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 wonder what 'weird shit' from the 2020's people will be talking about in 40 years?

The leggings that look like they've been suck up your bum for starters. Particularly the flesh coloured ones.

Yes it’s strange to have shared experiences with usernames!

And great that no one has tried to put the boot in for once…

Does anyone remember Avon's Quick Touch leave-in conditioner ?

Oh yes!! I was in the recorder group*, playing along to the hymns in that one! (We also had an orange hymn book called Morning Has Broken). We were banned from singing a hymn from C&P called "So Light up the Fire and Let the Flame Burn" because 'we didn't sing it properly', hehe. We also had a school hymn particular to us called "Aim High". We were banned from singing that one too, but for other reasons, hehe

I had a Girls World (brunette), some hand-me-down Barbies and Sindys and a My Little Pony (purple with stars on the rump), a Tiny Tears, some lethal roller-skates and a Viewfinder, along with an Etch-A-Sketch, a Little Professor and the ubiquitous Walkman (tape). My Granny had Spirograph, which I used to love. I coveted (but never got) a Mr. Frosty, a Lo-Lo Ball and a Fashion Wheel. I used to love Five Star (they had their own cartoon series in Look-In magazine) and A-Ha. The Saturday morning Chart Show on ITV. And The Royal Knockout Tournament, which I only watched and bought the souvenir books because Dempsey off of Dempsey and Makepeace was in the Duchess of York's blue team.

Once shampoo, with two colours which blended when you shook the bottle, Hint of a Tint hair dye sachets and V05 hot oil tubes.

*That's Satan's Infernal Soundtrack in Hell, banks of 8 year olds on recorders. With the occasional accordion peppered-in...

That’s strange! We had it but we were SE London on border of Croydon (nearest big town) and Beckenham and Bromley are 20-30 mins by bus/car and in Kent.

Wow, catching up and remembered Land of The Giants on Saturdays (I think 20k Leagues Under the Sea was 90's - submarine used to sound like a chicken bwacking) and Black Beauty! I is just so weird that the whole country would sit down and watch the same thing at the same time - freedom of choice is great but there's a lot of utter rubbish out there now. Mind you, not sure Land of The Giants was particularly "high brow"!

I also had gypsy tart - so good!

Yes flower fairies didn’t they have books as well?

I got at age 7 flower fairy inspired wallpaper from Pickwick Papers in Greenwich it was a sort of grey and pink design, my DM made curtains, cushion covers etc with it and I had a bunk bed with the space under it, box room..

Circular rings, Slinkies!

How could we forget!

I've just had a lovely time looking at Argos catalogues online. I found my Halina 110 film camera that you pushed in and pulled out to wind the film on. It was so exciting sending off the films to be developed or taking them into Boots. I think there was an hour 'express' service but it cost a fortune so I had to wait a week.

https://archive.org/details/argos-no16-1981-autumnwinter/page/n194/mode/1up

At 9 we had a school disco in a local nightclub called Cinatras in Croydon. Gary Glitter was supposed to be playing but pulled out and we got the Baron Knights live instead.

It was basically a band on a stage, flashing disco lights, and little tables with chairs where you sat and ate/drank. I danced around in my black satin tight trousers and a glittery sequin top maybe short sleeved? My other friends had the Adam Ant inspired highway man outfits which was frilly shirt with some sort of bow tie or shoe string tie and maroon or dark navy velvet knickerbocker trousers to the knee worn with shoes. I wanted this but by time DM got me this outfit which was maroon corduroy pedal pushers and a cream ruffled of off the shoulder lace top it was still in fashion but not quite the same as my friends!

Other fashions in 80s were Spanish style flamenco dresses but short or above the knee. And a sort of shepherdess outfit, you had broderie anglaise tops and trousers in similar fabrics or cotton along with pastel colours and bows. One party I went to the host was there in a pink and white outfit like this, the cool girl at school (her parents owned a shop selling vintage magazines in Soho) wore a baby blue outfit like this and I wore one in pale green. We’d even got hold of crooks which we did naughty things with boys with, we were 15/16 or so.

I also got loads of clothes and shoes from
my older auntie, a pair of very light blue trousers which sort of tied in bondage type straps or belts around the waist, a pair of pale pink and white flat shoes with I think bows, size 6 (I was 4) but I stuffed my feet into them with lots of insoles and heel grips, Russell and Bromley suede and leather boots and when neighbours returned from USA and gave DB a LA Rangers t shirt I swiped it off him and it suited me better but was a bit tight! Perfect boy pulling outfit!

