WAF’s Five for Friday – Fun in the 80′s Edition
by editor
Filed under On Life, WAF's Fab Finds
Since we’re like, in 80’s mode, I thought I’d like, revisit like five 80’s pop cultural phenomenon that were like all the rage during the 80’s. If you count, my like, excessive use of the word like, then it’s actually like six. Share the list with your kids so they can marvel at how we managed to entertain ourselves without laptops, iphones and texting. Maybe they’ll be like “gag me with a spoon” and then you can be like, “totally!” Yeah, we were that silly.
1. Rubik’s Cube – This colorful 3-D mechanical puzzle made its debut in 1980. Despite the fact that most solutions to the cube have come from mathematicians, demand for the cube in 1981 exceeded its initial 1 million piece order. As of January 2009, 350 million cubes have sold worldwide making it the world’s top-selling puzzle game.
2. McGyver – MacGyver debuted on ABC in 1985 and from the very first episode, Richard Dean Anderson was getting himself out of impossible situations with only a Swiss Army knife and Duct Tape. McGyver’s escape tactics became so legendary that popular culture turned the action hero into a verb, as in “The car broke down but he MacGyvered a fix to get home.” Can you imagine how different the show would have been if he’d had an iphone?
3. Commodore VIC 20 – The Commodore was the first personal computer in our home and many others in the U.S. By today’s standard the VIC now looks absolutely archaic, but it ushered in the advent of the personal computer and gave us a glimpse of things to come.
4. Cabbage Patch Dolls – The first year Cabbage Patch’s were officially on the market was the first time I remember adults rioting over toys. Literally. The dolls’ release in 1983 ushered in a new era of parents fighting each other over their kids’ toys, one that sadly continues even today.
5. We’re Not Candy PSA – That and Hankering for a Hunka Cheese were two of my favorite saturday morning PSAs from the 80’s. But even prior to talking pills, School House Rock had us at conjunction junction, understanding how bills became laws and sufferin’ till sufferage. Visit schoolhouserock.tv to watch your favorite school house rock videos. And watch the We’re Not Candy PSA right now…
