The 80s

My husband and I finally watched Wreck It Ralph yesterday.  It made me all sentimental for the 80s. And the fact that it's graduation time, didn't help.

I was trying to find the name of those charms from the 80s....remember those?  They were small plastic charms of different past-time equipment, like tennis rackets and musical instruments.


I do remember the blender charm (don't know why a blender...for a kids charm bracelet?) and I REALLY remember the little calculator charm.

It looked just like the girl's version of those calculator watches and the buttons worked!  It didn't add, but the buttons worked.

Can you tell I was a nerd?

Well, I was trying to find the actual brand name for those charm bracelets when I came across this site with a bunch of memorabilia from the 80s.

Unfortunately, the person putting together the site is misinformed about the original date of some of these things-

• Skates that attach to your shoes were the first type of skates around.  They were metal and you needed the skate key to get them on and off.
• Playdoh has been around since the 50s (it was originally designed to clean walls; the goo-be-bone of the 50s)
• The View Master was introduced in the 1930s, though the stereoscope design has been around since the mid 1800 (1838, to be exact), which is why Pollyanna is playing with one in the movie.
• Fashion Plates, which I actually owned, came out in 1978...
• Babes in Toyland came out in the 1960s.

In fact, most of the content on the page has its origins in a different decade from the 80s.  But the numerous anachronisms aside, it was still brought back tons of memories seeing the original Trapper Keeper and banana clips.

The sticker earrings, though- I think those can rest peacefully in the past.  Oh, and the nail stickers from Avon.  Ever get one of those accidentally stuck in your hair?  If I'd only known that Playdoh would have gotten it out....