I was a kid in the 1980’s. I remember every bit of this and I still believe the 1980’s was the best decade ever to be a kid. We were the last generation to have an old-fashioned childhood and we were the first to have modern electronics as childhood toys too.
I too was born in the 1980s, I remember living on the farm in Canton South Dakota, It was snowing back then, it was amazing, I remember making my Christmas List, also I remember sleeping in my bed in my bedroom, and waking up Christmas Morning and opening Christmas Presents, also I just love watching Rankin/Bass Christmas Movies, They Were Amazing, and my Top 10 Favorite Rankin/Bass Christmas Movies is, 10. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. 9. The Little Drummer Boy. (1 and 2). 8. Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. 7. Frosty The Snowman. Animated Movie. 6. Nestor the long-eared Christmas Donkey. 5. The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold. 4. Jack Frost. (Rankin/Bass Movie). 3. The First Christmas the story of the first Christmas Snow. 2. Frosty's Winter Wonderland. 1. Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.
I was a kid in the 70's and grew into teen hood in the 80's. Those were great times. I never got the cool toys as money was tight, but we always had a nice dinner and it was all about family time.
Walnuts, orange, life saver book😆👍 thermal socks . Rubber hunting boots oh I know . But great times! Great times playing games . Sneaking the spiked egg nog 😀
I must be the same age as I too was a kid in the 70s and was 12 in 1980..Christmas was a real vibe in those days it was a feeling that seems to be gone on Christmas in today's america
Love Christmas in the 1980s for the music, movies, and the memories. These kids these days never had it so good like we did with Lite Brite, Star Wars action figures, Hot Wheels play sets, Barbie Dream house (A Frame from 1978) etc. The best memory I have was getting my own toy piano in 1985.
Born in '71... no better time to be a kid at Christmas, than the 70's and 80's. It was always so hard to fall asleep on Christmas Eve. My sister and I, would listen to our parents wrapping gifts for hours. We'd be so excited, wondering what gifts they were wrapping. Then, we'd hear our parents sneak down the steps with all the presents. When we thought our parents were finally asleep, we'd take turns sneaking downstairs to see the mountain of presents everywhere. Christmas was truly magical back then! My parents didn't have a lot of money, but they always made Christmas the best day of the year. We usually got what we wanted, or pretty darn close to it. Getting my Stretch Armstrong and Stretch Monster was the best! Years later, my mom told me she and my dad could hear us sneaking down the steps. She said it was the cutest thing ever, and always made them laugh. I'd give anything/ everything, to spend just one more Christmas with my mom and dad! I miss them both terribly!
8:27 I was three years old when I got a stretch Armstrong Green Monster on Xmas in 1976!😂, you're right, good times as well as the 80's! Today's youth have No Idea of the Nostalgia! But, times change! 8:27
I know and feel EVERY moment you are describing!!!!!😢😢😢!! I miss the simple life back then!!!! The world is now mad and I hate it for my kids & grandkids!!!!😔😔😔
I remember KMart being completely wrecked around Xmas time. The He-man section was completely sold out down to the bare shelves. Most toys were sold out too.
I've lived through a lot of Christmas decades beginning in the 50s (which were great). However, I have to say the 80s were probably the most fun and even a little zany. When my grandkids ask me what was the best decade, I tell them the 80s because it was an optimistic time when most of America was still united around core beliefs without divisive rancor.
The 80s were my favorite decade. People these days are still shocked when I tell them that we had a president who won 48 of 50 states (twice), that kids could ride bicycles all over town without being abducted or shot, that everyone seemed optimistic and hopeful for the future. The 80s were a time of fun, excitement, self-expression, acceptance, creativity, and general positivity. Of course there were bad times, of course there were outlying events and people and situations. But in terms of overall contentment I was never happier overall with life than I was in the 80s. Things will never be that way again, I truly think that it was the last great decade of human society.
