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 😂

I think that was before I was born. Most of my childhood tv memories are from the 90s, but I have hazy memories of knightmare and T-bag from the 80s

Crikey that was back in 1986 and unless there's another one I could've sworn it was when I was a proper child, in junior school!

Bit of trivia - the guy in the R White's ad was Elvis Costello's dad.

Was this advert responsible for people occasionally actually picking up penguins in zoos (which contrary to popular opinion aren't soft and fluffy but just greasy and stink of fish!):

My DM loved it (as a teacher) because it meant you had to solve puzzles with brain power. She vetoed Grange Hill but we still watched it in secret.

So you recall Jamie and the Magic Torch and Mr Benn?

A boyfriend of mine a few years ago we were discussing TV programmes we loved as kids and his were those, but apart from the odd ITV programme (we did watch it!) there was still a big distinction when you watched BBC1 and 2 and ITV. And the wonder when Channel 4 and Channel 5 arrived. I did see cable tv when we went to Florida (Disneyland).

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain

So you recall Jamie and the Magic Torch and Mr Benn?

No I don't remember those. I think they were 70s?

Mr Benn might have been late 70s/early 80s, but I think Jamie... was later.

@MarkWithaC

Wikipedia says 1977-79. I wasn't born then.

I remember loving Sooty and Sweep, Grotbags and Raggy Dolls in very early childhood. I think these must have been on in the late 80s/early 90s

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_and_the_Magic_Torch

Jamie was mid to late 70s.

Me and the boyfriend did think it was a bit trippy, very much like The Magic Roundabout. I think they were smoking some strong stuff back then, and the rest.

Does anyone remember Piglet crisps? - they were little 3D piglets that tasted of smokey bacon. They didn't seem to stick around for long.

That's weird. I don't remember it and always thought it was because I was a little too young; friends of mine about three–four years younger remember it clearly.
Some things were about whether your house was an ITV or a BBC one. Ours was firmly ITV, so I watched and loved all the stuff like Tiswas that many people's parents thought was infra dig

Definitely the BBC/ITV divide!

But me and DB managed to swerve that and sneakily watch things when DM wasn't watching or if we were being babysat. Tales of the Unexpected for example and Twilight Zone.

Ohmydays!!!
I was thinking I loved the garbage pail kids and my Boglin !!! I couldn’t remember what it was called ugly bloody thing but I loved it 😊

Will just leave this here, yes I know it's 70's too...

[[https://metro.co.uk/2015/01/20/14-bloody-frightening-kids-tv-shows-from-the-70s-and-80s-5021640/

Has no one mentioned Furby?

[[https://www.google.com/imgres?q=furby&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2F7%2F70%2FFurby_picture.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFurby&docid=9tRTE1jqtQNJLM&tbnid=vCyocgFEwXHVaM&vet=12ahUKEwjl1pnL_LKFAxUOUkEAHdSkAQ4QM3oECBkQAA..i&w=220&h=215&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjl1pnL_LKFAxUOUkEAHdSkAQ4QM3oECBkQAA

Add level crossings to that list too, I went on a walk the other day, there was a tram crossing, I couldn't hear it coming but I was over those tracks pretty bloody fast! I mean I know it's not a level crossing but!

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain
The Adventure game was brilliant!
Wasn't Uncle a talking plant?

Also remembering the Hamlet cigar adverts with the Carlos fandango super-wide wheels...

What I wouldn't give for a refreshing quattro right now😋.

Oh God, yes!

It's a real cultural shibboleth, isn't it? I grew up pretty working-class, then when I went to uni (first time I'd really spent time with middle-class and above people) it was very clear who was where on the social/upbringing scale!

Adverts were much catchier back then, none of this Domino-hoo-hoo rubbish!

I love them, I miss my cabbage patch kid! I do love that little brown owl though, ( and the kitty)!

It really is. Does the shibboleth term mean you're Jewish? I grew up I guess lower middle class but technically we were working class as both parents worked. My dad was from a council house family but he was a boy made good, printed black and white photographs for Jean-Loup Sief, David Bailey, all the big photographers. My mum was from a middle/upper class family who'd fallen on hard times and lost everything in WW1 and WW2 in Germany (long story). Her mum (my nana) was from a working class family made good but they think Jewish due to surname (Paul) and family tree research but as there was snobbery if you were Jewish you'd get abuse or preferential or non preferential treatment, she was hired due to her surname by Jewish bosses because they assumed she was Jewish so they told her.

I agree with you re uni, I didn't go to uni but did get an OU degree not that I've used it much. I don't know about now because now everyone goes to uni and gets degrees which can be worthless whether they're able to or not so I think the cultural divide is less prominent, whereas back in my day, if you couldn't afford to go to uni, you didn't go. I could have gone, and should've gone but I hated school in the end (I was very clever though!) 3 years at a private convent as a Protestant cured me of religion and education! Fun fact, SIL went to uni with the first woman who was an unmarried mother at Oxford Uni and had her baby there with her (they are still close friends now).