What was life like in the 80s?

[Strangerthanadeadting]

As a recent fan of Stranger Things and having only been four years old at the end of the eighties, I'm fascinated to know what life was like for teens & adults back then.

It's depicted as being so much fun on TV. So colourful, the music is brilliant, the fashion so vivid. It was a time before the Internet, social media, plastic surgery, the Kardashians.

I'm fascinated. I'd love to hear what life was like. What people did for fun, what they ate, how different a working day was, if it really was as glamorous as it looks, if the hairstyles took forever, what people thought the future would be like? Was it a better life? A better time?

Coming back to say I don't remember the whiff of weed everywhere in the street like there is now.

People were more respectful of your personal space in that respect and Cocaine use was more confined to the Yuppies and rich folk. It frightens me that so many people seem to be on it now and act violently and irrationally.

However. There were two girls in my class at 16 who got pregnant. I caught up with one recently who told me her parents insisted she leave school and she had to go to see the headmistress on her own and tell her she was leaving as pregnant. There was absolutely no provision for young mums and she had no support like she would now.

Also when I look back on it, teachers could still yell 'Stupid ' at you and hit you and get away with it. No questions asked. Hard to imagine we have gone from one extreme to the other the way we have.

Born in 1983. Remember having my milk, from a glass bottle, in nursery, in the grounds of what became my primary school.

Laura Ashley. Fall of the Berlin Wall. Recession (parents in recession - proof jobs but interest rates on the mortgage were eye watering).

I wish I could say I remember it fondly but I had parents who should never have had kids!

It is difficult to ascertain whether the 'freedom' I experienced in the 70s and 80s would be construed as neglect.

I roamed free around the neighbourhood and only returned home for meals or when the streetlights came on. This was aged 3+. We built dens in the meadows, went scrumping etc. This was not all good and I wouldn't recommend it.

Then as I got older we hung out around the offie until we could get into pubs and clubs at 15. Also this was not all good and could be very bad in all sorts of ways (alcohol, drugs, non-consensual sex) and I wouldn't recommend it.

But it didn't stop me from working or going to uni as a slightly mature student and getting 2 degrees because the structure allowed it - the jobs or courses existed, I could get funding etc.

These days it seems that youthful misdemeanours are not discounted and young people are expected to perform perfectly in SATs from aged 7 to have any hope of adult success due to structural constraints. The jobs don't exist, funding doesn't exist etc.

Maybe that is the real difference between the 80s and now rather than superficial differences in fashion. BTW the elite in the Hunger Games have an 89s fashion vibe. Maybe that is deliberate.

I loved the 80's. Twilight Teaser lipstick and sloppy joe tops. Acid, neon colours on my mohair, batwing sleeved jumpers. We walked everywhere. Clothes shopping trips were planned for and saved up for. By the end of the 80's store cards were easy to get. Getting engaged with a ring before you were 21 was the ambition.

I know it's late in the thread and chances of anyone reading this far are slim.but..

Does anyone think the 80s and the people back then were far more considerate of others, far less selfish and self important?
Seems people used to be more polite, show more concern for others and think of the effects their actions had on others. From holding doors open, to putting trolleys back, to not parking cars like dick heads. I'd swear people would think,
"I won't leave my trolley here as someone else might need it"
these days,
"Fuck em, I can't be arsed to take it back"
Or
"Best not have the music up too loud, people will be trying to sleep"
These days,
"Fuck the neighbours, I'm having fun."
Etc etc.
From my perspective, seems these days people give no thought to anyone but themselves.

Yes I agree MonkeyToes

Sadly we are lions led by donkeys: politicians and celebrities have no shame.

The environmental grimness and unemployment if you lived in the North, most graduates would have to go to London to find their first job. The music was amazing and even listening to The Cure and Jonny Marr last week at Glastonbury it is still stand out brilliant. There was less pressure for dcs to be academic only about 20 out of my year group of 200 went to university and that was the norm. Teachers just taught you lessons and had no other pressures put on them and there were no additional support staff in schools. It felt good to be young despite the economic gloom we could choose to study what interested us at university without worrying if it would lead to a job to pay off debts and I’m glad I could make the usual youthful mistakes without them being recorded on social media. We were optimistic we would have a decent paid job with career prospects if we worked hard and own our own house the retire on a final salary pension

I was a teenager in the 80s, growing up in a grotty little mining / industrial town in Derbyshire.