We were not so ideologically united as you might think in the 80s -- it's just that the internet didn't exist, nor so many culture-war TV channels designed to make the divisions grow and fester. You had 80s TV like William Buckley and Morton Downy Jr. starting the mold for Limbaughs and Carlsons that would follow -- But most people just lived their lives and ignored that fiery noise. Many of my extended family members were die hard Republicans -- and they'd certainly share their mind at family get togethers, but their rancor was directed externally - at Washington, politicians, not at each other . Most of my family were Democratic - and same story there. Modern media have trained people to blame and demonize each other and internet tribalism have only hastened those feelings of animosity.
@@gabriellac8721 Blame the people who had multiple sex partners without thinking of what would be the risk. Why my parents didn't get the Aids?? Because they stick to one partner, problem solve.
I was one of the lucky kids that got a Nintendo in 85. The 80's were magical for me, especially at Christmas time. I would love to relive them. These days, it bothers me that I feel I'm unable to give my daughter the same magical childhood that I had, but I try. We used to have a big family and everyone always came together for Christmas. That was always something I looked forward to. The eating, drinking, and shenanigans are all memories now. Our big Christmas' have shrunken down to only my mother, my daughter and myself. It sure doesn't feel like Christmas anymore.
Christmas was a 2-day event. We lived in a small town 60 miles from any malls, but we always got blown away by the best presents ever. Toys-R-Us catalogs were after "my" time, but the JC Penny and Sears were great fun! Sadly, the small town just isn't cutting it and extended families move away for opportunity. Also, politics and social media expose deep differences in world view that separate families that, at one time, loved each other and could enjoy each other's company once a year.
As an 80’s kid, every Christmas was great with going to Grandparents house and being around family. Lots of good food. Before the internet and cell phones. My brothers’ and I got the Nintendo, Christmas of ‘87!
Things were starting to get commercialized at that time but for sure it was still all about the family at the holidays. I often wonder what it must of been like before my time, during the 60s and 70s when all the aunts, uncles and cousins in my family were in their prime, it must of been a hoot.
Great memories, right?! In my family, we opened the gifts from “Santa” Christmas morning and then in the afternoon we went to grandma and grandpa‘s house for Christmas dinner and opening gifts from the family. I would give anything just to go back in time and experience that again. To be able to go back and hear my parents and my grandparents laughing and to feel that anticipatory excitement of looking at the gifts under the Christmas tree! The best is when you could tell that there was a Nintendo game sitting under the tree wrapped up and you were just get so excited wondering which one it was going to be! I remember my grandfather used to always sneak me sips of the Christmas punch that my grandmother made and would wink at me and say “don’t tell your mother” 😂. Gosh, looking back I can’t remember too many presents that I got, but I remember so many of the wonderful moments I got to spend with my family.
@@bredenis5 oh man without a doubt. Great memories, thanks for sharing, honestly started to make this old dog tear up a bit. Yeah I can't remember to many gifts either, but there was my huffy bike that one year...with the plastic shields over the spikes, I got one of those handle bar radios for it that Christmas as well, good times. Merry meet and cheers to you
@@mvan8307 Thank you for the kind words and thank you for sharing as well! Oh man, I remember getting my Huffy bike too! I’m sure you, like me, used to ride that thing around all over the neighborhood without a helmet and without a care in the world. Wishing you many more wonderful memories and holidays with you and your family.
The malls were wonderful, full of Christmas ornaments and the big Christmas tree in the middle, the bakery shop was full of cookies and cakes that you can smell them a mile away, also Christmas had a good smell in the mall.
The '80s may have been the peak of the mall's appeal. It was fun to be out in that crush of humanity on Black Friday. My wife and I got most of our shopping done in those two weeks right after Thanksgiving. For me the attraction was going to Olga's Kitchen for lunch or dinner while we were taking a pause in our shopping. I got to run all of our purchases out to the car to stash those while we continued shopping. In, perhaps, fifteen years or so of shopping this way we fortunately did not have a problem with our vehicle being broken into. It was a different era.
malls used to be kid and teenager friendly back then, you could go there for hours buy nothing and just hang out, if you try that now security starts following you.
