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A small portion backmost I shared a station astir things you'd lone cognize if you lived done the '80s, and boy, did the '80s alumni successful the BuzzFeed Community chime successful with their ain memories!
So, I enactment unneurotic a mega-post of hard-to-believe facts astir beingness successful the 1980s — my 15 examples from the archetypal post, positive 35 caller ones from our readers. Check 'em out!
(🎵 Gotta get backmost successful time! 🎵):
1. First, schools successful astir places could legally subject students by hitting them…and galore did!
2. "As a kid successful the '80s, I had a teacher who would paddle maine successful beforehand of different classmates arsenic an example. I got backmost astatine her — I popped her upside her caput with my publication bag."
3. And this scholar shared immoderate modern context: "Tennessee inactive has corporal punishment, astatine slightest arsenic of a decennary ago. A friend's teenage girl had to get paddled for thing highly insignificant (her cellphone was successful her backpack and not her locker). There is thing earnestly gross and perverted astir a grown antheral making a young miss crook implicit his table to paddle her butt."
NOTE: As of 2024, corporal punishment IS still legal successful Tennessee, arsenic good arsenic 16 different U.S. states.
4. Speaking of school, if you needed to constitute a report, determination was nary researching it online. You had to get up disconnected your butt, spell down to the library, and find books...either with the librarian's assistance oregon utilizing the Dewey Decimal System (a analyzable strategy to find books seen beneath that each kids were taught successful school). If it sounds similar a symptom successful the ass, it was!
5. "If it were an important paper, your teacher mightiness necessitate it to beryllium typed. So you'd draught the full happening longhand, past beryllium down astatine your parents' typewriter (or a room one, if your parents didn't person a typewriter) and painstakingly benignant the full happening out. I inactive retrieve the chiseled odor my parents' IBM electrical typewriter made erstwhile it was turned on."
6. Smoking was beauteous overmuch allowed everywhere…even successful restaurants. In fact, astir restaurants had 2 sections — 1 for smokers and 1 for non-smokers — truthful erstwhile you approached the hostess, they would mostly greet you with “Smoking oregon non?”
7. There was conscionable truthful overmuch smoking successful general, including cigaret vending machines retired successful the open.
8. There was a telephone fig you'd telephone (767-2676 oregon “POP-CORN,” astatine slightest successful California) to find retired what clip it was.
9. "We utilized to telephone Time & Temp, which had the added worth of giving america the somesthesia aft the time. Exciting stuff. Also, increasing up successful Alaska, everything was dilatory to arrive: news, fashions, sitcoms, etc. The kids who got to question down to the little 48 regularly were fashionable due to the fact that they learned astir each the chill trends first."
10. "There were besides 976 telephone numbers. People were charged by the infinitesimal to perceive to immoderate benignant of content, specified arsenic upwind forecasts, horoscopes, fandom hotlines, oregon big dialogue. There were ads for them connected TV each of the time."
"Miss Cleo!!!"
"I retrieve 976-SANTA."
11. "Long-distance charges were astronomical. I retrieve getting carried distant connected what was expected to beryllium a speedy telephone with a person retired of municipality successful different state, truthful we were connected for astir fractional an hour. I had to wage my parents backmost $15 for it, which was astir what I made successful 4 hours' enactment astatine minimum wage astatine the clip — and that wasn't adjacent the '80s, that was 1998 oregon '99."
12. "There was nary caller ID, truthful calling radical you didn't similar (e.g., teachers) oregon adjacent conscionable implicit randos to marque immoderate lame gag was a regular thing. And you could find those teachers' numbers due to the fact that determination were each printed successful a large publication that everyone got a transcript of."
13. Also, you couldn't conscionable google a fig connected your phone, truthful if you wanted to call, say, a restaurant, you had to either look it up successful the telephone publication oregon telephone "information" wherever an relation gave you the number.
14. But the worst portion of ONLY having a landline telephone to pass was that — erstwhile you wanted to speech to your person or, gasp, crush — you had to dial their fig and apt speech to their ma oregon dada first. Gah!
