17 Things Every House Had in the '80s
Phones used to be attached to walls! What a time.
If you lived through the 80s you somehow survived in a world without cell phones, where TVs were often one per household and enormous and video game systems were new and primitive, at best. It certainly didn’t have the modern luxuries and conveniences that we have today, but the household of the 80s certainly did have its charms. Here are some flashbacks to that unique time in history.
Encyclopedia Set
Many parents of young kids and teens invested in a set of at-home encyclopedias filled with knowledge and facts on a variety of subjects, and perfect to help with school reports back in the days before Google searches and digitized media. But the problem with these encyclopedias (aside from the price tag) was that they were outdated nearly as soon as they were printed, with ever changing information about countries, world leaders and science.
Popcorn Ceiling
This once-popular ceiling texture was a staple in most ‘80s homes in order to take boring plain ceilings and make them look more interesting and some had glitter.
Electric Typewriter
While an upgrade from the original manual typewriters, these smoother operating machines made typing school essays a little easier before personal computers became a household staple.
Juicer
Not the fancy juicers of today where they will make you smoothies and turn your pulp into compost, these hand juicers were a manual process. If someone made you fresh squeezed OJ, it was a labor of love.
Mirrors
Floor to ceiling mirrors were a thing. Why? Not sure, but people sure did like all those wall-to-wall reflective surfaces.
Cabbage Patch Kids
This hot toy caused riots at the holidays, but these dolls that smelled like baby powder were a staple in every home.
Trivial Pursuit
Every house had a copy of this board game, most with well worn cards and missing wedges.
Metal Lunchboxes
Eventually replaced by the plastic lunch boxes, sporting character lunch boxes with a matching thermos was part of every kids daily lunchtime routine.
Atari
This early game system was just the start for home gaming systems like the Xbox and Playstation, but with 8-bit graphics.
Massive Television
These giant TVs took up some much space, and were often the only television in the house, though some moms had smaller table top ones in the bedroom to watch TV at night. But these TV’s often lacked remote controls and fighting over what to watch was all part of the fun.
Mini Blinds
Instead of just curtains blocking the windows, mini blinds came into fashion in the ‘80s… only to be destroyed by kids and cats.
Tupperware
The ‘80s were filled with MLM style Tupperware parties (and Avon ladies), meaning that every house had at least a few random Tupperware items they bought from a friend.
Boombox
You could go quiet and listen to your cassette tapes on a Walkman, or go loud and tune in on a boombox that had speakers so the whole neighborhood could hear you blasting New Kids on the Block.
Wall Phone
Long before cell phones, families had to share one phone (sometimes kids were lucky enough to have a private line) and that phone was often attached to the wall in the kitchen, so private calls weren’t easy to have.
Electric Popcorn Popper
People had microwaves, but early microwave popcorn was… not good. Too many burnt kernels, instead people had air poppers to make big bowls of popcorn for movie night for those movies that aired on TV with commercials.
Slide Projector
It’s so easy now to take pics on a phone, but with film cameras you had to get your pictures developed, and a lot of people opted to get their photos turned into slides so they could show everyone their vacation pics… in a very old-school Instagram kind of way.
Answering Machine
If you’ve seen George on Seinfeld recording his answering machine message, that was a thing, because having cassette tapes that would fill up with long messages was the only way to know if someone called while you were out of the house.
Angel Madison is a shopping editor at Hearst Magazines with over 25 years of editorial experience. She writes about parenting, toys, plus-size fashion, sneakers, and more for brands like Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Prevention, and Esquire. Before her time at Hearst, Angel worked as a parenting editor for New Jersey Family and covered entertainment for NBC Universal, AOL, and TV Guide. When she’s not testing the latest footwear trends, adding to her collection of over 100 LEGO sets, or scouting for the hottest new toys, you can find Angel walking long distances (either in the woods or in New York City) and spending time with her daughter.
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