I was born in 1981, man those were the days, my dad spoiled my sister and I every year, we always had huge family dinners. I had a really great childhood and I miss the simpler times a lot
Much better times, I believe, for everyone. Kids actually played outside, no computers, no cell phones, everything was much more personal. Very happy to have spent my childhood in the 70's and 80's!
I was a teenager in the 80's. had some good times and some real bad times. My late father was an alcoholic, he struggled with the holidays. Amazingly, we always managed to have a tree and Christmas dinner despite the drama and that one year he rolled his car and got a DWI. I do have to give my folks credit for the attempt to have a normal Christmas. We never got much for dad spent all the money at the bar but he did get a tree and we decorated it. Today, I'm a widow (2nd year since my husband passed) and I find I love to look at the lights and the trees. I didn't realize until recently just important it is for a soul. There is nothing I want more than to see those friends and family who have passed on just one more, even for a few minutes. It's not about the toys, the food, computers, the new phone...it's about people and appreciating what time you have with them. Tell your family you love them. You won't get a chance decades later.
Glad you came thru it & have embraced the joy in Christmas. I had a sister whose birthday was yesterday. Died of a brain tumor when she was nine. So holidays became a bit manic & forced around my house. I was the oldest of five. I too am a widow, ten years today. Make the most of family 🎄
I was 13 in 1980 and remember how wonderful the malls were during Christmas! It was so exciting to see Santa Clause, all the lights and sounds of the season. The Sears store had so many things to buy… I spent many a times dreaming of being able to buy all the toys at ToyRUs. My family didn’t have much money. Christmas was more about experiencing rather than buying. My parents bought a small artificial Christmas tree from Woolworth and some string lights to make our small home feel like Christmas. It was the best tree ever! I never got any of the cool toys, but what I did get, I spent many hours playing with them! Looking back now, the 1980s were the best times of my life. My parents are gone now and much of what I had in the 80s are also gone. The only thing I have left are the memories of my childhood Christmas. Thank you for your video… it is exactly what I remember!
I’ll never forget Christmas of 1989. We had 17 inches of snow on the coast in South Carolina and my uncle who was stationed in Germany in the army brought us all chunks of the Berlin Wall for Christmas that year. What an epic way to end the best decade of the modern era!
One year my dad threw away all our presents. Here's what happened. My parents got all the shopping done wayyyy in advance. My dad hid all the wrapped and ready gifts in a huge bag in his work shed. My parents were so ready, so ahead of it all. Then one night, my dad went on a cleaning spree. He'd do this from time to time. In his cleaning tunnel vision, he accidentally pitched the bag full of gifts! Two days before Christmas, my mom asks my dad to get the bag of gifts from the shed. My mom says he returned from the shed, white as a ghost. Realizing what he'd done, my parents had to do a mad scramble to save Christmas! And they did! Us kids were none the wiser.
I was well into my 20s when 1980 rolled around. (Dang I feel old.) Those were some great years. Didn't have much money but it just made you get up and figure out what to give someone. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Christmas in Chicago in the 80s, snow and that exciting feeling all month long...Christmas vacation from school, teachers would do parties on the last day.....miss those days!!
The 80’s was an awesome time to be a kid! Especially when you’re talking cartoons, music and movies. My kids are in their 20’s and they actually watch the 80’s GI Joe, Thundercats, Transformers, Jem, He-man, She-ra etc. series. My daughter actually dressed as the original Starscream from the 80’s Transformers cartoon at a Comic Con this pass October.
From Christmas of 1980 to 1983 it was all about Star Wars and space Legos. From 1984 to 1989it was all about Heavy Metal, clothes and guitars. Best decade ever!
I remember lying on my bed in 83.... listening to my Walkman thinking the future was going to be so great! Now, it IS the future, and all I want is to go back to 83, and listen to my Walkman again!
