Open Thread: Were the Eighties the Last Good Decade?

John Ocasio-Rodham Nolte
@NolteNC
What made the 80s special was that almost NO ONE -- except some teachers who still thought it was the 60s -- was uptight.
Everyone was cool. Everyone could take a joke. You never had to walk on eggshells. The girls were cool. Race relations were cool. We all had part-time jobs. We all had beater cars. We all drank beer, smoked cigs, went to the movies, watched MTV, and only wanted to have fun, not prove we were good people.
You had to be there.

What made the 80s special was that almost NO ONE -- except some teachers who still thought it was the 60s -- was uptight.

Everyone was cool. Everyone could take a joke. You never had to walk on eggshells. The girls were cool. Race relations were cool. We all had part-time jobs.…
— John Ocasio-Rodham Nolte (@NolteNC) September 1, 2026

I was born in the ’90s, so I need someone to confirm:

Was the ’80s actually this much fun, or is this propaganda? pic.twitter.com/KPphls3OKV
— Cam.™ (@_CameronLane) August 31, 2026

The nineties were pretty chill, too. Except that that Boomer Pervert Clinton couldn't keep it in his pants and turned the country upside down with his lies. (Or, "lies" -- I don't think the lefties defending him ever believed him.)

Coddled Affluent Professional
@feelsdesperate
I don't think I'm above being propagandized. In fact, I'd probably go along with anything as long as the propaganda was good enough.
Along these lines one of the great puzzles of Woke 1 was why so much cultural production was made dumb, off putting, and aesthetically repugnant. As a Good Person you were supposed to 'eat your vegetables' and act like you enjoyed it, and this worked for those engaged in specific types of reputational and social competition.
But on the whole, for society at scale, libs lost a great deal of soft power by making laughably bad, ideologically doctrinaire art that no one with any honesty would admit to liking or finding pleasurable. In fact, it was the opposite: the more unpleasant, inane, and cartoonish the art became the better a test it became of the ideologically committed and craven - you knew someone was completely committed when they would breathlessly report how something obviously terrible was wonderful. This signified that they were all in and had sacrificed all credibility in service of ideological commitment. The downside of course was that the postwar lib cultural apparatus that was at its peak from the early 1960s to late 2000s ran off the rails and completely lost its ability set defining cultural narratives.

Florida's only Pizza Hut Classic, featuring the nostalgic red plastic cups, vinyl booths, Tiffany-style lamps and checkerboard tablecloths reminiscent of the 1980s, has become so popular that employees from other locations have been brought in to help accommodate the influx of guests at the Homosassa Springs restaurant.
...
Pizza Hut started the Classic initiative around 2017, according to Sparks.
"They approached a few franchisees and said, 'Hey, we're thinking about doing this retro look. Do you guys want to participate in the test?' So I jumped at that opportunity," he said.
...
Customer feedback showed that the throwback styling "really resonated with everybody," Sparks said. Daland currently operates 39 Pizza Hut Classic locations.
Since the Homosassa Springs restaurant was converted, dine-in sales have more than doubled, FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported.
"Tons of people" travel from well over an hour away to visit the Pizza Hut Classic that Daland operates in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, which has attracted significant attention on social media, according to Sparks.
"There's only 1,700 people in that town, and they will almost double the national average of Pizza Hut this year in sales," he said.
...
He believes younger generations may feel a similar pull toward the Pizza Hut Classics.
"I think it does take them back to a little clip of time and an era where, in their minds, things weren't as hectic," Sparks said. "It was a little simpler time."
Sparks has also noticed another phenomenon when customers visit the Classic restaurants.

"People put their phones down," Sparks said.
"Once they're over the excitement, and they're taking pictures of the Pac-Man machine and the salad bar and the Tiffany lights ... they set it down, and they start having conversation," he said. "I can't explain it, but it's super cool to watch."

Businessman Tim Sparks has been quietly restoring old Pennsylvania Pizza Hut’s back to its initial glory pic.twitter.com/Vy5mgtX9wW
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 16, 2026

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:10 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Good afternoon Ace and everyone

Posted by: Skip at September 07, 2026 12:13 PM (Ia/+0)

2 Afternoon, Ace. Did you have a cookout with the crows over the weekend?

Posted by: Bulg at September 07, 2026 12:13 PM (77rzZ)

3 Starting to think its been downhill since 1980s

Posted by: Skip at September 07, 2026 12:14 PM (Ia/+0)

4 Good music stopped being created December 31, 1989.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 07, 2026 12:14 PM (u73oe)

5 90s were pretty good too. Did not notice too much cultural insanity in the 00s (but you could see it coming.)

Teens is where everything went off the rails.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at September 07, 2026 12:15 PM (Y/06r)

6 Everyone was cool. Everyone could take a joke. You never had to walk on eggshells. The girls were cool. Race relations were cool. We all had part-time jobs

The left argues this is because black people and women didn't know how bad they had it.

I'm not kidding.

Posted by: 18-1 at September 07, 2026 12:15 PM (sKqQm)

7 Florida's only Pizza Hut Classic, featuring the nostalgic red plastic cups, vinyl booths, Tiffany-style lamps and checkerboard tablecloths reminiscent of the 1980s, has become so popular that employees from other locations have been brought in to help accommodate the influx of guests at the Homosassa Springs restaurant.

