Pop Culture - Totally the 80's

A wagon crosses a muddy river beside a glowing vintage computer and scattered medical supplies.

Oregon Trail Game Dysentery and The Fear Behind the Meme

The old classroom computer ran a computer game, an educational video game meant to teach history. Instead, it taught an entire generation one cold, weirdly adult sentence: dysentery could wipe…

A vintage wrestling figure sits beside tools and old blister packaging on a wooden desk.

Pop Culture Action Figures Toys and Games

How to Identify Original 80s WWF LJN Figures

An original LJN wrestler can feel like a small dumbbell with a headlock. These chunky, rubbery action figures were built for bedroom ring wars, couch-cushion cage matches, and the occasional…

Wembley and JFK Stadiums filled with concert crowds and connected across the sky.

Pop Culture 80s News 80s Rock Music Music Icons

Live Aid 1985 and The Day Two Stadiums Shared One Screen

On July 13, 1985, a concert became a phone bank, a satellite experiment, a rock-and-roll relay race, and a shared lump in the throat. The concert wasn't the literal day…

An empty school library with five chairs, scattered desks, a basketball, and a red jacket.

Pop Culture 80s Pop Cult Classics Drama Movies Music Teen Comedies

The Breakfast Club and the Lines We Still Know by Heart

Some movies leave you with a favorite scene. The Breakfast Club leaves you reciting a whole Saturday, even if you never spent one in detention. Released in 1985, The Breakfast…

Teen girl in a pink dress holding ribbon inside a vintage clothing shop.

Pop Culture Fashion Movies Teen Comedies Trends

Pretty in Pink and the Teen Movie Fashion We Still Remember

One pink prom dress did more than decorate a final scene. It told us who Andie Walsh was before she said a word. That is why 80s teen movie fashion…

A glowing CRT television sits beside retro snacks, tapes, a toy microphone, and popcorn.

Pop Culture 80s Pop Commercials Music

80s Commercial Jingles That Start the Sing-Along

One bright, brassy note, and your mouth is already moving. Before television commercials reach their first chorus, you're already back on the carpet, too slow to reach the remote. That's…

Child in colorful 1980s clothes blowing a large pink bubble outdoors.

Pop Culture 80s Pop Commercials Fads Food

Hubba Bubba Gum and the 80s Bubble-Blowing Craze

Before selfies, there was the schoolyard bubble test. Could you blow one big enough to cover your nose, hold it for a second, then pop it without wearing the evidence?…

A teenager stands beside an open DeLorean surrounded by glowing blue energy at dusk.

Pop Culture Cult Classics Movies

Back to the Future and the 1985 Time Travel Craze

Universal Pictures' 1985 theatrical release gave moviegoers a stainless-steel sports car, a wild-haired inventor, and one unforgettable warning: don't mess with your parents' first date. 1985 time travel movies weren't…

Inspector Gadget uses a mechanical arm while an umbrella helicopter opens above him.

Pop Culture Animated Saturday Morning Cartoons TV Shows

Inspector Gadget Cartoon and When Every Hat Held a Secret

A plain old trench coat had no business being this exciting. Yet this animated hero made a hat, a wristwatch, an umbrella, and a pair of shoes feel like the…

Pop Culture 80s Heartthrobs Celebs and Icons Movie Stars Music Icons

80s Teen Idols Ranked by the Posters on Our Walls

A bedroom wall in 1985 could tell you everything. A Duran Duran foldout near the dresser. Rob Lowe taped to the closet door. Molly Ringwald over the bed, looking like…