1:50 - We had a Hickory Farms store in the Southcenter Mall (Seattle). Our family was getting older in the 80's and it was no longer about presents but just getting together. Still, we did a gift swap and I always bought a Hickory Farms gift box full of smoked sausage and smoke cheese. No imagination but it was so good.
@@craigsteinman9807 Never did. I forgot there was a Farrells because it was at the end of one of the "fingers" of the mall. But I do remember walking by it a few times. I also remember there was a Mexican Restaurant called Acapulco that was also down one of the other fingers. Burien....I rented a waterfront house at 3 tree point. Great times!!!
We had a Farrells and Hickory in Tacoma Mall back in the day. The Tacoma Mall Twin theaters were also cool. Gigantic ball room chandeliers inside. Look the the ballroom in The Shining!
Oh man I so enjoyed going into the hickory farms at my local mall especially when they were giving out free samples I mean as a kid who doesn’t like free samples lol
I was born in 1972 so I have allot of great Christmas memories of the 80's. I remember in 1981 I had a 2 seater go-cart with a brigs and stratton 5hp gasoline engine that was black with a red seat under the Christmas tree and then in 1983 there was a Honda125M 3-wheeler sitting next to the tree on Christmas morning and then the next year there was a solid white BMX Haro Sport Freestyler under the tree. The good ole days....
scrumsey, you can't always trust movie review critics. If I have seen the previews to a movie, and I like what I see, I go for it. It turns out to be a great movie and money well spent. I love 'A Christmas Story'! 😉
Great movie s Christmas Story. Parts of this classic were filmed in my hometown Toronto Canada. The part when the bully beats up Alfie The schoolyard when the kid gets his tongue stuck to poke in the ice Hilarious movie I still watch it occasionally and laugh. Lol. Great movie
I have a lot to share! I'll just share some though. I grew up in the 80's and 90's and to this very day, I still watch "A Christmas Story." I remember a Santa light being hung up when I was a youngster. Soon after that would come the Christmas tree with blue tinsel and blue baubles. Sometimes my grampa would come to visit! Right when the snow would start to fall, the Christmas magic would start!! I grew up in a log house so this was your typical country Christmas!! Thanks for posting this video!!
My mom stood in line to get a Cabagge Patch doll for me when I was kid! So cool! My folks couldn't afford a Nintendo, but we got an Intellivison instead. Anyone else remember those?
The mall was great. Totally inside and out of the weather. I made a list and did 1 lap around the top floor then 1 lap around the bottom floor. I had everything for everybody.
Makes me wonder why malls are dying. They keep building all these upscale shopping centers, which, to me, are nothing more than glorified strip malls that you can’t even park at. They’re successful because they are closer to the suburbs than the malls, so many of the anchor stores will relocate to them. But where I live it’s insane! The heat index can get to 120, and wind chills -10! Oh, and it also rains here. Who wants to walk around an outdoor shopping center when we have only 6 weeks out of the year with amazing weather?
@@willytompkins8115 where I live we don't have a Kmart anymore. But no. No more layaways. One of my first jobs was working at Kmart and then Hills. So sad everything is gone.
Hickory Farms was always a staple gift for my dad. I always got him a deluxe kit with meats, cheeses and mustard. I always got him something else too but HF was always a staple.
A cheese and meat kit was a staple for my dad too along with chocolate covered cherries. He preferred food over other things, although he did get plenty of ties and socks. 😀😀
Born in 75. I have only met two other people who ever had huge a Christmas like me. Every year I would circle the Sears wish book like crazy. My parents went bonkers on gifts. Most other kids I knew got only a few presents. At 46. I have twin 8 year olds. I spoil my kids at Christmas. I want them to have the same Christmas I had.. I miss getting Atari 2600 games and a Casio keyboard that you could pay Jingle bells in dog… The whole month of December we do the Christmas lights, zoo lights. You name it . I never understood how people don’t celebrate Christmas big…
The 80s was such a great time to grow up in. Everyone in our neighborhood had massive light displays and would create traffic jams with so many people coming to look. One of the highlights of that era was back in 1988 when myself and so many of my friends got a Nintendo! I still have that video game console along with all the games! I miss those days! Thanks for doing this video!