OMG! There isn't a TV every three inches on the wall! How can anyone stand being there?

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at September 07, 2026 12:15 PM (ExV1e)

8 Here willowed but we may be hearing about the story below. Something's wrong. He had 2 pistols and lunged at the DEM? Was he not getting in range time?

132 Paxton was on Fox last night. President Trump put in $10 million and he feels more will be coming in. He's optimistic but should be shocked Talarico isn't being laughed out of Texas.

Price is Right. A lady was off on the final showcase by $411 dollars. That's an incredible bid. BUT the other lady was off by $408 and won.

News

CBC - We're in full retard mode with a Trade War mkst people on your street won't even notice. I'd love for President Trump to put in 6 months notice on the Free Trade deal and pump billions into industries like steel to completely destroy us. Just destroy us.

Fox - Outnumbered. Yeah, it must be a holiday. That's an unattractive cast. Flock cameras.

CNN - armed man arrested after lunging toward Gov Dem nominee. I'm guessing this'll disappear after facts emerge.

MSNow - same story. Taser and two pistols.

They're all wee weed up. I'm going to self ban myself for a few minutes.

Posted by: Stateless - keeping 15 year Ralphy happy and alive. Puppy at heart at September 07, 2026 12:16 PM (Sco7b)

9 Good music stopped being created December 31, 1989.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 07, 2026 12:14 PM (u73oe)

Only in America.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at September 07, 2026 12:16 PM (ExV1e)

10 90s were pretty good too. Did not notice too much cultural insanity in the 00s (but you could see it coming.)

Teens is where everything went off the rails.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at September 07, 2026 12:15 PM (Y/06r)

Maybe starting right around January 2009?

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at September 07, 2026 12:17 PM (ExV1e)

11 Now if they could just get the pan pizza crust back to way it was in the 80s.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at September 07, 2026 12:18 PM (XvL8K)

12 I was a teenager starting in 83. I think the 80s were actually a lot of fun. And it's hilarious pointing out to co-workers that the show Stranger Things was mild with regards to what we did and said back then.

Posted by: NR Pax at September 07, 2026 12:18 PM (/k3in)

13 Good music stopped being created December 31, 1989.

My original CD copy of Alice in Chains' "Dirt" says otherwise.

Posted by: Ian S. at September 07, 2026 12:19 PM (QZThv)

14 Good music stopped being created December 31, 1989.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 07, 2026 12:14 PM (u73oe)

Possibly the worst cultural development of the 21st Century was when classic rock radio started playing 90s music.

Posted by: Mark1971 at September 07, 2026 12:19 PM (/OKHJ)

15 Didn't even know that Pizza Hut did away with the classic look. That tells you how long ago I've been in one.

Posted by: one hour sober at September 07, 2026 12:19 PM (J4Dwc)

16 80's girl here. Yes, it was freaking awesome.

Posted by: moki at September 07, 2026 12:20 PM (wLjpr)

17 Maybe starting right around January 2009?
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at September 07, 2026 12:17 PM (ExV1e)

He's like a reverse trump. He is an excuse people used to let their stupid out.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at September 07, 2026 12:20 PM (Y/06r)

18 Price is Right. A lady was off on the final showcase by $411 dollars. That's an incredible bid. BUT the other lady was off by $408 and won.

=====

So she won both showcases. Mazel!

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 07, 2026 12:20 PM (nbUa5)

19 The left: Up until the 2020s people could afford to live on a normal wage. Corporate greed must be ended and we must roll back the clock!

Also the left: The 80s were a NAZI like reich where everything was evil and the poor were literally hunted down and murdered by the rich. Also Reagan personally gave every gay person AIDS

Posted by: 18-1 at September 07, 2026 12:21 PM (sKqQm)

20 If you think the 80's were good, you should have seen the 70's.

Posted by: Happy at September 07, 2026 12:21 PM (QZkUY)

21 2 Afternoon, Ace. Did you have a cookout with the crows over the weekend?
Posted by: Bulg at September 07, 2026 12:13 PM (77rzZ)

Haha! Or: Caww!

Posted by: m at September 07, 2026 12:21 PM (odBC9)

22 I just can’t even!

Posted by: Ryan Renolds at September 07, 2026 12:22 PM (u73oe)

23 13 Good music stopped being created December 31, 1989.

My original CD copy of Alice in Chains' "Dirt" says otherwise.
Posted by: Ian S. at September 07, 2026 12:19 PM (QZThv)

*fistbump*

https://youtu.be/nWK0kqjPSVI

Don't do drugs, kids.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at September 07, 2026 12:23 PM (Y/06r)

24 As far as a decade being "cool" I think the nostalgic feeling is related to the idea that we have allowed Marxism into every facet of life. There is nothing the fascists have not managed to politicize in ways both large and small. It is mentally exhausting.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 07, 2026 12:23 PM (nbUa5)

25 3 Starting to think its been downhill since 1980s
Posted by: Skip at September 07, 2026 12:14 PM (Ia/+0)

... and since the 70s, and since the 60s, and since the 50s....