15. Speaking of kids talking to adults, backmost successful the '80s, you perfectly addressed adults arsenic Mr. oregon Mrs./Ms. and their past name. Nowadays, kids thin to code adults by their archetypal name.
16. Going to the movies successful the '80s was VERY antithetic than it is today. First, you couldn't conscionable look up showtimes online, truthful you either recovered them successful the paper (like below) oregon called the theatre to perceive a pre-recorded connection that seemed to instrumentality FOREVER, particularly erstwhile your movie was astatine the extremity of the call.
17. But — worse yet! — you couldn't bargain a summons oregon prime your spot online either! You had to thrust to the theatre — with nary warrant the movie wouldn't beryllium sold retired — and hold successful enactment to bargain your ticket. If you managed to snag a ticket, you past had to hustle to the screening country and drawback a decent spot truthful you didn't get stuck successful the archetypal 2 rows due to the fact that seats were archetypal come, archetypal serve.
18. "Movie theaters didn't person stadium-style seating similar today. Basically, each the rows of seats were connected the aforesaid level level. Sometimes, particularly arsenic a kid oregon if you were connected the shorter side, your presumption of the surface was blocked by a gangly idiosyncratic sitting successful the enactment successful beforehand of you!"
"Also, this meant that if your spot was successful 1 of the past rows, you were stuck mode further distant from the surface than everyone else. With today's setup, the past rows whitethorn beryllium a tad farther distant from the screen, but are vertically higher up."
19. "It whitethorn person depended connected wherever you lived, but our theaters were decidedly wholly flat. It became a large woody erstwhile they decided to determination to stadium seating due to the fact that they had to trim the fig of seats substantially to accommodate the slant successful the floor. In the end, they lone did it due to the fact that a caller theatre successful the country was built from scratch with some stadium seating and IMAX, and they realized less afloat seats were amended than much bare seats."
20. "At best, movie theaters lone had a flimsy slant. I'd bash my champion to get a near oregon close broadside aisle spot truthful I wouldn't person anyone blocking my view. I avoided the mediate similar the plague. Rows 7-10 were the best."
I'll add: I utilized to beryllium connected an aisle spot with the aisle to my left. That gave you a wide presumption of the screen, tallness beryllium damned!
21. There was monolithic anti-drug hysteria successful the '80s. First Lady Nancy Reagan led a "Just Say No!" run — implicit with celebs forcefully telling america however unsafe drugs were — and it convinced maine I was perpetually astatine hazard of a shady cause trader approaching and "pushing" drugs connected me. Like, it was a existent fear! Never caput that I was 8 and broke.
22. No phones/internet meant that kids spent astir of their clip playing outside...often doing things their parents would NOT o.k. of. This meme truly says it all:
23. "It's hard present to judge however small oversight we had from our parents. We'd spell retired into the woods for an full time and conscionable bash whatever. We each had pouch knives and cipher was older than 9."
Speaking of pouch knives and the '80s — a kid who was a small older made an 8-year-old maine basal against a obstruction truthful helium could propulsion his pouch weapon astatine me, but "miss," similar immoderate benignant of circus act. He did it erstwhile (missed, convey God), and past I ran away.
24. "The '80s, the property of the latchkey kids. I retrieve often going location from school, having nary thought if my ma would beryllium home, astatine work, oregon retired shopping, but I had the cardinal astir my neck. I didn’t ever spell location close away, either. My friends and I would conscionable caput to whoever’s location to play aft school."
"Also, vicinity kids would conscionable spontaneously spell retired and play with each different each day. No play dates. No regularisation different than get location earlier dark."
25. Young radical contiguous person thousands of photos and videos of their lives connected their phone, but '80s kids had way, WAY less photos of their lives. Why? Because getting a photograph was a hassle. Film was expensive, you had to get idiosyncratic to thrust you to the photograph improvement booth truthful they could process and people the photos (which outgo MORE money), and past you had to travel backmost aboriginal to prime up your photos...most of which were blurry oregon poorly framed!
26. Aloysius17 chimed successful with an absorbing constituent that ne'er occurred to maine arsenic an '80s kid: "Polaroid cameras were the archetypal applicable mode to marque homemade porn."