Unemployment was very high, there was no minimum wage and deprivation was at least as bad as it is today, if not worse. The media in the late 80s projected a world of affluence, economic booms in the finance industry, rising house prices, aspirational consumer goods, pop stars in designer suits etc etc. Life may have been like that in London, but it was most definitely nothing like that in Derbyshire.

Millions of people worked in manufacturing industry. In our part of the country the garment industry was a major source of employment, particularly for women. I knew dozens of women who worked as machinists making clothes for major retailers. They could earn good wages, and go out at the weekend with money in their purses.

A few big differences in everyday life :
No mobile phones (except for a tiny number of City boys), Internet or social media, obviously.
No chain coffee shops. Younger people may be surprised to learn that Costa / Starbucks / Nero etc didn’t exist in the 80s. They came later, in the 90s.there were independent cafes, of course, but buying coffee just wasn’t an everyday thing.

Almost everyone smoked.

Very few people who went to ‘ bog-standard’ comprehensives went to university, only about 20 of us out of 150 in my school year.

Contd..

But those of us who did go to uni (as nobody called it in those days) had no tuition fees to pay and the government gave you a maintenance grant, unless your parents were rich.

Finished college and went to Polytechnic in the north of England in the mid 80s. Got a full grant and fees paid.

It was all 'dig deep for the miners' and only 2p on the bus.

Red lipstick, Dr Martens and 501 jeans were our uniform.

McDonalds arrived and was for kids. No one over the age of 12 would be seen eating it.

Used to take £5 out at the cashpoint and that was plenty for a night out.

Started my first job and it was common for people to smoke at their desks. The tea lady came around with her trolley at 3. Stripagrams in the office for men's birthdays! Sexism everywhere.

Salesmen drinking at lunchtime. Their mobile phones were carried around with the battery in a purpose made briefcase.

Came home stinking of smoke whenever we went out. Fag burns in clothes on the dance floor.

We just drank beer. Wine and cocktails weren't on our radar at all.

Could never afford to have heating on. Used to wear hat and scarf to bed. Used a hairdryer to bond plastic sheets to windows in a poor mans version of double glazing.

But it was fun! No one had much but what we had was shared. No pressure to look a certain way or have designer stuff.

I was a hairdresser- started an apprenticeship in 1982. Hair was big, so were shoulder pads. I still taped the top 40 from the radio, and bought vinyl records. I walked, caught the bus, or cycled everywhere. Loved going out (started going to pubs and nightclubs at 16). I drank halves of lager. Enjoyed the cinema far more than I do now (we called the local one the fleapit).

I think we ate less then; I didn’t snack between meals at all. After nightclubs, we’d go for a Chinese curry- sitting in.

We used to go to The Lakes for days out and walk up hills, but in totally unsuitable clothing and footwear. We’d listen to David Bowie, Meat Loaf, or Fleetwood Mac tapes in the car. Kids had old bangers as first cars- or mopeds.

We discovered bronzing powder and used it liberally, along with frosted highlights, loads of mousse for crispy curls, electric blue eyeliner and Running Bare frosted lipstick from Miss Selfridge.

Clothes were from Chelsea Girl mostly. Good times!

People drove older cars - new cars were only for travelling salesmen, company reps and the few with money.

The brewery wagon drivers delivering to pubs would drink a half at each pub they delivered to. They must have been absolutely sloshed by the end of their round, yet still driving the wagon!

Sports, such as formula one were full of cigarette advertising - I used to love the jet back John Player Special cars.

They still do that at primary schools Housemartins, children are very aware.of whose on the "bottom table" and regarding council houses ,they do still.exist I live in one and it we got it fairly quickly four years ago( no priority)
I don't live anywhere near London or the South East though.

Fear of nuclear war was a big thing, as PP have said.

Lots of unemployment, sense of financial insecurity.

Teachers on strike ...home a lot because of that.

Glue sniffing.

The music was great though.

