Weird shit from an 80s childhood

[CandidFruit]

Reading through the retro sweets thread reminded me of some other random stuff from growing up in the early 80s.

Who else remembers the garbage pail kids? (I mean, Cabbage patch kids was bad enough!)
Now that is some seriously weird shit!

Mind you, I bet anything if you have the full set, you’ll probably be able to pay off your mortgage 😂

Oh yes boob tubes before I had boobs. I was constantly pulling it up.

Silver and gold pens you had to shake to make work.
I coloured everything in with them (bubble writing) and sometimes they'd leak everywhere.
My worst hairstyles existed in the 80's. Heavily influenced by my Mum wanting all her girls to look like Lady Di. Just the worst set of matching flicked mullets, courtesy of the local hairdresser, Yvonne. Everybody in the village had the same cut.
Flying saucer papery sherbet sweet things - dry mouth!
Packet of space invader crisps for about 5p. Curly wurly, spangles, cola cubes and those weird twisted boiled sweets that tasted like loo cleaner.
Only coming in a teatime after being out playing in the neighbourhood all day - noboby had a clue where we were or what we were up to and they weren't even bothered!
Having a go on people's fancy bmx's and grazing knees on the tarmac.
Teen fiction books - we'd mark the 'exciting' pages and pass them around 😂

I can still remember the music from granny garden and that the one of the levels was that you had to read a secret word hidden in the walls of the cottage to get inside it.

I love that we have all these shared memories. Such an amazing time for pop culture. Yes to actual penny sweets from the corner shop, fake cigarettes, ‘cool’ dancing to Push It at the disco, neon cycling shorts (later 80s - with neon towelling socks), cereal ET toys and pixie boots too. I also have happy memories of covering my door in Smash Hits stickers (and regretting it a few year later when I wanted more of an early 90s Laura Ashley floral vibe and we had to scrape them all off). And making up a dance to Tiffany “I think we’re alone now” in the playground that I can probably still do.

Jelly Shoes and bags.
these weird sort of bags which were like long rectangular bags but with lots of pockets and usually fabric I think?
tracksuits made out of light sort of velvet, with Palm tree name and logos
Katherine Hammett Choose Life and knock off tshirts
Bandanas
fishtail long skirts
baggy shirts
blouses and shirts with shoulder pads
Flower power blouses and skirts
puff ball skirts and dresses
Jesus creeper sandals
pastel diff colour brogues
Pixie ankle boots
bardot off shoulder tops and dresses
berets (curiosity killed the cat)
coats like you see now, black sort of smart ones but usually 3/4 length with a bright lining
fluorescent socks, gloves
Pepe jeans with the plastic keyring and Levi’s 501s
braces
black and white (separate colour) polo necks to wear with braces and baggy jeans
Travel fox Italia trainers

Yes! I was 10 when I went to my Aunts wedding in 1989 and wore a sailor-type dress with a bib type collar then absolutely rocked it at the disco-reception in a black lycra 2-piece shorts and crop top with a pink neon stripe down the side.

I was quite the bobbydazzler 😉

Loved the Garbage Pail Kids but my parents said they were a waste of money so barely had any! #Deprived

@Bowlercoaster Yes, lots of sailor/stripe type things too
I remember ski pants too and always had a large, oversized jumper with a teddy bear picture on and my mum would wear similar too 😅

American here, I found a melody pop in my Apple Jacks cereal back then.

I had that exact sailor dress and cycling shorts I think but jealous that you had the crop top! Also had a ra-ra dress a few years before. Always wanted a perm but my mum said No. My hairstyles still managed to be absolutely terrible.

Also loved my white jelly shoes, blue jelly bag and yellow banana clip! Such sophistication

Girls world was odd - that one bit of hair that pulled out 😳😬

Donkey jackets with fingerless gloves, mildly backcombed hair and a bandana round the neck (bit Dexy's/bit Bananarama)...
I'd had my C&A jacket about a week when a boy from school sprayed a whole can of fart spray all over me on the way home. It was never the same, even after washing it 😢

Sorry if already mentioned but does anyone remember those reversible sweatshirts? They often had Disney characters on. There would be a big picture of a character on the front of it, and then when you turned the sweatshirt inside out, the design was lots of little characters. Like this (but mine was better).

Also ‘Joe Cool’ t-shirts and sweatshirts with Snoopy on. I thought I was fucking cool when I got one of those.

There was also a trend for pastel coloured sweatshirts with puppies or kittens on. Loved those.

Aaaah it was such a fab time to grow up. I remember Care Bears, pound puppies, poochie dogs and keepers. Home decor was a lot of Laura Ashley type Fabric, dado rails and stencilling on walls.
i used to dress in Dash or sweater shop jumper dresses with ski pants/leggings under. Shellsuits were all the fashion and airports in the 80’s were full of families swishing along in matching shellsuits and LA gear trainers. I used to read sweet family twins and Judy bloom books, mizz, smash hits and just 17 for my magazine choices.
Lots of weird and very processed food- those Birds Eye hot desserts with crunch topping, teenage mutant turtles pizza (there was an apple and custard one!), proper treat was chicken tonight followed by vienetta.
I used to collect stickers- the furry ones or Pearlised ones were highly coveted and also smelly erasers. I used to love pencils with those tiny teddy bears on the end. Forever friends was a massive trend in late 80’s. I used to love using my pocket money on Woolworths pick and mix.

Body shop shaped, scented soaps. Always used to get them in party bags but I wouldn't use them so they just stood on my bookshelf gathering dust!

I loved using a fancy stationary kit, envelopes and paper that came in a box and we all
used to collect rubbers and have huge collections

Ah the Cagoul.

My mother, bless her to eternity, is a woman that when an idea hits goes all in. The cagoul was such an item, she was very struck in the fold ability. It used to make my very dicey perm go crazy with static so I looked like one from Hair Bear bunch.

There's a marvellous photo of our family at the signpost as Lands End where we are all wearing either red or blue cagouls.

We look like we are on day release.

Yes I had a Mickey Mouse one from M&S, absolutely loved it. One side was like a comic strip, the other had a huge Mickey Mouse on the front. Think it was my favourite jumper for ages.

Oh God yes, ski-pants that were not only wildly unflattering but had a bit of elastic to go under your feet so they were uncomfortable too! I also had an oversized teddy jumper that was reversible dontchaknow. Big single teddy on one side and lots of tiny teddy's on the other.

My Mum looked like Krystle Carrington from Dynasty in the 80s, all shoulder pads, mohair jumpers sparkly dresses, bleached blonde teased hair and massive earrings so she didn't join in with the teddy jumpers sadly.

Yes I was too. I thought it was the best thing I'd ever seen. 😂

I bought my brothers a couple of the Garbage Pail Kids stickers for Christmas a couple of years ago - it's a great retro item if you can find ones with names of people you know - they thought they were brilliant - but then, they actually collected them back in the day (for a couple of weeks before the next craze came along!).

I have Ghost Castle!!

Actually had it as a kid and my parents sold it/gave it away at some point. It was secondhand to us, and so it didn't have the glow in the dark skull.

I brought it again as an adult, in my 20s, off of eBay for about £3 - a bargain. The complete game with the skull I had so longed for as a child.

I love playing it with my kids now!

I remember jeans with pictures down the side with The Flintstones on, they looked so cheap 😂Also loved going to Tammy girl (can still smell the place now) and choosing coloured ruffled scrunchies