Don't know if anyone else will remember these, but in the early 80s I got an "Air Jammer Road Rammer" car for Christmas. One of my favorite toys from childhood...I wore that thing out. Also got a Hot Wheels "Criss Cross Crash" figure 8 racetrack back then. Loved it. I kept that thing thru high school. 😂
@@brownamerican5786 it came with a small plastic vertical pump, similar to what we aired our bike tires with. You hooked it to the connection on the back of the car, pumped it up and down a few times, and cut it loose. The car even made a "motor" sound as it sped off. I used to build ramps and jump the car over them. I was rough on stuff. 😀
'73 kid here. I did not get the Nintendo on the Holiday's but did the next summer for my birthday, you'd have to write me check for a million dollars to get that feeling again! I remember all of this....good times.
Got my first guitar Christmas 1980, a cherry sunburst Encore Les Paul Custom copy. I was 14. Now, I have Jackson guitars and several vintage Marshall amplifiers.
I was born in 1971 remember these times well my mom was a single mother but always had presents under the tree for me at Christmas she just pass away the 20th of November 8 days before her 82 birthday one can never imagine the loneliness you will feel when you lose a mother and to everyone on here male and female both can get breast cancer sex doesn’t matter if you question get a mammogram!!!
71 baby here too...in fact I just turned 50 last week. Sorry to hear that about your mother. Mine just turned 77 last month and she's hanging in there, but I already know I'm gonna be devastated when that day comes.
My mom had breast cancer too. Lost both of my parents to cancer in the same year. It's been a while now, but I still miss them everyday, especially this time of year. Sorry for your loss.
@@jrussellcase it leaves such a hole in life cherish her while you have her looking back there’s so many things I wish we would have done but always was afraid to admit I’d ever lose her so didn’t
I was a single 20-something in the 80s and worked retail in a mall from 1983-1986. I had a love/hate relationship with Christmas during those years. I loved working in a mall during the Christmas season because it was so festive and fun and I was always in the Christmas spirit. I hated the cranky, rude customers, the long hours on my feet, the sales quota demands, and the unending freight that had to be opened and merchandised on the floor amongst all the chaos. I quit working retail after Christmas 1985 because I couldn’t take it anymore. I was becoming “bah humbug!”about Christmas so I knew it was time to move on. lol
I loved growing up in the 80's! Christmas was my favorite time. My Mom worked 2 jobs and money was always tight, but she made sure me and my sister always had lots of presents. My favorite present was the Nintendo in 1988, we got the Action Bundle with Super Mario Bros./Duck hunt...played for hours and hours. All the neighborhood kids wanted to come over to my house and play. There was an innocence back then that there isn't today.
I was born in 1983 and I remember getting tons of toys from parents, grandparents and other family members. It was an amazing time. I remember getting a GI JOE Skystriker (an F-14 fighter jet) and I was so happy :) BTW that kid at 2:25 looks like me...
Growing up in the 1980's was my best decade ever. I still get Star Wars toys up until 1985 when the trilogy ended. Then I started getting Transformers, and later in the summer of '84 I bought my first VCR and got hooked into home video and recorded Christmas specials(Rudolph, Charlie Brown, B.C. A Special Christmas, etc). On the B.C. special, Peter and Wiley created a gimmick about Christmas but instead calling it, "Xmas". It was supposed to be a joke, by Johnny Hart. I even enjoyed Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas", and 2 months later, USA for Africa's "We Are the World". I still enjoy going to shopping malls, dept., and toy stores looking at the Star Wars franchise to home video products and videos.