I was born in 1980 so just a child but from what I can remember times were very hard and my parents really struggled. There was nothing new for us and just basic boring food. I remember eating potatoes a lot! I remember being quite bored as a child too. We just played at home and didn’t really go anywhere. I remember my mum had a perm!

“I think there was less pressure. No one was interested in having big tits or big lips or BOTOX or documenting every inch of their lives on social media or being tagged everywhere you go.”

Agreed. If anyone had taken a photo of themselves back then people would have thought you were weird and “up yourself” lol (which is why I don’t do them, as it is weird to me!)

I agree Puss, this selfie thing is so self absorbed its embarrassing

The phone book was about 10 times as big as today, and almost everyone was in it, with name (surname and initial of 'head of household ' (that would be the dad), address and phone number. You were only ex-directory if you had a special reason. Yellow Pages was also big, and was the place you looked if you needed a plumber, say, or a taxi, and didn't have a regular one.

Yeah it wasn’t all good especially in the school environment

The belt was still in existence. I got bullied and picked on quite badly in primary 2 and my bully got the belt! Ok he never did it again but I have memories of the depute head screaming at him and calling him a beast and a savage after she’d leathered him! He was 6 years old ffs!

In high school we had a boy who was plainly looking back severely autistic and he was just fucking ignored by the teachers.

We also had an art teacher who shagged a 6th year girl

Appalling

Oh and the phone! People being “not on the phone” was actually a thing! Crazy

I dont remember there being obesity issues back then

No primary school homework AT ALL I was straight out to play after school No SATS either.

No councils dictating that childrens play equipment must be removed like housing associations are doing now

www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/tenants-angry-after-trampoline-is-removed-but-scaffolding-is-allowed-to-stay-up-1-5613191

www.real-fix.com/bizarre/mum-slams-killjoy-housing-association-for-forcing-her-to-remove-paddling-pool-and-trampoline-from-communal-garden-over-health-and-safety-fears/

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3635130/Council-killjoys-force-mother-remove-trampoline-paddling-pool-garden-pose-health-safety-risks-despite-three-incident-free-years.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5698389/Family-told-to-remove-trampoline-because-it-could-be-used-by-burglars.html

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2376632/Health-safety-inspector-orders-mother-3m-public-liability-insurance-childs-trampoline-communal-gardens.html

IMO the burglars one is the best

My parents owned their own home (still do) but DH has always lived in council properties and there wasnt the paternalistic "we are doing you a favour" attitude like there is now.

Mandy comic

Tracy comic

Occasionally Bunty comic

Smash Hits Just Seventeen 19

Dave Allen specials
The Gentle Touch
Cats Eyes

Dempsey and Makepeace

The Equalizer.

Neighbours Home and Away.

TOTP on a Thursday night

Now Dance albums I had the first one for my 12 birthday in 1985 It had 12 inch versions of hit singles

I was born in 1973 but wish id been born a decade earlier.

On the topic of childhood obesity, there was a very overweight boy in my "top junior" (year 6) school class in the mid 80s, and he was openly referred to as [first name] Jelly Belly [family name] very openly bullied and excluded - I never remember anyone being even mildly reprimanded or asked not to tease him...

Playing out though prevents overweight children not only because they're active but also because if they're out playing they're not boredom snacking in the house or attending adult led activities and clubs with lots of waiting around and scheduled in snack time! The meals certainly weren't healthier!

Re the lack of obesity then - shops only stocked clothes up to size 14. If you were fatter you’d either make your own or have to buy something your Nan would wear from the delightfully named “Evans Outsize.”

Early 80s getting your 10p pocket money and buying a mix up at the sweet shop.
Being « free range» children. My mum had no idea where we were after school. Usually just in the park, making dens etc.
Record shops. People; especially boys, used to spend hours in them.
Buying singles for about 75p. I wasn’t that into music.
I loved 5 star, Madonna.
I remember being impressed by a Tower Records at Piccadilly Circus in London.

Jumble sales. In the 6th form, I could wear my own clothes and used to buy loads at jumble sales.
Would cut them up and make my own fashion.
People were much more experimental with clothes.
I loved the New Romantics in Fashion and Music.
I was more a Duranie than a Spand.
(I liked John Taylor more than Simon le Bon)