10 Popular Things From The '80s… That We've Abandoned 

Check out this video on the 1970s too ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QCwzRDOeeE8.html

as an adult who grew up in the 80s, I can say I didn't know how lucky I was. I would NEVER want to be a teenager now. we had FUN, we went out, socialized and did not come home until the street lights came on :)

Other ‘80s things now gone: huge brick & mortar toy stores, Saturday morning cartoons, and video games not just in arcades and malls, but in every pizza place, convenience store, laundromat, and pretty much anywhere else people were likely to be 🙂

I WOULD GO BACK IN A HEARTBEAT!!! The 80's were far and away BETTER than today in every way.

What I miss is my family who were all alive and together then 😥 I wish I could go back and have one more day. My grandma was my best friend and she's been gone 12 years.

The best part of the 80s was the music.40 years later, it is what I still listen to.

From the mid 70s to early 00s was the apex of media, music, and entertainment. The sad part is, no matter how hard they try it will NEVER be replicated.

I really miss the 80’s, and how much easier life was back then. What I miss the most is my loved ones who are no longer here with me.

One thing I remember from the 80's was on Friday nights we would take the kids and all go to the video store to get movies. It was something we looked forward to every weekend. We would get a couple of movies for the kids and a couple for us to watch later, and make popcorn and make a really nice family night for all of us.

Well, the biggest thing I've seen you did not mention is the videogame arcade. These places, usually found in shopping malls, were where kids would go in the 1980's to play games. They were fun, but often left you spending your allowance for the week. Although a few still exist, they aren't as ubiquitous as they were in the 80's. The arcade videogame in various places, most notably convenience stores and bars, was another. Both were essentially made obsolete by the home video games and playing online around the late 1990's.

Greatest decade to be a teenager. Style, music and pop culture were on point. The parents were divorcing each other leading into the dark times in the Nineties but giving us high schoolers some truly awesome party opportunities every weekend! The 2000s until now are completely different. We lived through last of the best times. Cheers middle-aged people!

Another thing we've pretty much abandoned - full service gas stations. I remember rolling into the gas station in our small town when I was a kid. The guy would pump the gas, wash the windows, check the oil/tire pressure, and except payment. You didn't even leave your car.

Late 80's to early 90's were the the best times as far as I'm concerned. I'm not in my 40's yet but I still blame the rise of social media for the fall of social behavior.

I grew up in Columbus Indiana, cruising up and down the strip, listening to rock music and stopping to talk with friends was big in the mid 80’s. I’d love to go back to that simple time.

When I left college in the mid 90d I got a job as a department supervisor at Sears in their shoe department. People loved one on one service where the sales person happily gave them what they wanted and made the customer feel valued. When Sears got rid of their sales people and relied on bins for customers to pick through the merchandise their sales plummeted. Customers left Sears almost immediately.

I miss cruising. In my home town so many people would cruise that it would take 2 hours to get from one end to the other. It was great. Lots of friends , music blasting.

It's amazing how many things have changed and become obsolete since the 80's. It was all so long ago, but at the same time it just seems like yesterday.

Things from the 80s we've abandoned? Good taste in music and any semblance of rational behavior.

"Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!"

The 80's was so much fun. I remember watching Miami Vice on TV with their cool bright color clothing and wearing leather shoe without socks. The 80's song are one of the best from soft rock to rock and roll. I remember the war between VHS and Beta video players. Radio Shack where you can find anything in electronics. Damn that is 40 years ago!

The eighties was the last decade with lots of truly excellent pop music. Not saying there was no good pop in the 90s, but it was hard to find.

Oh wow…I was one of the 80s girls with the big hair 😅 we had a mom and pop video store that usually had new releases when Blockbuster didn’t…I loved going there, the owner had some really great recommendations for us to try. Oh how I miss the world of the 80s… thank you for the memories

The 80s were better than today in almost every way

Whenever time travel becomes available I am definitely going to the 80s, it was truly the last good decade we ever had

I am genuinely so very blessed and thankful to have grown up in the 80's!!! Never before nor after was there a better decade to be a kid than then in my humble opinion. 😁😎🤜🤛

Women’s hair in the 80’s was really something!