So many wonderful memories of the 70's and 80's. I was born in 73. My grandparents on both sides made Christmas so magical. Christmas Eve with both sides of the family. Big get-togethers, food, treats, Grams candy dishes overflowing with chocolates, nuts, and ribbon candy. Singing, kisses, hugs, music, and so much laughter. I cry for families that never knew that joy. I'd give anything for one more holiday like the ones I had growing up. Merry Christmas 🎄🎄🎄
Fantastic video! I think that was Penn Cann Mall in Cicero, NY. I saw a sign that said Go SU! So sad that most of the malls and Toys R Us are gone now.
I was 6 in 1980. I remember everything 80s. The best years of my life. Miss the malls. Sometimes, now, my mom will drive me 2 hrs to the nearest mall, to cheer me up. But it's not the same. They are like ghost towns now. I love these trips down memory lane. But they are bittersweet.
I agree, it’s very bittersweet to reminisce about that time, and our Christmas shopping in the frantic, busy malls. Things are bleak and Soviet now in comparison.
37 years ago Madonna scored her first #1 song with "Like a Virgin". Billboard magazine put out a full page ad with her photo simply saying "who else could be no.1 at Christmas?" I'm born in the the 90's but obsessed with 80's history and pop culture. 😄
The BEST. I was a lucky kid who got all the hot toys every year. Care Bears, Cabbage Patch Kids, Teddy Ruxpin, Julie, Nintendo, Game Boy, and American Girls dolls. It was definitely the decade of toys and we had great ones. Christmas was strong everywhere. All of your favorite shows had a Christmas episode, commercials switched to their Christmas versions, and the mall was the Christmas place to be. Good times! I feel lucky to have grown up in the 80s! It was a decade of fun!
I worked at Toys-R-Us one Christmas season in the early to mid eighties. It was absolutely insane busy! Back then you would have never predicted that they would go under some day.
The first time I saw Teddy Ruxpin on display I was so amazed and just stood there watching him talk. So glad my daughter was too young to want a Cabbage Patch doll which you couldn't find so we got her their pet, a Koosa which were less popular.
I grew up in the 80s. Christmas was the most fun during the years in the 80s. I got my first brand new bike for Christmas in 83 then 2 weeks later my sister destroyed it. This episode brought memories flushing over me. Thanks for all your fabulous videos
Born in 79' and I epitomize the 80s. Best times of my life was my childhood. IMO...Best toys, cartoons, movies, music, and overall pop culture and experiences. We had Jordan, Jackson, and Tyson all before their primes.
I was born in 1972. Christmas in the late 70s and early 80s were great. I grew up by a big mall which now stands empty. There was such a atmosphere when going to that mall during Christmas back then. The people, the decorations, Santa Claus, the music.
I was born in 1973 i was in school in the 80s graduated in 1992 i had great times i have to say after i graduated things started slowly falling apart i think computers technology and cell phones everyone a lot of things what i went to school i didn't have any of that
As a Gen Xer(born in 1978)I can truly relate to much of this. In fact, I now remember how I loved decorating the Christmas tree with my family. Does anyone remember Santa Claus visiting your school?
I miss Christmas in the 80’s & the 90’s when Grandparents,Aunt Uncles,Cousins were Kids & all got together.I know I am not the only one. Unfortunately things change. I am sure some remember wanting the Coleco Tabletop Pac-Man,Coleco Adam Computer,Some Star Wars & He-Man toys,it was a blessing to get those through out the early to mid 80’ Now I enjoy watching my Grandkids enjoy Santa & being with my Fiancé & blessed beyond words my Parents are still here! Loved this relatable video ❤️
In the early-mid 80's(teen yrs), all i got for Xmas was clothes, shoes, and money. I loved the isotoner gloves i got in1984 and Air Jordans in 1985. After joined the Navy in 1986, i got very few Xmas gifts other than a shirt, sweater, or pants to close out the decade.
My childhood we had the best toys don't argue with me lol! It was the best time!!! Yes I had three Csbbage patch Kids, Gloworm, board games, new Huffy Bike and my brother had BMX bike . So much fun. I had Atari first then I outgrew playing video games and my brother got Nintendo.
