10 Things in the ’80s We Still Miss Today

Ah, the 1980s! It was the decade of the best music with Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Duran Duran. It was the decade with the best movies – “The Breakfast Club,” “Ghostbusters,” and “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.” And it was the decade with the best TV shows – “The Cosby Show,” “Family Ties,” and “Dallas.”

There’s so much about the ’80s we still miss. And there a few things that today’s generation can’t even believe we had! So here’s our list of the 10 Things in the ’80s We Still Miss Today!

1. Waterbeds. Chances are, if you didn’t have one yourself, you knew someone who did. Yes, millions of people slept on a mattress filled with water! They were all the rage in the ’80s, at one point making up around 20% of mattress sales! Some people claimed the jiggly, wobbly, rocking nature of the fluid-filled mattress gave them the best sleep of their lives. Today, waterbeds make up about 2% of mattress sales.

2. Rotary phones. Today’s kids can hardly believe that we used to actually talk on the phone! Not only that, instead of punching a button, we had to place a finger in the hole for the number we wanted, then rotate the dial around to the end stop and wait for it to come back before you could dial the next number! There’s a viral video on YouTube of two teens trying to figure it out and it’s hilarious! 

3. Phone books. Speaking of rotary phones, the only way to find your friend’s number was by looking up their parents in the phone book! They were free, delivered once a year, and were filled with the phone numbers of everyone in your city. Everyone had landlines at that time because cell phones didn’t exist yet!

4. Console TV’s. There was a time when the TV was a piece of furniture in the home. It was a large box that sat on the floor and in order to change the channel, you had to get up and walk across the room and turn the dial. Inconceivable that TV’s would one day hang on the wall!

5. Boom boxes. These days we have our favorite tunes always at the ready with our phones, Alexa, and portable Bluetooth speakers. But back in the ’80s, we had giant boom boxes that we carried with us to blast our favorite tunes in our bedrooms, outside, or hanging out with friends. Remember Lloyd Dobbler holding the boom box over his head in the movie “Say Anything?” Say no more!

6. Floppy disks. So once upon a time, we didn’t have the cloud or Google to store information for us. Back in the ’80s, if we used our Apple II to type something up, we had to save that document to a floppy disk. For today’s generation who may still be clueless, a floppy disk is defined as: a flexible removable magnetic disk (typically encased in a hard plastic shell) for storing data.

7. Video rental stores. At one time, the video rental store was the place to go and be seen! You could go and browse hundreds of options to view on your new VCR. And of course, be kind and rewind! VCR tapes were just that – tapes. It took awhile to fast-forward and rewind.

8. MTV played music videos! MTV debuted in 1981 as a 24-hour platform for music videos. Basically, you could turn on MTV any time of the day or night and see music videos from Lionel Richie, Prince, and Rick Springfield.

9. Glamour Shots. Raise your hand if you went to the mall and paid to get glammed up and your photo taken? Glamour Shots were enormously popular among women in the ’80s. The “experts” gave you a makeover and then snapped your picture wearing fur, sequins, and satin. Check out this link to see some classic Glamour Shots from the ’80s! 
10. Perms. We will never forget the smell of our Ogilvie home perms. Back in the ’80s, we loved our hair curly, big, and sprayed into place! Yes, perms are still available, and they went through a little renaissance recently with teenage boys, but if you were a girl growing up in the ’80s, we bet you had a perm or two!