Weird and Wacky Facts About the 80's
- Catherine Moscatt
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Corporal punishment (ex. paddling) was acceptable in most schools.
Smoking was allowed in most places even on airplanes which sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. They even had cigarette vending machines. Ironically Nancy Reagan was pushing her “Just say no!” to drugs campaign whereas cigarettes would probably kill more people.
Everybody was hanging out at the mall. Which isn’t so different from how I grew up. I joked in high school that I lived at the mall complete with pillow and blanket stowed away under a bench.
Waterbeds got popular. In 1987, 20% of beds were waterbeds. Myself I’ve never even lain on a waterbed let alone slept in one. I wonder if I’d get seasick.
Apparently, Roald Dahl had some problems writing Matilda because he didn’t know if his books were popular. Personally, I hate his books. I think they are creepy, sadistic and bad for children. I remember reading one or two when I was little and coming away from them feeling weirded out, The James and the Giant Peach movie scarred me for life as did the Tim Burton adaptation of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
The crimper (a hair accessory) was invented by Barbara Streisand’s stylist who would spend so much time braiding and unbraiding Streisand’s hair.
There’s a caffeinated drink I never heard of! It’s called Jolt Cola and it’s slogan was “all the sugar, and twice the caffeine” Sounds like a little too much of a good thing.
Christian Bale (who played Batman but also Patrick Bateman in the infamous American Psycho) was in a Pac-man commercial back in the 80’s.
I would never allow someone to ghostwrite a book f or me. But in the 80’s it was really popular. Ann M. Martin, author of the series The Babysitter’s Club, wrote the first Sweet Valley Twins book while Peter Langris (author of the Sweet Valley Twin’s books) ghostwrote 43 Babysitter’s Club. I enjoyed the Babysitter’s books. Never really got into the Sweet Valley ones though.
There was a 1988 Hairspray before the one with the star studded cast that came out in 2007.
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