27. The promenade was the spot to beryllium successful the '80s. Once determination you could browse caller toys and fashions, perceive to euphony astatine grounds stores, speech to friends...it was fundamentally the net of its time!
28. Speaking of '80s kids going to the mall, it blows my caput that my parents would beryllium like, "Meet maine successful beforehand of the Sears astatine precisely 6 p.m." and past person to conscionable spell connected religion that their kid would beryllium determination 5 hours later, with nary mode to way oregon pass with them until then!
29. Also: "If you were gathering a friend, you had to beryllium determination connected time. If they weren’t there, you had nary thought if you were precocious oregon they were late, truthful you’d person to permission the gathering constituent to find a telephone container and telephone their location telephone to inquire their ma oregon dada if they’d near yet. Then you'd say, 'If they telephone you, delight archer them I’m waiting astatine the gathering point!' This could spell connected a fewer times if you kept missing each other! Much amended to beryllium connected time."
30. "F*cking... yeah. If you archer your friend(s) you're gonna beryllium astatine the meetup spot astatine noon, and you're moving late, well, conjecture what, you're gonna commencement peddling faster connected your bike, son. Ain't nary texting. Exercise and subject habits for life."
31. "Gas stations had attendants. They pumped your gas, washed your windows, and checked your oil. No other charge. For tons of precocious schoolers, that was their archetypal job."
32. "Pay phones were everywhere. They were sometimes non-functional and ever disgusting — particularly erstwhile the handset was inactive warm... ew."
33. "I besides retrieve utilizing wage phones successful telephone booths, and cod calls were communal for agelong region since it outgo truthful overmuch to call…for that matter, landline agelong region charges varied widely, depending connected what authorities you were calling, what state you were calling, and successful California astatine least, what municipality you were calling, adjacent if it was similar lone a fewer miles away."
34. "We utilized maps! No GPS, conscionable maps and atlases for cities, counties, states and nationalist highways."
35. "Directions idiosyncratic gave you could beryllium wonky but wonderful: 'Go past the Dairy Queen, but if you scope the hairsbreadth salon, you went excessively far.' If lone my GPS representation directions app could usage its outer exertion and springiness descriptions similar 'your destination is connected the right, past the tyre warehouse' alternatively of relying connected estimated mileage oregon compass directions, specified arsenic 'head northwest 56 feet.'"
36. "If you didn’t privation to permission the location to eat, the lone happening you could bash was telephone a pizza transportation place. You didn’t person immoderate different options. So it was a reasonably amusive happening to bid pizza and we kept numbers we utilized often adjacent to the telephone oregon written connected the beforehand of the telephone book."
37. "Delivery pizza ruined pizza successful the '80s. Before then, getting pizza was going to a restaurant, sitting down, and having it brought to your table. Once everyone could get it delivered, it became an immoderate Tuesday nighttime meal, and the pizza was made a batch cheaper. Fresh-from-the-oven pizza was truthful overmuch better. Once a pizza goes into a cardboard container and steams itself, it is not the aforesaid product."
I DEFINITELY retrieve this! We utilized to spell to a spot called Mountain Mike's successful the Bay Area, and the pizza came retired of the oven close to your table. And the crust — there’s conscionable thing astir it that’s ne'er been the aforesaid since.
Also, this could beryllium wholly wrong, since it is simply a representation from being a small kid, but I curse Chuck E. Cheese's pizza was, like, mean bully pizza made successful an oven. Not the microwaved atrocity they present serve.
38. "The information that TV utilized to conscionable extremity astatine nighttime is thing radical calved aft a definite clip can’t comprehend. I retrieve staying up precocious and seeing the motion disconnected for mainstream stations which meant nary much TV for the night. Then connected the play you would get up, spot static, and person to hold for the presumption telephone motion to travel connected earlier cartoons would start."
39. "Watching TV was a full antithetic acquisition than it is today. Shows aired connected acceptable days astatine acceptable times, and you either had to beryllium successful beforehand of the TV oregon acceptable your VCR (correctly) to drawback them. Miss an episode? You amended person idiosyncratic drawback you up connected what happened oregon anticipation that the web reruns it implicit the summer."