I tell you what else was abandoned from the 80s. Morals, humor and ethics. I sure miss the 80s great times. Thanks for the highlights!

Oh how I wish I could go back to my young 1980’s self, knowing what I know now. A few of my favorites were video arcades (my dad was the manager which was ‘totally awesome dude’) long telephone cords that stretched throughout your house, parachute pants and concert jerseys. Also being able to see a live band in concert without having to sell a kidney.

I recall the Members Only jackets that were popular for awhile. I had a Burgundy one. Also, the pullover "surfer" ponchos girls and guys wore.

I don't miss the 'Late Fees' but the one thing I miss the most is, that there were way more smaller, little known movies/unknown to choose from at the Video store than today on Netflix, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've walked down the aisle(s) for the 'older movies' at the video store and found something that I have never heard of before and took a chance on, sure some/a lot sucked but some were real good/great aka 'hidden gem' . It makes me sad that 1,000s of movies will disappear forever someday, never to be seen or heard from again.

Clap on 👏 👏 clap off 👏 👏 clap on, clap off, the clapper! That's gonna be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

Ah, the 80s. My High School and College years. Looking back, I loved that decade.

The color palettes used in the day - pastels, neon and bright colors are for me distinctive feature of that decade.

I ran home from school to see "Dark Shadows" but I'm old and that was in the 1960s.

I never had a clapper, but my great grandmother had a lamp you could turn on and off (and change the brightness) by tapping the base. Haven't seen them in a few decades.

We've abandoned the wide variety of GREAT MUSIC we had in the 80's !!

I'll take those days over these anyday. Im just happy I got to experience the 80s and 90s.

I was one of those who rushed home to watch the latest Afterschool Special, I loved those SO much! As a kid I also had a friend who had a water bed! I hated those shoulder pads, ugh! I remember that shoe store too & I hated being measured. Blockbuster was my favorite place & I miss those days actually.

Still have my VCR and it works like a charm drag the old ones out ever once in a while and go over my recollection road

I had the Clapper, belonged to Columbia House, and used Aqua Net, and loved the Afterschool Specials! I miss the 80's, my favorite decade.

I miss video stores. Gave you something to GO do. Just look around and see what literally caught your eye.

I liked the way the independently owned video store near my home smelled. They had plug-in air fresheners and it always smelled good and clean in there. I liked the movie posters, the candy, popcorn and soda one could purchase at Blockbuster.

OMG Columbia House - that was a '70's thing for me.

I can never get enough of these videos, it's so great to see so many things of my youth. How life has changed since the 80's.

It's really quite astounding, the impact a photo can have on a person, especially when you haven't seen something in a VERY long time. That's how I felt seeing the Aqua Net hairspray line-up photo! My eyes immediately recognized my 2 "go tos". Then I wondered why I'd never seen the orange "ultimate hold" before??? WHO KNEW? Bloody hell. P.S. How many ladies here had a pocketbook big enough that carrying your can around with you was "no bigee"?

Born in 1963 the '70s and 80s were fantastic.

When you addressed the topic of the shoe stores, not only do you have to try on the shoes yourself but many shoes I buy now list their size like 6-7, 8-9, and so on. Shoe buying has gone so down hill in the 21st century.

I loved those shows. School house Rock and the after school specials. I was a bit older, but enjoyed the messages they taught. These should be brought back!