Posted by: m at September 07, 2026 12:23 PM (odBC9)

26 Blake, you want me to loofa your stretch marks?

Posted by: Ryan Renolds at September 07, 2026 12:23 PM (u73oe)

27 23 13 Good music stopped being created December 31, 1989.

My original CD copy of Alice in Chains' "Dirt" says otherwise.
Posted by: Ian S. at September 07, 2026 12:19 PM (QZThv)

*fistbump*

https://youtu.be/nWK0kqjPSVI

Don't do drugs, kids.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at September 07, 2026 12:23 PM (Y/06r)

Not even once.

Posted by: m at September 07, 2026 12:23 PM (odBC9)

28 The Left has been trying to poison, subvert, corrupt, abnormalize and degrade America for 100 years. The process has moved from subtle and covert infiltrations to institutional intimidation to open terror and assassination. Part and parcel of this long siege has been the background campaign to kill any expressions or celebrations of individuality and joy that depart from or challenge their narratives of cultural guilt and inferiority.

Posted by: Ordinary American at September 07, 2026 12:24 PM (7s9Qe)

29 20 If you think the 80's were good, you should have seen the 70's.

Posted by: Happy at September 07, 2026 12:21 PM (QZkUY)

Carter's inflation would beg to differ...

Posted by: moki at September 07, 2026 12:24 PM (wLjpr)

30 The left argues this is because black people and women didn't know how bad they had it.

I've seen that claim and it's laughable. The top show on TV was Cosby. The top musician was Michael Jackson. The top sports celebrities were Michael Jordan and Mike Tyson. Richard Pryor was out telling jokes that would get him described as "a white African" by the New York Times today. And nobody gave a shit that any of those guys were black.

Posted by: Ian S. at September 07, 2026 12:24 PM (QZThv)

31 70s was great but also riven with the negative consequences of Watergate, the oil shock, the prostrate Jimmy Carter, and disco.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 07, 2026 12:25 PM (nbUa5)

32 Good music stopped being created December 31, 1989.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 07, 2026 12:14 PM (u73oe)

No. It's still going on. Good music stopped being aired on Top 40 radio and MTV. But it's out there.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 07, 2026 12:26 PM (1z8ji)

33 I lived the '80s and concur with this assessment.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at September 07, 2026 12:26 PM (NnhvP)

34 “Customer feedback shows that the throwback styling "really resonates with everybody," Sparks says. Daland currently operates 39 Pizza Hut Classic locations”
———-

This might be a weird question. Is the Pizza any good? Pizza Hut took a big nosedive some many years back. Is expecting a decent enough pizza Nostalgic too?

Some of the best Barbecue you’ll ever find is in some non-descript cinder block building. The location or decor doesn’t matter.

Posted by: Common Tater at September 07, 2026 12:27 PM (lYAIJ)

35 I don't use the word "cuck" very often but, man, that Ryan Reynolds video sends off those vibes.

Posted by: m at September 07, 2026 12:27 PM (odBC9)

36 Used to go through that Pizza Hut buffet like a hot knife through butter.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 07, 2026 12:27 PM (nbUa5)

37 I was a kid in the early 70s, teenager in the late 70s, spent my 20s in the 80s. It was a different world. I had a ball those years. Jr. Black finds it almost impossible to believe America was the way it was back then. When gays/trannies and all the offended, victimization classes didn't rule everywhere. Where you laughed at jokes, where music was great, where we all got along and nobody really gave a darn about politics, and your entire persona wasn't wrapped up in constant virtue signaling. I'd love to go back and stay there. I hate what we've become.

Posted by: Lady in Black at September 07, 2026 12:27 PM (qBdHI)

38 I don't do pizza, but I'd so eat at a PH classic...

Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 12:27 PM (cGjQu)

39 And nobody gave a shit that any of those guys were black.
Posted by: Ian S. at September 07, 2026 12:24 PM

Don't forget about us!

Posted by: George Jefferson and Fred G. Sanford at September 07, 2026 12:27 PM (2Ez/1)

40 Disco baby !

Posted by: It's me donna at September 07, 2026 12:28 PM (+gK6I)

41 30, exactly!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at September 07, 2026 12:29 PM (VyBeY)

42 I spent much of the 80s in the miliary. When I wasn't halfway around the world, I was in California emersed in the training cocoon prepping for the next deployment half way around the world. Seems I missed a lot.

Posted by: one hour sober at September 07, 2026 12:29 PM (J4Dwc)

43 70s was great but also riven with the negative consequences of Watergate, the oil shock, the prostrate Jimmy Carter, and disco.
——-
Elvis collars, polyester, mood rings, and Harvest Gold/Avocado appliances. Only .01c!!! Columbia House 8-tracks on the way, baby!!

Posted by: Common Tater at September 07, 2026 12:29 PM (lYAIJ)

44 Afternoon Ace.
HS, college and law school in the 80s. Lot of good times

Posted by: Smell the Glove at September 07, 2026 12:29 PM (TrqdA)

45 Eight years of Ronaldus Magnus and Bloom County in color on Sundays.

Posted by: Good times, good times at September 07, 2026 12:30 PM (2Ez/1)

46 9/11 changed most things, the advent of Obama changed everything.

