To think growing up in the 80s was the best?

[Yipitsme]

Feeling all the nostalgia.
Big scrunchies,nike air max,fun house,mix tapes,michael Jackson before the rumours,sweeties and irnbru in spades ,playing out from the moment you came in till it got dark,sitting around a small 20inch tv,proper playing make believe, eating loads of stodgy food!the music high school with crazy teachers.all the stuff that's frowned upon now basically.
I had such a fun adventure filled childhood even though we never travelled even out of our home town.And we were poor!
Anyone else?

Does anyone remember the teacher’s strikes? Always seemed to happen on a Wednesday afternoon which was double German - result!

80s and 90s were the best for me.

This absolutely sums it up, so nostalgic.

Yes, loved it. And going into the 90's. Knowing my best friends and neighbours six digit landline off by heart. Using the phone for any thing - only had to pick it up and chat (seems so much more difficult now). Likewise, answering the phone as a family and passing it on. Blockbuster video
Playing out pretty much every day- there were lots of kids in my cul de sac which was by a large open space. Really didn't go to any arranged kids events (if I did it was a once in a blue moon thing, and can't remember them!). Glad it was never that way. Sleepovers were arranged, but we socialised off the cuff, every day. Knowing the boundaries which were set for us (between the mums I guess), for instance that we were only allowed to go up to "that" lamp post and no further. Sometimes broken of course! Imaginative games, a natural herd of kids just roaming peacefully and amusing ourselves with whatever was in our heads or whims. Making dens at a local ruin. The tv was also symbolic of unity because we watched programmes that everyone watched, and at the same time - there was a greater sense of common connection in society with entertainment young and old... Noel's House Party, TOTP, French and Saunders, Bruce Forsyth game shows, Generation Game, Stars in their Eyes, Big Breakfast etc etc etc!! Everyone seemed so much calmer and happier. The music was good. It had soul. We were not bombarded with negative information constantly. It was a "wicked" time to grow up!!

I was born in the 80s, so grew up more in the 90s. But gosh they were good times.

10p mix up sweets and reading the Dandy and Beano and later on Smash Hits, and Shout. Going to the library after school. Watching Neighbours, Home and Away. Saturday morning TV and Gladiators, Strike it Lucky, Stars in their eyes and Beadles About.

Looking through the Argos catalogue and circling everything I wanted.

Playing out until it got dark, eating crispy pancakes, meatballs in a tin, turkey drumsticks and little frozen mouse for pudding.

Going into town on the bus with my mum to C&A, Mark One, Tammy Girl and the markets. Sausage and chips in a cafe if we were lucky.

Tip tops in the Summer and getting sore lips from eating too many.

Shell Suits, cycling shorts, getting my first pair of Reebok trainers.

So much more, seemed such simple times.

Smash Hits or Shout, with a 10p bag of sweets - that really was living the good life!!! Memories.

Not for me or my family I'm afraid. It was an incredible racist era to grow up in and some of my siblings are still dealing with MH issues stemming from those years. The music & films etc provided a nice bit of escapism though, there were some cool sci-fi movies I have fond memories of.

I loved the 80's, the nuclear threat was scary, they made us watch 'when the wind blows' in school which scared the crap out of me! Other than that It was a great childhood, no pouting selfies and sweets and takeaways were a treat! I wouldn't swap with this generation for anything

Born in the early 80s so more 80s and 90s for me, don't think I was really aware of the Cold War fear at that age but do vaguely remember the Berlin Wall coming down. Moved from London to a small village when I was as 6, so remember absolute freedom to go call on friends and play out all day / evenings. I do feel nostalgic, and grateful that I was an insecure teenager in a time before social media, and indeed that that wasn't even a thing that I was aware of at university. Seems a more carefree way to have grown up. I did live in the middle of nowhere though and was very shy and a bit nerdy so didn't really take advantage of all the amazing bands that were around at that time.

My son was born at the end of '79 and he certainly had plenty of fun in the 1980s despite us being poor.

yep 80s were the best, feel sp privileged to grow up in that time. Wish my kids could experience the freedom we had back then!

I forgot about the video shop we didn't always have a video player. We'd moved up in the world by getting one. It was so exciting going to rent a video.