"Also, channels were incredibly limited. Broadcast TV had 4 networks and section stations. The advent of cablegram was a monolithic deal. Your household got a small analog container with reddish transmission numbers, and you could ticker niche networks. However, a batch of those basal channels didn’t person their ain contented yet. For example, Nickelodeon had Canadian imports similar Today’s Special and You Can’t Do That connected Television and 1950s black-and-white shows similar Dennis the Menace and Donna Reed reruns. That is until Double Dare came along, and everyone daydreamed astir however their household would bash connected that show."
40. "Watching TV was a household affair. My full household ticker The Streets of San Francisco each Thursday astatine 10 p.m. We made popcorn and it was a large deal."
I retrieve sitting down with the fam for the Family Ties/Cosby Show hour!
41. "Classrooms often had a azygous desktop computer, and you and a spouse had an assigned clip each week erstwhile you could usage it. Early on, the show had a achromatic inheritance with white, greenish oregon amber to make each substance and images, though colour monitors did travel retired aboriginal successful the decade. Programs weren’t connected the machine itself but connected literal floppy discs astir 5 inches square. It was uncommon to prevention information beyond precocious scores connected video games and such."
42. "If you wanted to perceive to a definite euphony artist, you had to spell to the euphony store and bargain their album, cassette, oregon CD. Columbia offered thing that astir of america bought, wherever you could bid astir six cassettes for $0.99 positive shipping. Then aft that, they’d nonstop you what was connected their list, and if you didn’t reply by a definite date, you were liable for each these cassettes you didn’t needfully want. There was nary Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, oregon Sirius radio!"
Oh man, I did the Columbia happening and was truthful stressed whenever the cassettes showed up due to the fact that I wasn't paying for them — nor did I, arsenic an 8-year-old, person the capableness to! I honestly person nary thought what happened to that. Did my parents get a postulation announcement and wage it? Or did I conscionable get distant with it? We did determination soon aft that so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
43. "When you had to bash a study and poster connected different country, you'd spell to question agencies to spot if they had brochures connected the state for pictures for the poster."
44. "Often you'd bargain an medium connected the spot of conscionable the first, truly large single. (And sometimes you'd beryllium disappointed due to the fact that that turned retired to beryllium the lone bully opus connected the album, and past you'd wasted $10 connected the cassette, oregon $15-20 for a CD.)"
45. "When CDs archetypal came out, they were packaged successful agelong cardboard sleeves that had the medium creation but were reconfigured to acceptable implicit a rectangular box. I deliberation the stores were trying to trim theft due to the fact that you couldn't conscionable pouch them the mode you could a regular CD. Most of the time, aft you bought the CD, you conscionable had to rip done the cardboard sleeve, but sometimes the creation was cool, and I tried to sphere it arsenic a keepsake. Wish I inactive had them!"
46. "I retrieve sometime successful the '90s erstwhile determination started to beryllium corporate outrage astir however wasteful the packaging was, and yet the euphony manufacture was pressured into discontinuing long-boxes. It was the earliest nationalist run against wasteful packaging that I tin remember."
47. "We often bought albums from bands we had ne'er adjacent heard of due to the fact that the medium screen looked cool. Especially if you were a metallic caput oregon into hep hop, due to the fact that this euphony wasn’t truly played connected the radio."
48. "I learned from my older Gen X siblings to spell to an autarkic grounds store to bargain euphony due to the fact that the employees were really into euphony and could steer maine successful the close direction...rather than being told to propulsion definite artists/albums and income contests, etc. They besides chose the euphony they played passim the day, not corporate, and were truly successful the know. Oh, the champion portion was lining up extracurricular (Chris’ Warped Records) to bargain performance tickets for mean prices and minimum fees."
49. "There were nary noise-canceling headphones astatine the time, truthful immoderate you were listening to connected your Walkman would beryllium heard by everyone, and if it was excessively loud, idiosyncratic mightiness inquire you to crook it down (or vice versa)."
And we wore neon, tons and tons of neon.
50. "And didn’t we deliberation we were blistery crap successful each that neon? 😂"
"Oh, I decidedly did, the much fluorescent the better!🩷💚"
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