Basically, everything started to go to absolute sh*t around 2009-2011 time frame.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 07, 2026 12:30 PM (XV/Pl)

47 If you think the 80's were good, you should have seen the 70's.

Posted by: Happy at September 07, 2026 12:21 PM (QZkUY)

Carter's inflation would beg to differ...
Posted by: moki

My 70's was awesome. Great job, great music, we bought our first house. I have no bad memories of that decade.

Posted by: Tuna at September 07, 2026 12:30 PM (lJ0H4)

48 So she won both showcases. Mazel!

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 07, 2026 12:20 PM

Nope. $250 for both.
But she won and has a great story.

Oh. I saw Al Sharpton on MS Now yesterday. Man he looks like hell. Jesse Jackson looks better and he died a while back.

Posted by: Stateless - keeping 15 year Ralphy happy and alive. Puppy at heart at September 07, 2026 12:31 PM (Sco7b)

49 32 Good music stopped being created December 31, 1989.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 07, 2026 12:14 PM (u73oe)

No. It's still going on. Good music stopped being aired on Top 40 radio and MTV. But it's out there.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 07, 2026 12:26 PM (1z8ji)

No, it actually stopped on August 27, 1990. That's the day Stevie Ray Vaughan died. That's the day I stopped listening to any new music.

Posted by: Tom Servo at September 07, 2026 12:31 PM (edUvp)

50 'Sanford and Son' was hilarious.

Posted by: Stateless - keeping 15 year Ralphy happy and alive. Puppy at heart at September 07, 2026 12:32 PM (Sco7b)

51
I was born in '59.
The '80s were the best years of my life.

Posted by: Speller at September 07, 2026 12:32 PM (pSotA)

52 nobody really gave a darn about politics, and your entire persona wasn't wrapped up in constant virtue signaling. I'd love to go back and stay there. I hate what we've become.

Posted by: Lady in Black at September 07, 2026 12:27 PM (qBdHI)

This: the "hate your neighbor" ethos that has bubbled up like noxious fumes from hell. It hasn't made the world a better place.

Posted by: moki at September 07, 2026 12:32 PM (wLjpr)

53 Fox News reported it the same way" armed man lunges at Democrat"

Posted by: steevy at September 07, 2026 12:32 PM (YwEeS)

54 Elvis collars, polyester, mood rings, and Harvest Gold/Avocado appliances. Only .01c!!! Columbia House 8-tracks on the way, baby!!

--

I had a mood ring and thought it was so cool. LOL Didn't have a pet rock, but I did have toe socks and we had the standard issue avocado appliances. And a trash compactor to match!

Posted by: Lady in Black at September 07, 2026 12:33 PM (qBdHI)

55 Pizza Hut had a tangy , creamy Italian dressing at the salad bar. I'd go to Pizza Hut just for that

Posted by: Smell the Glove at September 07, 2026 12:33 PM (TrqdA)

56 From my perspective, the 80's were a mixed bag.

Movies were the greatest during this era. Attitudes in general were the best.

On the downside, the job market sucked rocks when I finished my undergrad in '85 and I ended up in grad school. The Challenger exploded, Chernobyl blowed up real good, etc., etc.

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at September 07, 2026 12:33 PM (iIyc0)

57 Sam Reid makes great videos. Here he obsesses over Pizza Hut for 20 minutes:

https://youtu.be/DA6KrQyw2w0

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 07, 2026 12:33 PM (2Ez/1)

58 Another part of the 80s - any of the Dem presidential candidates from that era would be called far right wing extremists right now...

Posted by: 18-1 at September 07, 2026 12:33 PM (sKqQm)

59 The Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes.

Posted by: Bulg at September 07, 2026 12:34 PM (77rzZ)

60 I was going to seminary part time in the late 90's through 2004, I don't remember any time being bad until Obama got in office.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 07, 2026 12:34 PM (mXZ+5)

61 PCU came out in 1994.

Posted by: steevy at September 07, 2026 12:34 PM (YwEeS)

62 "Tiffany-style lamps"

You watch your ass or the lawyers come next.

Posted by: Louis Comfort Tiffany at September 07, 2026 12:34 PM (r7+Q7)

63 Eh. I was a little kid in the 80s, but I remember them being... OK. Though, I was also living outside Pittsburgh in a dying mill town, so it maybe didn't seem as cool as in better places. We lived in a better part of the town, but it was already rotting and we had our house broken into, and my parents sent us into Pittsburgh for better schools, etc.

