enjoying what I'm doing.

When I was a kid, I have a set of Peanuts 'Cyclopedias that I used to read cover to cover.

Who could resist reading, learning, AND some of your favorite cartoon characters???

 

[seoulsearch]

I also remember growing up and started learning that a lot of songs coming out were remakes.

I always wondered why older people would grumble and say, "The original is better!!"

Well, now that I'm a little older, now I know why "The original is better."

Some of my favorite movies have been redone into bland, colorless, boring old slop!!!





Vs. the "New" Version:



And (even though it traumatized me at the time):



Vs. one of the most boring movies I've ever sludged my way through!





BOO!!!

 

[Mem]

My first barbie. You could not take her crown, neither literally nor figuratively.

 

[Bible_Locket]

The first, the classic, in gaming.

 

[Godsgirl1983]

When I was a kid, I have a set of Peanuts 'Cyclopedias that I used to read cover to cover.

Who could resist reading, learning, AND some of your favorite cartoon characters???

View attachment 291475

View attachment 291476

I had forgotten that we have these until a couple days ago when I was going through a box of old books and found them

 

[Lanolin]

View attachment 291448

I got this for five bucks at an auction decades ago. It lasted more than 20 years. The nose is the snooze button.

Um...I don't understand.
Garfield loved sleeping! He didn't like to wake up early.
He didn't eat time, he ate food and lots of it. I had a Garfield cookie jar, you filled his tummy with cookies.
Shouldn't his eyes be closed? And whats with just the head? Was he beheaded as well? This is disturbing....Sunbeam...explain yourself....

If you wanted to make an alarm clock, you would make one like Roy the Rooster off Orsons' Farm. He would crow cock a doodle doo. You could press his comb to snooze. Now that's an alarm clock!

This is one my brother had.

 

[Lanolin]

Unfortunately my Garfield cookie jar didn't have a very good seal on it. Also it was again, disturbing that you had to take off his head to reach the cookies.


Some merch concepts aren't what they are cracked up to be.
One that could have actually worked was Garfield catfood. And there was some for a while, it was just canned catfood with Garfield on the label. Why didn't that take off? Or Garfield frozen lasagnas??

 

[Lynx]

Um...I don't understand.
Garfield loved sleeping! He didn't like to wake up early.
He didn't eat time, he ate food and lots of it. I had a Garfield cookie jar, you filled his tummy with cookies.
Shouldn't his eyes be closed? And whats with just the head? Was he beheaded as well? This is disturbing....Sunbeam...explain yourself....

If you wanted to make an alarm clock, you would make one like Roy the Rooster off Orsons' Farm. He would crow cock a doodle doo. You could press his comb to snooze. Now that's an alarm clock!

This is one my brother had.

View attachment 291483

I didn't make it. I just bought it, used, at an auction.

 

[Lynx]

I also remember growing up and started learning that a lot of songs coming out were remakes.

I always wondered why older people would grumble and say, "The original is better!!"

Well, now that I'm a little older, now I know why "The original is better."

Some of my favorite movies have been redone into bland, colorless, boring old slop!!!



View attachment 291477

Vs. the "New" Version:

View attachment 291478

And (even though it traumatized me at the time):

View attachment 291479

Vs. one of the most boring movies I've ever sludged my way through!


View attachment 291480


BOO!!!

Yeah we get that with a lot of video game remakes too. They have NO idea what made the original cool, but they're like "Hey this was popular. Let's cash in on nostalgia and make it again to squeeze out a little more money from the idea." So they make a remake that totally sucks and ruins our memory of the original.