Nostalgia is an incredibly powerful force! The past is an often enticing place where the world seemed like it was far better, with fewer problems, better products and services, happier people, tastier food, and the like. Of course, a big part of this is your rose-colored interpretation of everything. But that’s not to say that earlier decades don’t have their unique charm—they do!
The 1980s had a very particular vibe, and our team at Bored Panda wanted to show you exactly what it was like. So, we’ve collected photos from that decade that show the atmosphere of everyday life, including some of the things—from furniture and technology to toys and knickknacks—that many people owned back in the ’80s. Scroll down for a trip into the past.
#1 Who Had A Spirograph Growing Up?
Image credits: AxelNoir
#2 This Stereo System And Glass Case
Image credits: oiiioiiio
#3 The Puffiness Made Them Better
Image credits: halfmeasures611
#4 Blank Vhs Tapes
Image credits: GalacticLinx
#5 Who Remembers The Waterful Ring Toss Game As A Kid? It Was So Simple, But So Much Fun To Me
Image credits: imgur.com
#6 Anybody Remember The Fisher Price Toy Barns That Make The Moo Sound When You Open The Door?
Image credits: imgur.com
#7 The Ge Alarm Clock That Everyone Seemed To Have
Image credits: 2ezyo
#8 Pencils With Cartridges
Image credits: Lexjiggler
#9 The Casserole Dish That Every Family Had
Image credits: 2ezyo
#10 Tupperware Just Filed For Bankruptcy. Rip To That Set Of Bowls All Our Grandma's Had
Image credits: Zoozoo95
#11 Turned My Spare Bedroom Into A Nostalgia Oasis
My house is a 4 br built in 2007. I was born in 1981 and was trying to recreate the feeling of growing up in the 80s middle class home. Needed a project after my wife passed and it was so much fun putting it together. My teenage girls would let me convert the whole basement.
Image credits: jrgeorge01
#12 Did Anyone Else Sleep In One Of These? I Think I Would Have To Be Helped Out Of It Today
Image credits: 1illiteratefool
#13 Removing The Faceplate Of Your Car Stereo So It Wouldn’t Get Stolen
Image credits: ebjazzz
#14 I Don't Know About You Folk. But, This Was Core 80's For Me
Image credits: kaijugigante
#15 Who Else Grew Up With These?
Image credits: acidcow.com
#16 Pizza Hut's Drinking Glasses From The 80s And 90s!
Image credits: lmcclel
#17 Trivial Pursuit '81, Spent So Many Winter Weekends Playing This Game
Image credits: capnkirk462
#18 Beach Chairs From The 80s. Get A Tan And First Degree Burns At The Same Time
Image credits: styckx
#19 Almost Every House In The 1980s Had A Room That Looked Like This
Image credits: hotbowlsofjustice
#20 A Classic
Image credits: DGsociety
#21 Fantastic Setup
Image credits: reddit.com
#22 If You're Interested In Dust, Here's A Quaint Little Piece From The 1980s, It's Called A Dustbuster
Image credits: DGsociety
#23 The Tomato Pincushion Our Grandmothers, Mothers, And Aunts Had
Image credits: damagedgoodz99824
#24 Tape Recorded Answering Machines
Image credits: Vanzarrk
#25 Electric Carving Knife
Image credits: corkboy
#26 Making Orange Juice From A Frozen Paper Can
I can remember my mom getting this out of the freezer, into a Tupperware gallon jug, adding water and you you had to stir it all up.
Image credits: Altruistic-Cut9795
#27 If You Know, You Know. If Not Then I Feel Sorry For You
Image credits: Medical-One9202
#28 I’m This Old
Image credits: DonaldKey
#29 Anybody Old Enough To Remember The Whee-Lo?
Image credits: imgur.com
#30 Old Polaroid We Found From The 80s
Image credits: reddit.com
#31 What Was It Like Growing Up In The 80s? The 80s:
Image credits: tumblr.com
#32 In The 80s Lots Of Us Learnt To Type With A Manual Typewriter. I Used To Dream Of Becoming A Writer And Even Folded Pages And Used To Craft Handmade Books
Image credits: priscillahernandez
#33 Who Remembers Bristle Blocks?
Image credits: AccioUpvotes
#34 No Early 80’s Kitchen Was Complete Without A Set Of These Bad Boys:
Image credits: chewedupbylife
#35 Slap Bracelets
Image credits: Tori Telfer
#36 Visiting The Cousin’s House Circa 1986-88
Image credits: jb4647
#37 Radio Shack’s New All-Electronic Cordless Phone (1982)
Image credits: The Click Americana Team
#38 This LEGO Windshield
Image credits: reddit.com
#39 Atari
Image credits: over-sight
#40 The Clapper
Image credits: Otherwise_Basis_6328
#41 Finger Monsters
Image credits: Person2201
#42 Who Remembers These Switchblade Combs?
Image credits: piximus.net
#43 Anyone Else Still Have A Cabbage Patch Kid Lying Around?
Image credits: Eredic
#44 These Cereal Bowls I Used To Eat Out Of As A Kid
Image credits: Amartincelt
#45 You Guys Hate Carpet In The Bathroom? I Can One Up That. My Parents Have A Bathroom With Carpet That Goes Up The Bathtub Walls! Bonus Points For The Terrible Wallpaper
That is impressive preservation of 80s interior design.
Image credits: jbird2525
#46 Remembering A Time When People Would Debate Over Fullscreen vs. Widescreen Vhs Tapes For Movie Releases
Image credits: ryohazuki224