I lived through the '90s in the Rocky mountains, where everything was DOPE. It was a fun, rural area where you could play in some of the world's coolest natural features, and close enough to a city for us hillbillies to go raise hell. So for me, I think the 90s were cooler.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 07, 2026 12:35 PM (BI5O2)

64 I turned 18 in 1980.

Yes. The 80's were fucking awesome.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at September 07, 2026 12:35 PM (2Cry5)

65 Eight years of Ronaldus Magnus and Bloom County in color on Sundays.
Posted by: Good times, good times
_________

I know he was lampooning us, but Steve Dallas was his greatest character. He also used him to go after the left when he briefly turned him into a hippie.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at September 07, 2026 12:37 PM (XvL8K)

66 55 Pizza Hut had a tangy , creamy Italian dressing at the salad bar. I'd go to Pizza Hut just for that
Posted by: Smell the Glove at September 07, 2026 12:33 PM (TrqdA)
_________________

Yeah, for some reason, some meddler decided to put sugar (or even worse, corn syrup) into all brands of creamy Italian salad dressing for some reason.

And, btw, when Pizza Hut in my neck of the woods announced their closing, I went in and asked to buy all the Romano Salad dressing they had in stock (that was my favorite). They gave me a five gallon jug for free.

Posted by: Orson at September 07, 2026 12:38 PM (dIske)

67 The 80s were great. Computers were still fun. Y2K was two decades away.

Posted by: fd at September 07, 2026 12:38 PM (MWfyi)

68 *ahem*
I gave you the first ten full years of El Rushbo.

Posted by: The 1990s at September 07, 2026 12:39 PM (2Ez/1)

69 53 Fox News reported it the same way" armed man lunges at Democrat"

Posted by: steevy at September 07, 2026 12:32 PM (YwEeS)

Yeah. And he had pistols??

And suddenly decided to go old-school?

Posted by: Stateless - keeping 15 year Ralphy happy and alive. Puppy at heart at September 07, 2026 12:39 PM (Sco7b)

70 Social Media made everything worse.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 07, 2026 12:39 PM (mXZ+5)

71 Intellivision and the first Nintendo.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at September 07, 2026 12:40 PM (XvL8K)

72 Devo was right.

Posted by: fd at September 07, 2026 12:40 PM (MWfyi)

73 53 Fox News reported it the same way" armed man lunges at Democrat"

Posted by: steevy at September 07, 2026 12:32 PM (YwEeS)

Yeah. And he had pistols??

And suddenly decided to go old-school?
Posted by: Stateless - keeping 15 year Ralphy happy and alive. Puppy at heart at September 07, 2026 12:39 PM (Sco7b)

He had arms? (sobs uncontrollably)

Posted by: Michelle Fields at September 07, 2026 12:41 PM (1z8ji)

74 I used to have ACTUAL music videos.

Posted by: MTV at September 07, 2026 12:41 PM (2Ez/1)

75 1968
The best music, the best cars, miniskirts, and bra burning.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 07, 2026 12:41 PM (2WIwB)

76 I shed 185lbs in 1980. The divorce was painless.

Posted by: Ben Had at September 07, 2026 12:42 PM (E0Et6)

77 I turned sixteen in 1980. Bought a computer instead of a car. Two years later, could be a small-town kid going to a semi-ivy league college without the snobbishness of the sixties and earlier, or the totalitarian fear of the twenty-first century.

Drifted around a bit after 1986 (four year degrees still existed!) but around 1989 ended up with some college friends in San Diego working on a software startup (HyperCard->SuperCard) that led to being “that guy” who compiled and understood the web server software in 1994 at a small private college. Which turned into a to-retirement career.

Now I write about vintage food and other odd bits of history in my spare time and hang out with morons.

“Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention…”

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 07, 2026 12:42 PM (kYmoU)

78 No. It's still going on. Good music stopped being aired on Top 40 radio and MTV. But it's out there.

100%. A lot of current European metal is great. If you remember in the 80s when every guitar magazine was hyping Doro Pesch, she's still pretty awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwcO2saJTA0

(And yes, that band's name does mean "fire dick", exactly like JJ Sefton would tell you)

Posted by: Ian S. at September 07, 2026 12:42 PM (QZThv)

79 Posted by: Michelle Fields at September 07, 2026 12:41 PM (1z8ji)

——————-

You shoulda armed yourself.

Posted by: Will Muny at September 07, 2026 12:43 PM (u73oe)

80 Another lunatic went all stabby-stabby in NYC this morning.

Posted by: one hour sober at September 07, 2026 12:43 PM (J4Dwc)

81 boy wow fox "news" is really all in on being msnbc lite, innit?

indistinguishable from the demonrat party line.

*spit*

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at September 07, 2026 12:44 PM (VyBeY)

82 Devo was right.
Posted by: fd

"Whip it good!"?

Yeah, there was plenty of that going around then too.

Posted by: Tonypete at September 07, 2026 12:44 PM (WXg6e)

83
There were all kinds of crazy, weird things that happened in the '80s, but I've got this for the weirdest.

The Lake Nyos Disaster:
https://youtu.be/_vnCOI8dbhM?is=m7il04pp11E9xlGW

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at September 07, 2026 12:44 PM (BI5O2)

84 58 Another part of the 80s - any of the Dem presidential candidates from that era would be called far right wing extremists right now...
Posted by: 18-1 at September 07, 2026 12:33 PM (sKqQm)

************

It can be argued to a certain extent that Trump has a fair amount in common with Dick Gephardt. Imagine how today's Democrats would receive Dick Gephardt - LOL!