Tacky foil Christmas decorations and multi coloured fairy lights and baubles we'd had forever.

I grew up poor, we rarely had anything new, never got bored though. I always had my books, the television and there was nearly always someone to play out with.

I was born in 2969 and it was a more innocent time. We all played outside, had no Internet etc so used our own imaginations. I loved it but grew up not well off and my friends were all better off.

@BashfulClam that typo made me laugh. Are you from the future

I was an eighties kid. I've been reminiscing a lot just lately about how much simpler and happier life was back then. Going to the local shop on a Saturday with 10p for a bag of penny sweets, comics, playing outside in the street with all the local kids, Grange Hill, Byker Grove, Findus crispy pancakes, chips and beans, angel delight, birthday parties in someone's house with pass the parcel, prawn cocktail skips, pineapple and cheese, sausages on sticks and Tizer, going to Brownies, screw ball ice creams with bubble gum in the bottom, playing with Care Bears, My Little Pony and Barbie dolls. Victoria Plum and Strawberry shortcake, scented rubbers and pens that smelt of fruit, glitter stickers, playing Pac Man on the Atari and waiting for games to load on the Commodore 64, Swooning over George Michael and Morten Harket, making up dance routines in the playground, Madonna, leg warmers, neon socks, jelly shoes and bags.

I was 14 in 1989 and buy then it was all about getting the bus into town with my mates on a Saturday, trying on clothes in Top Shop, Miss Selfridge and Chelsea Girl, giggling about boys, buying sweets, cheap makeup and pop badges from the market, Woolies pic n mix, White musk perfume and lip balms from the body shop, youth club discos and snogging boys, stick on nails, spiral permed hair, scrunches, Hush Puppies, going to school in short skirts and slouch socks, bomber jackets, Bros, Hip Hop music, rushing home from school to watch Neighbours, sleepovers at friends houses, watching horror films, eating too many sweets, seeing my Nan and Grandad on a Sunday, then home for Sunday roast and there was always a pudding, doing my homework while listening to the Top 40.

I feel so nostalgic for those days!

@VioletCharlotte

I was an eighties kid. I've been reminiscing a lot just lately about how much simpler and happier life was back then. Going to the local shop on a Saturday with 10p for a bag of penny sweets, comics, playing outside in the street with all the local kids, Grange Hill, Byker Grove, Findus crispy pancakes, chips and beans, angel delight, birthday parties in someone's house with pass the parcel, prawn cocktail skips, pineapple and cheese, sausages on sticks and Tizer, going to Brownies, screw ball ice creams with bubble gum in the bottom, playing with Care Bears, My Little Pony and Barbie dolls. Victoria Plum and Strawberry shortcake, scented rubbers and pens that smelt of fruit, glitter stickers, playing Pac Man on the Atari and waiting for games to load on the Commodore 64, Swooning over George Michael and Morten Harket, making up dance routines in the playground, Madonna, leg warmers, neon socks, jelly shoes and bags.

I was 14 in 1989 and buy then it was all about getting the bus into town with my mates on a Saturday, trying on clothes in Top Shop, Miss Selfridge and Chelsea Girl, giggling about boys, buying sweets, cheap makeup and pop badges from the market, Woolies pic n mix, White musk perfume and lip balms from the body shop, youth club discos and snogging boys, stick on nails, spiral permed hair, scrunches, Hush Puppies, going to school in short skirts and slouch socks, bomber jackets, Bros, Hip Hop music, rushing home from school to watch Neighbours, sleepovers at friends houses, watching horror films, eating too many sweets, seeing my Nan and Grandad on a Sunday, then home for Sunday roast and there was always a pudding, doing my homework while listening to the Top 40.

I feel so nostalgic for those days!

You’ve just described my childhood, same age in 1989, everything seemed so colourful and hopeful. I hope my kids will feel the same about their childhood now.. and I am delighted that social media didn’t exist and what happened in the 80’s/90’s stayed there 😂

Punt for growing up in the 70's as being a smidge better ;)

Yes loved it.

School fairs and jumble sales - loved rummaging about for an old Mandy annual. I think that’s why I love charity shops and boot sales so much as an adult.

Plastic lunch boxes at school

Being dressed head to toe in velour - girls in pink and male cousins in funky brown and yellow velour tracksuits.