Went everywhere like lidos with best friends, one time my best friend invited a boy she knew and there was me, her and our other best friend all 15 year old lolitas! 🤣

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain Flower Fairies definitely had books as well, I recited two poems from one of them for my Brownies "Entertainers" badge. One of them was Deadly Nightshade. Not sure what that says about me, hehe.

I had a Strawberry Shortcake scented doll; I loved the smell. I remember the Mice of Brambly Hedge ( I had a stationery set of that) and I had two Victoria Plum jigsaws. I think Victoria Plum was created by Angela Rippon and I have a vague recollection of an advertising jingle ("Victoria Plum, Victoria Plum, she flies around inside a tree - Victoria Plum, Victoria Plum, making things for you and me..."). Also Poochie, Polly Pocket, Pound Puppies, Asterix figurines and Smurfs. I think there were collectible china figurines of miniature animals that I had loads of, but I can't remember the name of the firm that made them. I was a devil for Sylvanian Family toys as well, though I only had a few.

I always wanted the My Little Pony Castle with the mini purple dragon figure in it (Spike, I think he was called), but available funds were not high in our family.

I love this thread. I had a fairly sh*t childhood, but this is reminding me that there were things that made me happy in it. 🙂 Thanks @CandidFruit x

I still buy cornflake cakes in Costa.

This made me laugh! By 2024 we're presumably going to be talked of as 'the '20s'!

'Sticky backed plastic was the stationery dream for me thanks for Blue Peter...'

A post further up the thread triggered me to think in this direction, but in connection with that, do you remember both the clips after TV programmes and the end pages in many children's books or comics where the information to join the fan club / get a Polly the Puffin pack and badge, or similar, would be: "Send a stamped addressed envelope and a postal order for £3.00 to....?"

There certainly were Flower Fairies books.

I loved Jem and the holograms. I used to single along to the cassettes that came with th3 dolls. One side was instrumental.

'Jem is my name! No one else is the same!'

Superlative lyrics!

@TattoedLady but did you spend your time scribbling on the wallpaper, tracing around the pattern and prodding the bubbly bits with your pen?? I started secondary in 1990 in Ireland and remember the big move to plastic from wallpaper.

Oh hymn practice!!! My favourite day of the week. Check out James Partridge on YouTube - he does all the old bangers.

There was also a book that I think was called Apuskiduski that had all sorts in it. Loved that too. I studied music at university and these early experiences must have had an impact.

Jem was amazing. She had light-up flashing earrings.

Yes! The clubs with badges. I also joined for some reason RSPB club (birds).

Another thing I recall. We had a local newspaper which you bought and it had local offices in the next town. One year it had make your own Easter bonnet competition. I dutifully made one, I was 10 or 11 and I won first prize of photo in said paper and small article and the biggest Easter egg I’d ever seen like a ostrich egg and was shown around the offices. I never won anything ever so this was epic for me.

There was a big French skipping craze at my school '83/'84 ish. I remember mum buying me elastic from John Lewis which I tied around the dining chairs so I could practice at home. I would do it for hours and hours. I got told off when the chairs kept tipping over with a huge thump as the elastic got higher!

Blue Peter. In 70s and god knows what I did but I got sent a plastic badge. They’re going for £40 on eBay now if I’m ever skint!

Blue Peter though, we watched it but it sometimes seemed as if the presenters and kids on it were on a different planet to us kids.

Adventure playgrounds made of wood.More 70s but def around in 80s and painted bright colours. We’d spend hours in there whilst mums sunbathed in park opp it (Crystal Palace park), there was one on Wandsworth common too.

Children’s zoos. These were tiny zoos with animals and birds there but the most exotic animals seemed to be otters, goats and the Guinness birds. There’s one still in Battersea park but it’s changed. My friend Lisa’s mum was zoo keeper in the Crystal Palace one for years and we were so envious as Lisa got to visit and help when it wasn’t open.

Hehe, truly outrageous. 😉Didn't she touch her earrings to "turn into" Jem? With a hunky boyfriend who had no clue...?

I've just remembered the name of the little china animal figurines - Wade Whimsies.

I quite liked She-Ra, Princess of Power and Jana of the Jungle. He-Man was OK, but some of his sidekicks were very odd (what am I saying?! They were ALL odd!). There was a really funny Mitchell and Webb Sound sketch a few years ago where Prince Adam/He-Man went to his GP with back muscle strain from lifting aloft the sword and shouting "By the power of Grayskull" - he complained that Cringer/Battlecat hadn't been the same since he'd had him neutered.

My brother liked Thundercats and Godzilla & Godzuki. Both had deeply irritating sidekicks that became bothersome in a crisis.

Yup: French skipping with the first stage rhyme being:” England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales. Inside, outside, puppy dogs tails.”