Posted by: Sasquatch, the Original Trans-Wookie at September 07, 2026 12:44 PM (Esixy)

85 On the downside, the job market sucked rocks when I finished my undergrad in '85 and I ended up in grad school. The Challenger exploded, Chernobyl blowed up real good, etc., etc.

On the plus side, the Chernobyl incident was one of the warning signs that Ted Kennedy was wrong and the USSR was falling apart.

Posted by: Ian S. at September 07, 2026 12:45 PM (QZThv)

86 boy wow fox "news" is really all in on being msnbc lite, innit?

I mostly watch Newsmax now, aside from some Gutfeld. They run a promo constantly where Trump says Fox has disappointed him but Newsmax is doing a great job.

Posted by: Ian S. at September 07, 2026 12:47 PM (QZThv)

87 I was in boot camp in 1985. On sundays you were allowed to buy a newspaper. The first thing I checked every Sunday was Bloom County.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 07, 2026 12:48 PM (u73oe)

88 No, it stunk, too.

Mortgage rates soared in the early 1980s as the Federal Reserve raised borrowing costs to fight severe inflation.
According to Bankrate, “Mortgage rates peaked at 18.4% in October 1981 alone as the Federal Reserve fought runaway inflation.”

Mid-Decade: Rates hovered in the 12% to 14% range between 1983 and 1985.Late-Decade: As inflation cooled, rates eased down, closing out the decade at an average of about 10.25% to 9.78% in 1989.

The U.S. unemployment rate in the 1980s peaked at 10.8% in late 1982 during a severe economic downturn.

Daycare in the 1980s experienced a massive surge in demand as middle-class mothers entered the workforce in record numbers, creating severe facility shortages, rising costs, and national moral panics over safety.

Women made up 43% of the U.S. labor force by 1980, marking a rapid shift toward professional and managerial careers driven by the cultural ideal of "having it all.

^Thanks to AI Overview.

Horrible music: We Built This City, Mickey, The Final Countdown, Careless Whispers, Funkytown,

But great movies.

Posted by: L - No nic... at September 07, 2026 12:49 PM (NFX2v)

89 FWIW, the 2nd O' administration is when "things" took a huge turn to the worse...

Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 12:49 PM (cGjQu)

90 Hit my teens in the mid-late '90s and 'murica was still pretty cool then. Feel sorry for my little hobbits being in their teens now. Kinda sucks.

On the plus side, they still have classic rock and older music to love. Oldest is into grunge (what a good boy), middle loves and plays metal guitar, little one still finding his preferences, but I've caught him listening to everything from Marley to Ozzy.

Posted by: She Hobbit at September 07, 2026 12:50 PM (ftFVW)

91 On the plus side, the Chernobyl incident was one of the warning signs that Ted Kennedy was wrong and the USSR was falling apart.
Posted by: Ian S. at September 07, 2026 12:45 PM

In September 1989 Boris Yeltsin visits the Houston grocery store.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 07, 2026 12:50 PM (2Ez/1)

92 It can be argued to a certain extent that Trump has a fair amount in common with Dick Gephardt. Imagine how today's Democrats would receive Dick Gephardt - LOL!

Gephardt ran a proto-Trump campaign focused on unfair trade practices of our allies at the time and the need for the government to focus on providing services for working American citizens...

I vaguely recall he had some moderate position on abortion too, not Trump 2024's but what the left now calls "denying healthcare to women"

Posted by: 18-1 at September 07, 2026 12:51 PM (sKqQm)

93 I went to high school from 82-86. Then college. The 80s if not the best, is better than anything I have experienced since. And I am the last of six, so I got to watch my older siblings experience the 70s from my young eyes. Some of that affected me. I had a mint green leisure suit with an orange silk shirt for my First Communion Day. Thought I was styling.

Posted by: The Ghost of PugBoo at September 07, 2026 12:51 PM (HueKi)

94 The 80s were good. In my Ohio town, with the exception to Sheet and Tube in Youngstown, the mills were running pretty good as was GM's interests. Many people making a good buck. Speaking of Youngstown, the local crews went on a bombing campaign against each other, so you had local stories to keep you amused. And now, my home town has gone down nearly 50% in population, weeds growing through the asphalt in factory parking lots. Fortunately, I've been reading of small time comebacks in industry in the area.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at September 07, 2026 12:52 PM (gm9Sb)

95 Horrible music ! The greatest era in Metal began in the 80's

Posted by: steevy at September 07, 2026 12:52 PM (YwEeS)

96 Horrible music: We Built This City, Mickey

My HS cheerleading squad did a routine to Mickey at a pep rally.

Old Bulg still remembers.

Posted by: Bulg at September 07, 2026 12:53 PM (77rzZ)

97 It can be argued to a certain extent that Trump has a fair amount in common with Dick Gephardt.
Posted by: Sasquatch

Except that Trump gets called names much, much worse than Dick.

Posted by: Dark Lixtiquatal at September 07, 2026 12:53 PM (Fv808)

98 I was in college during the Carter Malaise. I remember listening for the thump of the Sunday Boston Globe landing on the doorway so we could pour through the ever-thinning jobs section.

