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 😂

My brother had the original casio calculator watch!
My DC10 now has one 😁

Yes we had a twin-tub. My mum actually replaced her worn-out 60s automatic with one thinking it was quicker-acting even if more labour-intensive. This was in the late 70s so we had a twin-tub right through the 80s. In fact I think that was replaced with another, and she only got an automatic once again about the end of the twentieth century when twin-tubs were no longer to be had, and not more than a couple of years before she died. I did in fact learn to use the twin-tub because at 17 I began to go on holiday with my friends instead of my family, so when the latter went away I was left to myself for two weeks.

White dog poo!!! Has anyone mentioned white dog poo yet??

@CandidFruit My grandmother had a twin tub washing machine, which she'd bought in the 1960s, and kept going for 35 years. Things were made to last in those days!

In the 90s, I had a digital watch which could be used as a TV remote.

I had the popcorn ceiling my bedroom as well.

They've probably existed long before the 80s, but I remember there was a craze for practical joke items, and children often brought them into school: snappy chewing gum, whoopee cushions, plastic dog poo, "trapped fingers" for car doors, dagger with retractable blade (which looked quite realistic, with a very shiny blade; and would never see the light of day now, especially in a school!). There was a catalogue where you could order them.

Perhaps that was another 1980s thing: ordering things from a catalogue, asking your parents for a cheque, and "please allow 28 days for delivery". I used to order a lot from the Lego Spares Service.

Cheque? I used to get postal orders from the post office.

I know exactly what you mean @Pantaloons99 , as I just saw some in Sainsbury’s with the Halloween sweets.

I had savings stamps as a child. Princess Anne was involved somehow.

My mam collected stamps with the shopping and then cashed them in every year to get me a china doll for my birthday.

Yep.

Had encyclopedia, popcorn ceiling, electric typewriter, big TV (still have one but its due to go to tip)

I still have a dent in my head from headbutting a popcorn ceiling.

This list feels a bit 'American' though.

Some people at my primary school had savings stamps on a scheme run through the school. I could never understand what they were doing.

I remember taking in money every Monday and had a stamp stuck on a special card. When the card was full you took it to a branch of TSB and they added the amount to your bank account.

Green shield stamps? I remember sticking them in the book.

I remember doing a similar thing as a kid, our local Heron petrol station (are they still a thing?) used to issue tokens that you could exchange for Robin Hood merchandise. I used to get really excited about these, ditto when Weetabix boxes had collectable cardboard Disney figures in them. (Robin Hood featured there too - must have been when the animated film came out.) The back of the box would have a backdrop on it, so you could act out scenes with the figures.

The most exciting thing about this was the time when there was no figure in the box so my mum and dad encouraged me to write a polite letter to the manufacturers expressing my disappointment. They sent me the full set of figures by way of apology. That was quite a day. 😅

Ah, simpler times...

@thepastinsidethepresent you have triggered my memory of collecting Smurfs from our Esso garage! My sister and I had them lined up all along our windowsill.

My gran and granda had the kensitas coupon catalogue.
You basically had to smoke like a chimney collect hundreds of coupons in exchange for a household item.

Writing to magazines or TV shows for one thing or another and always having to include a "Stamped, Addressed Envelope"

Think the stamp may have cost 14p 2nd class, but you had to buy two of course, so not cheap 😁

Oh yes, the Smurfs! My cousin collected them and was pretty obsessed for a while! 😄

How could I have forgotten about Kensitas cigarettes? If I had a quid for every time my mum sent me to the shop to get her 20 Kensitas... I'd only have been 7 or 8 when this started. And the shop would serve them to me! How the times have changed...

I know this post is months old but just in case nobody else said it - number five on your list, I think, was a Keyper. I had the orange ladybird, with a bespectacled sidekick. Indicating there were, presumably, sprite opticians? 80s toys were phenomenal.

Memory unlocked! My old nan had a DOZEN of each of these, and the accompanying breast cancer. Suppose it very slightly offset the crippling waste of money and damage to health (let’s be honest she’d have smoked them either way 😬)

I was at Swindon museum yesterday, where they've a display of Polly Pockets, because the company that made them was based in Swindon.

The decade that gave us these songs 😍

https://www.smoothradio.com/features/top-songs/1980s-songs-best-ranked/

My nana use to collect the 'lambert and butler' cards... she had HUNDREDS (they did chain smoke like chimneys) and I spent many a childhood day at their house counting them and sorting them into piles.

We had the very same pyrex bowls and plates!