I was just in Kohl’s the other day. I was looking around the shoe department and the place looked like a bomb went off. Boxes all over the place, piles of slippers all over the floor, abandoned shoes that people tried on and left anywhere. It was a mess. I saw a foot measuring device which surprised me. But I had to get out of there. The place gave me claustrophobia. The rows if shoes were so close together you could barely move through them. The stores used to be so much neater at one time. And you could not only find people to help you but when you got someone to help they not only cared about helping you they knew what they were talking about. Hobby Lobby is terrible for service. A ll of their staff is checking out customers but you can barely find anyone out on the floor. It’s like people have forgotten what customer service is all about. Anymore it’s all about keeping the investor happy and the heck with the customers who put the money in the investors pockets.

Thinner people...including teenagers is some thing that is mostly missing that we had in the 1980s.

My first wife was with Glamour Shots from day one, she helped in stores but also worked cooperate, made a lot of money in those early years

The Secret of Nimh and Heavy Metal being on the same tape is an interesting combo.

I can not imagine wanting to start my young adult life in any other decade than the 80's, music, fashion, movies, shopping malls, nightclubs, and great new restaurants. We had them all. And there were jobs, lots of them. So, so pleased and grateful to have experienced this wonderful decade.

My husband built our waterbed in 1980. We had it for 12 years. Then, it got a leak. We have two wood looking cabinets with VHS tapes. Hubby recorded movies in the 80’s. There are three movies on each tape. 100 tapes. No use anymore. The shoulder pads were a hit in the 80’s. I had many clothes with them.

The 80s was the best decade IMO💖 I just loved watching the after school specials, the punk era, and the awesome movies that came out. VHS tapes was everything as well as going to our local video store every week. Shoulder pads are making a come back, I still have a red blazer in my closet with shoulder pads and it gets lots of complements.💖💖Great video TFS. Happy New Year!!

I absolutely HATED shoulder pads! They would always double over on themselves when I put on the blouse or dress that had them, and I finally got so frustrated with them that I removed them, altogether. I never did find that look very attractive. It looked stiff and sharp edged. And they didn't feel natural, either.

I've watched my share of afterschool specials including "But It's Not My Fault" and "The Wave". Many apartments prohibited waterbeds due to the risk of leaks. A friend gave me a Columbia House cassette he wasn't interested in. It was the third album from the Cars: "Panorama".

In 1978 I bought a king size waterbed along with matching night stands & dresser. I liked it & finally replaced it about 5 years ago!!! 🙄

Therre are many things that have been abandoned from the 80s. Here is just a short list of the ones that have come into my mind just now: Leg warmers (maybe only being used in dance schools) Bright neon-colored leotards pocket protectors Rubik's Cube (maybe some still play with them, but not as much as in the 80s) miniature golf courses (yes there are still some around, but not as many as in the 80s) Drive-ins (now there are just some nostalgic ones around) Playing board games like Candyland, Trivial Pursuit, and Life (some people might still play, but nowhere in the quantity and frequency as they were played in the 80s) You mentioned blank video cassettes, but forgot audio cassettes (for audio recorders, mixed music tapes, walkmans, car stereos, boomboxes, etc) Boomboxes (the closest now are portable Wifi speakers) walkmans and recorders (this can now be done by the cellphone tablets) Poppin and Lockin (Breakdancing) (again some may still do it, but not like the 80's) Thomas Guide (replaced by MapQuest and Google Maps and OnStar) Yellow and White pages Personal phone books (now 'Contacts' on your mobile phone) pocket calculators (cell phone again) Children playing outside until dark or dinner time (maybe small towns and rural areas have it) The Classified pages in newspapers or independent mailers like the PennySaver Comic Book stores not as prevalent as in the 80s Full arcades like Nickle, Nickel (where kids could be there for a long time with only $10-20) Bowling alleys to some big extent Music / Record stores (like movie video stores, they have gone out of fashion with few left) Tamagotchi The Slinkey Speak 'n Spell Sharper Image store (not as popular as in the 80s) Playing Jacks or Marbles With more thinking, I am sure I could come up with another 10 to 40 items or activities or trends that were staples of the 80s that are now rare or no longer done / existing

I had a waterbed my whole childhood. The only reason I got rid of it was because the heater died and by that time (early 2000’s) they were very hard to find/repair. I was headed to college, and was kinda just over the hassle of it so I decided to switch to a regular bed. I miss my waterbed. Most comfortable bed I ever had.