Watching Care Bears VHS from rental shop
Had lots of She RA toys ( these are worth a FORTUNE on eBay these days )
Playing with my childminders sons He man toys - castle Greyskull was very cool.
Favourite Christmas gift was pop star Barbie she had leg warmers / RA RA skirt and had a wee microphone and stand thing.

When we stayed at our grandparents , we were allowed to get loads of sweets from the icy ( ice cream van )
Allowed to stay up late to watch casualty - no way my mum would have let us watch that with all the blood.

Loved school, I’m old enough to have got the lukewarm free school milk in little glass bottles - bowk - but we all lapped it up

Lots of bible thumping school assemblies

Allowed to walk home alone with friends and sister from Primary 3 so age 6/7 - included crossing a main bus route road

@Pelleas

Yes, I agree. I often listen to Absolute 80s to relive those happy days.

absolute 80s has got me through working from home during lockdown

I suspect whenever you were a child, it will feel like the best time to have been a child, but I do think in some ways, we had the best of both worlds - playing outside, reading and all that traditional childhood stuff, plus the first home computers, videos and so on. Stuff like the Fslklands, the Cold War, the Miners' Strike and so on were crap, and if you were bullied at school or anything, that was also crap, but I think we probably did have it easier than today's children.

Well, it was mostly good...

It’s funny I constantly have 80’s radio stations on in the car or on Alexa too
My kids even called me out on it - “mum is that all you say ,Alexa play 80’s music “

I grew up in the 90s but I do remember the 80s for things like banana man, the 1p sweets, floella Benjamin, Michael Jackson, when he was on his 3rd nose job, milk at school.

@EBearhug yes I think that it's because it was childhood, so for most just being free of responsibilities.

But I do think that the 80s and 90s had somewhat the best of both worlds. Enough mod cons to make life comfortable, but before the age of social media and all that comes with it.

Enjoying the nostalgia though I agree about the looming threat of the Cold War. I was a teenager of the 90s and that was an amazing time. I woke up to politics with the fall of the Berlin Wall and it was such an optimistic time. The values of Western liberalism were spreading worldwide, and it seemed like we were moving towards an era of world peace. We thought that the Battle of the Sexes was won and we were moving into a post-feminist era. We really believed that the future was ours.
Sometimes it’s hard to fathom how we got from there to today.

Sorry that was a bit of a downer in a lovely thread! Back to the nostalgic stuff!

Does anyone remember fizzle sticks? I always planned to replace the teacher’s chalk with a fizzle stick but I could never resist eating it instead.

Wow you've just summed up my childhood!

• I was an eighties kid. I've been reminiscing a lot just lately about how much simpler and happier life was back then. Going to the local shop on a Saturday with 10p for a bag of penny sweets, comics, playing outside in the street with all the local kids, Grange Hill, Byker Grove, Findus crispy pancakes, chips and beans, angel delight, birthday parties in someone's house with pass the parcel, prawn cocktail skips, pineapple and cheese, sausages on sticks and Tizer, going to Brownies, screw ball ice creams with bubble gum in the bottom, playing with Care Bears, My Little Pony and Barbie dolls. Victoria Plum and Strawberry shortcake, scented rubbers and pens that smelt of fruit, glitter stickers, playing Pac Man on the Atari and waiting for games to load on the Commodore 64, Swooning over George Michael and Morten Harket, making up dance routines in the playground, Madonna, leg warmers, neon socks, jelly shoes and bags.

I was 14 in 1989 and buy then it was all about getting the bus into town with my mates on a Saturday, trying on clothes in Top Shop, Miss Selfridge and Chelsea Girl, giggling about boys, buying sweets, cheap makeup and pop badges from the market, Woolies pic n mix, White musk perfume and lip balms from the body shop, youth club discos and snogging boys, stick on nails, spiral permed hair, scrunches, Hush Puppies, going to school in short skirts and slouch socks, bomber jackets, Bros, Hip Hop music, rushing home from school to watch Neighbours, sleepovers at friends houses, watching horror films, eating too many sweets, seeing my Nan and Grandad on a Sunday, then home for Sunday roast and there was always a pudding, doing my homework while listening to the Top 40.

I feel so nostalgic for those days!*