Posted by: Field Marshal Zhukov at September 07, 2026 12:53 PM (bX16E)

99 And yes 8 years of Obama was catastrophic(12 out of16 years counting the vegetable admin)

Posted by: steevy at September 07, 2026 12:53 PM (YwEeS)

100 The 80's were also the era of "Dress For Success" for business/financial workers.

I owned several tailored dress suits, shirts, shoes. Commuted by train into the big city, where most of the men wore suit coats/ties, carried briefcases and read the daily newspapers. Woman also wore business dresses.

The goal was for success in business and one had to dress like a business executive.

Posted by: Joemarine at September 07, 2026 12:54 PM (y171U)

101 Bowling for Soup "1985"

youtu.be/K38xNqZvBJI

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at September 07, 2026 12:54 PM (0vB2I)

102 A good argument can be made for the postwar, go-go 1950s, except for all the racial segregation, and you have to be older than dirt to remember those years.

Posted by: JM in Illinois at September 07, 2026 12:54 PM (llBIB)

103 Back in my day, people actually watched SNL and talked about it on Sundays.

Posted by: The Late 70s and Early 80s at September 07, 2026 12:54 PM (2Ez/1)

104 The 80s were great in Hollywood. I was starting my career and there was work all over the place.

Posted by: Ordinary American at September 07, 2026 12:55 PM (7s9Qe)

105
The Lake Nyos Disaster:
https://youtu.be/_vnCOI8dbhM?is=m7il04pp11E9xlGW
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

You know...if you get on top of a bus you can survive that type of event.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at September 07, 2026 12:55 PM (NnhvP)

106 Life is what you make of it.

Posted by: nurse ratched at September 07, 2026 12:55 PM (EitEl)

107 Generation X saw the last vestiges of America. What a fucking shame.

80's Pizza Hut sucked ass just as bad as present day PH.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at September 07, 2026 12:56 PM (7AjME)

108 I'm back, did you miss me?

crickets chirp

Posted by: RandomDave (if you can spare a bit, please click!) at September 07, 2026 12:56 PM (aJQbY)

109 I think things were good up until shortly after 2005, then things took a real nose dive. Looking back it was gradually, starting with TV propaganda in the 60's and it took until smart phones for it to be suddenly. If it can flip one way, it can flip back. It just takes effort and momentum.

Posted by: Smellslikevictory at September 07, 2026 12:56 PM (jt7Bz)

110 Speaking of 70s music, Funeral for a Friend just came up on the playlist. Perfect for getting into fall/Halloween season. I love the guitar lick ending the intro.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at September 07, 2026 12:56 PM (XvL8K)

111 Girls in the 80s. See movie Major League. Big hair and tank tops.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at September 07, 2026 12:56 PM (gm9Sb)

112 Diamond Age was published in the 90s and today we are right at the point where The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer could become reality. The replacement of classrooms with individual AI tutors is going to turn out a well educated generation of kids who have never had to deal with dull classes, violent classmates and state indoctrination.

Posted by: Oglebay at September 07, 2026 12:56 PM (2ap+5)

113 Speaking of "Dick", is there anyone who goes by the name "Dick" (being short for Richard) who's under 65? Being an early Gen-X'er, I learned that "dick" meant penis long before I learned it was short for "Richard". I've *never* met, or known of, anyone my age or younger who went by "Dick" (voluntarily), including Richards - Richard, Rich, Rick, Ricky, but not Dick.

Posted by: Dark Lixtiquatal at September 07, 2026 12:57 PM (Fv808)

114 A downside to the 80's was the media's obsession with nuclear war. And Russia. But mostly nuclear war.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at September 07, 2026 12:57 PM (2Cry5)

115 "Women also wore business dresses."

++++

And the girls, who try to look pretty.
~ BTO

Posted by: Takin' Care Of Business at September 07, 2026 12:57 PM (2Ez/1)

116 Everything is awful and horrible and you’re all going to die!!!!

Posted by: Msm at September 07, 2026 12:57 PM (U1NLK)

117 The thing about the "best of times" is that it can usually only be recognized in the "worst of times"

Posted by: SMOD at September 07, 2026 12:58 PM (O7XEN)

118 867-

Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 07, 2026 12:58 PM (u73oe)

119
If you think the 80's were good, you should have seen the 70's.

Carter's inflation would beg to differ...
Posted by: moki

He wan't there until the second half.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 07, 2026 12:58 PM (Cqx++)

120 80's Pizza Hut sucked ass just as bad as present day PH.
Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory

Aw, that seems harsh. As a little hobbit in the '80s I was always stoked for a trip to the Hut to get my free BookIt pizza.

Posted by: She Hobbit at September 07, 2026 12:58 PM (ftFVW)

121 He's like a reverse trump. He is an excuse people used to let their stupid out.

+++
Back in the day I believe he was called Shit Midas in these here parts.

Posted by: Smellslikevictory at September 07, 2026 12:59 PM (jt7Bz)

122 Now if they could just get the pan pizza crust back to way it was in the 80s.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at September 07, 2026 12:18 PM

I think the problem is that it's white-bread bland.

