BOOM BOXES:
Everyone seemed to have had one of these in the 1980s, mostly large ones that looked like the ones in the pictures. I know I had one that was somewhere along the lines of this design.
Soon I transitioned to CDs (more on this to come).
More like 40 years later! Strange how technology has evolved, and how times have changed! Back in the day, we could not take items like these to school, as the school would not be responsible for such things getting stolen or lost. Now kids have to take laptops to school for work, and no one seems worried about those getting stolen!
I had a few of these as a little girl before outgrowing toys completely. I never had Baby Alive, though I can now see myself wearing the doll out, trying to make it poop, thus running out of the baby food mixes. Though I did have the Baby Alive coloring book. I do have to say the Baby Alive dolls today are quite creepy. They looked much better back in the day.
There were several other I remember seeing advertised but never got, though I don't recall ever asking for them to begin with.
One was this one:
I could see myself running out of the baby lotion by continually giving her a bottle just to see the rash happening!
And this one. I don't know why, if at all, I never asked this one:
At least I wouldn't have run out of the "milk," though the pull string might have worn out. It would have been too tempting to hear the slurping sounds.
Here is one I did have, called Baby, Be Good! As I recall, you squeezed her stomach as she sucked her thumb or drank her bottle.
BOOK ORDERS AND BOOK FAIRS:
Many will remember getting order forms for books each month in grade school. It was from these order forms that I got my first Mad Libs book, my copy of Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, and my first teen romance books (more on this genre to come), among other things. The monthly order forms looked like this:
It was always fun to browse through the order form to decide what to get.
We also had book fairs where could also get books. They were usually set up in the library, like this. And they're still happening.
I will be discussing different kinds of books in upcoming A to Z posts.
BRACES:
How many of you had to go through that? Yes, I did. It was quite rough having to give up gum and candy for a while. And I don't even want to get started on that awful thing called a headgear!
My 80s teen book (that I'm still trying to send out) is about a boy having to get braces. This was the shoutout this blog did about my book after I left the comments below:
Check out my blog archives for more info on my book, You Can't Hide From the Teeth. I was originally going to use a title with the phrase "behind bars," after the cartoon below. This analogy somehow never occurred to me back in the day or seemingly to anyone else either.
BENNETON:
Who remembers this line of clothes? I know I went out looking for this and found a shirt something like this:
I know I saw at least one other person wearing this and other popular clothes brands back in my teens. This often made me want to get in on the clothes as well. More to come on others.
BARRETTES:
Many a girl will remember wearing barrettes, particularly ones like these:
And there were those that got creative:
I was never big on barrettes, though I do know I had some of the plastic ones pictured above, and remember snapping them open and shut just for the fun of it.
I was very fortunate that my teeth just grew in naturally straight, because my parents would never have been able to afford braces. My sister's teeth were a little crowded in her mouth, so the dentist just yanked a couple out to give the rest room to more or less straighten out.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It's amazing how much I used to consider daily stuff is now gone.
ReplyDelete~No boomboxes for me or my kids, well, maybe a mini-s1zed pink one for my youngest daughter.
ReplyDelete~Baby dolls, I am pretty sure I had one. Betsy Wetsy? But when I real baby dolls, my first thought was the PJ style. I loved them.
~Braces for a year, didn't do what they needed. Sigh...
~Benneton wasn't ever in my wardrobe but I do recognize the name.
~Barrettes were a staple when my hair was long as well as for both my girls.
My A to Z Blogs
DB McNicol - Small Delights, Simple Pleasures, and Significant Memories
My Snap Memories - My Life in Black & White
I remember using those barrettes on my daughters hair. I don't think they had them back when I was wearing braids.
ReplyDeletehttps://findingeliza.com/
Braces? Oh yes, at 46!! Imagine that will ya!
ReplyDeleteI never played with dolls except Barbie. To this day dolls freak me out.
I had the boom box, the albums and the CDs and now it's all online but I prefer an album or cd personally.
I remember kids getting on the bus with boom boxes bigger than they were. Amazing that in just one or two generations you can get all that in a smartphone. I think it's fantastic...
ReplyDeleteI remember this barrettes. I always picked the two blue birds.
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten about the barrettes until I saw them here! Also, the book orders were so much fun.
ReplyDeleteA walk down the memory lane... I remember the Sony Walkmans and Discmans! And oh yeah, the barrettes!
ReplyDelete~Ria
Baby dolls, book orders and book fairs!
ReplyDeleteBrings back memories, thank you for that.
I can still remember the book faire orders being passed out in class...I could hardly wait
to make my selections. Those were the days :)