I did Columbia House and BMG probably at least 10 times all the way from 8 tracks to CDs. Amassed a huge music collection. Miss those days.

I loved the ABC After school specials. And getting home just in time to watch the last 10 minutes of General Hospital. 😊 Sure did have my share of shoulder pads and I'm pretty sure I still owe Columbia House. 😁

Laughter/fun in the work place was what I missed most in the 80's and prior decades.

Thankfully I was a kid in the 80's. I really miss it terribly. Great memories to last a lifetime. Kids these days don't have a clue. Thanks.

Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros, Duck Hunt it was the beginning of an era. I was an unbeatable champion of Galaxian. I had the high score in all the bars. I bet that I would still kick a__.

The secret to returning unwanted Columbia House albums was to write “Refused - Return to Sender” on the front and chuck it right back in the mailbox… i did it dozens of times 😋

I still have a cupboard full of VHS tapes with self made and original Tapes wich are still hard to find or not even released on DVD or Blu-Ray !!

Streaming is undeniably more convenient, but there really was something special about simply going to the video store. We always rented two -- one for Saturday, one for Sunday, because we couldn't afford more. What I almost never seen mentioned is the sheer number of *children's* clothes that had shoulder pads. I hated them, so I always cut them out, which just made the shoulders fit weird. I have pictures of myself at age nine in a dress my grandma had given me for Christmas that had shoulder pads in it, and it looks absolutely ridiculous.

Please be kind, remember to rewind. Anybody remember that sign? 😂🤣

Water beds disappeared but I know a few people that own one but it’s honestly not that comfortable to sleep on. The water bed was replaced with memory foam which was much better.

I was in my twenties in the 80’s, great times, I would tape my soap operas every day when I went to work and come home and watch. Today there aren’t many left🤷‍♀️

Ha! I was a manager at Blockbuster in 2000's during the time of their death throes. And yes Columbia House. Most of my collection came from there.

My husband and were both part of Columbia House and BMG Music Clubs. We ended up collecting over 300 cd's, that's after switching from collecting cassettes. I don't remember what happened to the cassettes we had. The cd's all got left behind in a move, thankfully I downloaded all the songs that I had.

I remember standing behind girls with the big hair in the restroom and catching the mist of the AquaNet, never had to bring my own lol 🤣

I started college in 1981, so all of these things resonated with me. Especially the Glamour Shots (my wife did it, we still have the pictures somewhere, but I don’t know where).

Also remember the days when you were a kid. You went out all day on the weekend, but you had to start heading home once the street lights turned on before dark.

If I remember correctly, when VHS movie cassettes first came out, they cost $60 and up each. Renting them was the way to go.

My mom had one those Glamour Shots done in the mid 90's as a birthday gift from my dad. She loved it.

I remember all of these. Believe it or not, one of the malls near me still has a Glamour Shots store! Thanks for the memories!

Love your content it's like a time machine going back miss the 80s. Thanks for the memories...

Saturday morning cartoons. They stuck around somewhat in the 90s but so did movie rentals.

Ty for another walk down memory lane of the 1980's. Is, and will always be my best memories.

One thing I really miss from that era was the Saturday morning PBS how-to shows. This Old House (the original), The Woodwright's Shoppe, Hometime, and The New Yankee Workshop. I learned so much from those and probably saved myself thousands over the years.

Thank you so much Recollection Road for uploading this great video, I appreciate it!

I also had a water bed with full wave so it was super wavy to sleep on. It never sprung a leak luckily, but they were a lot of work to set up and when you decided to get a normal; bed you had to have a hose to siphon the water out the window and it took hours to get all the water out. I can definitely see why water beds went out of style.

Yup. I worked in a video store, right before DVDs came out. Loved it. You'd see tons of your friends in and out all shift, especially on the weekends. Then you could grab whatever wasn't rented at closing, and do a late-night movie with the girlfriend. Most we never finished.... but we won't get into that.

I was already 17 when the 80s decade started but I still love everything related to that era.

Started the 80s when I was 9 and left at 19. That covers the end of childhood, the start of the formative years which music, film, tv shows, clothing, fads, friends, food, and firsts became imprinted upon my memory from that era. What a ride.

We just threw things at the light switch while singing Clap on Clap off. Cause poor kids on a military base.

I DO NOT miss the VHS Tape, but I DO MISS Renting Videos/DVD's. Thanks for ALL the Videos, and Happy New Year 😀

After School Specials started in the 1970s and most of their most memorable movies were from that time. I agree it is a shame they are gone, but they were well underway when the 80s arrived. What I found fascinating about the "local video stores" was that they were almost always run by recent immigrant families. Families came to America as the land of promise and owned their own businesses. The store names often demonstrated that some things do not translate well, but they had the movies I wanted to see.

0:57 - 1:41 There are only 2 Glamour Shots stores left. One in Freehold Township NJ and one in El Paso TX.

I'm 55 and still holding onto my 80s youthful looks but fading...lol

I think the real reason the waterbed vanished is because there was a large scare about them hurting your back and not providing proper support when you sleep. My parents had a waterbed in the 1970s and 80s, bought me one in the 80s that I used until the early 2000s, traded it to my room mate for an entertainment stand where he used it for another 5 or 6 years hahaha

Wow. This is my childhood. I’m nearly 50 (I am so old). I had forgotten about the Thom McAnn shoe stores. My grandparents used to take my brothers and I out to get new shoes right before school started in the fall. It was my favorite time of year. My mom would order new school clothing in the Sears catalog that had been sent to us every mid-summer. Speaking of Sears - Do you remember the Sears Christmas catalog that had been mailed out during the 80s? That huge monstrosity that was so fun and colorful and every kid across the US with a Sears within their vicinity anticipated with great glee. It had that distinct smell. There was the sticker craze where many of us kids collected the scratch and sniff and those puffy stickers and put them in a collection book. Do puffy stickers even exist anymore? Jelly bracelets and jelly shoes were also a HUGE 80s thing. I definitely miss the 80s. They were fun for us kids back then. Maybe a nightmare in politics and economy for adults, but we kids were oblivious. I DO think every age is relevant and nostalgic to every kid though. Maybe when this generation of youth gets to be my age, they might also view the 2020s with rose tinted glasses as well. They’ll miss their music, their lost and forgotten things. Who knows what the future advances will bring that will make other things obsolete.

Video stores were awesome , there was something extremely satisfying about the tactile sensation of picking up a video checking out the cover , reading the description on back , going through the older section , 3 for 1 deals and take and bake pizzas , the family setting together not on their phones , having conversations with family !!!

The VCR and making home movies and Blockbuster rentals!!! Good music and people were still civilized!!!

Family Video just closed down in 2021.

I was actually a teenager in the 70's but that era was a mixed bag.The 80's era was far more interesting & exciting.The music (New Wave,New Romantics,Depeche mode....etc),the fashion & relaxed culture was where it was at.There was no road rage.No one was in a hurry,especially if you drove in a full size sofa on wheels. I own a collection of the best 80's movies on DVD.

In school, I remember we still had handwritten report cards and the teachers still used chalkboards and overhead projectors. If I remember correctly, my first computer generated report card was in 1989 and the chalkboards were being replaced by dry erase marker boards starting in the early 1990's. Also if you are a female, you have to remember those big boxes of maxi pads. Those boxes were huge! But by the late 80's, some companies moved to the pads being wrapped individually and in smaller plastic bags with drawstrings.