I miss the priazzo they had in the '80s. It was the most like my family's homemade pizza.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at September 07, 2026 12:59 PM (fy544)

123 5309

Posted by: nurse ratched at September 07, 2026 12:59 PM (EitEl)

124 Unfortunately I wasn't quite old enough in the 1980s to enjoy the full benefits. The "AIDS is a heterosexual disease" lie/panic had already hit full stride. Plus I was raised to be a dickless chickenshit good little boy so I missed all the fun. But for those who came of age then, and got to be normal people, it really was a blast from what I'm told.

Posted by: Best is behind us the worst is still brewing at September 07, 2026 01:00 PM (TbWk/)

125 Best decade is when you were 17-23 years old.

Posted by: Sandy Cocazio Ortez at September 07, 2026 01:00 PM (U1NLK)

126 "Funkytown" was great.

The video, that is...

Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 01:00 PM (cGjQu)

127 In the 1980s, Red Lobster and the newly created Olive Garden experienced massive growth (an uncle worked for "restaurant" placement and expansion) as popular, upscale-feeling family dining destinations.

Trips to Red Lobster or Olive Garden as special occasions where kids might got dressed up, too.

And then the older folk & certain groups descended and still hang tight.

🤪

Posted by: L - No nic... at September 07, 2026 01:00 PM (NFX2v)

128 118 867-
Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 07, 2026 12:58 PM

Is this about me?

Posted by: Jenny at September 07, 2026 01:00 PM (2Ez/1)

129 Difference between 70's and 80's is that drugs in the 70's were a coping mechanism.

Posted by: Dark Lixtiquatal at September 07, 2026 01:00 PM (Fv808)

130 Nurse is pick in up what I’m putting down.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 07, 2026 01:01 PM (u73oe)

131 Commies ruin everything.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at September 07, 2026 01:01 PM (7AjME)

132 In 1985 in La Jolla, CA (UC/SD), I discovered Chicago-style pizza and it was awesome.

Posted by: Dark Lixtiquatal at September 07, 2026 01:01 PM (Fv808)

133 LOL.. The guy pushing his way up to the front at the Dem. Ohio Gov. candidates rally was making an assassination attempt... At least CNN says so...

Posted by: It's me donna at September 07, 2026 01:02 PM (+gK6I)

134 Generation X saw the last vestiges of America. What a fucking shame.

80's Pizza Hut sucked ass just as bad as present day PH.
Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory
----------

I wrote a song about this.

Posted by: Don McLean at September 07, 2026 01:02 PM (XeU6L)

135 Also the left: The 80s were a NAZI like reich where everything was evil and the poor were literally hunted down and murdered by the rich.

Hey, us military kids hunted them too! Stop trying to belittle our contribution.

Also Reagan personally gave every gay person AIDS

I've pointed out that he funded research more than any other world leader back then and they still refuse to concede anything.

Posted by: NR Pax at September 07, 2026 01:02 PM (/k3in)

136 You know...if you get on top of a bus you can survive that type of event.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at September 07, 2026 12:55 PM (NnhvP)

Lakes in temperate climates usually turn over once a year, so that sort of disaster cannot happen. Other lakes in the tropics, particularly deep ones, could be disasters waiting to happen. I think it would be prudent to sound such lakes with probes to measure the dissolved CO2 content at depth.

Posted by: Michelle Fields at September 07, 2026 01:03 PM (1z8ji)

137 generation of kids who have never had to deal with dull classes, violent classmates and state indoctrination"

Don't get the hopes up...

Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 01:03 PM (cGjQu)

138 To paraphrase the foxu Kirsche, "anyone who uses Woke 1 is either a fucking Communist or a retard."

Posted by: Anna Puma at September 07, 2026 01:04 PM (2GVsD)

139 Springsteen and that efin' "Sussudio" were freaking everywhere.

Posted by: Bulg at September 07, 2026 01:04 PM (77rzZ)

140 The nostalgia for the 1980s is forgetting something: we thought we could die at any moment if nuclear war started with the USSR. It was a nation-wide anxiety that was constantly being fueled by the media and Hollywood and everything else (presumably for political reasons). I'm not tying this to Ryan Reynolds's ridiculous claim that it was about the Cuban missile crisis, I'm just saying that the 80s were permeated with either nuclear anxiety or nuclear fatalism.

Posted by: Blahblahblah at September 07, 2026 01:04 PM (ca+Gv)

141 Aw, that seems harsh. As a little hobbit in the '80s I was always stoked for a trip to the Hut to get my free BookIt pizza.
Posted by: She Hobbit at September 07, 2026 12:58 PM

There's an app for that now. I was shocked.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at September 07, 2026 01:04 PM (fy544)

142 As for how great the 1980s were, our lips are sealed.

Posted by: Anna Puma at September 07, 2026 01:04 PM (2GVsD)

143 Last year was my high school class's 35 year reunion. Yikes! HS class of 1985 straddled the 80's, first half high school (roughly) and second half college (roughly). And enough appreciation for/exposure to the 70's through TV shows and lunch boxes.

Posted by: Dark Lixtiquatal at September 07, 2026 01:04 PM (Fv808)

144 From my hindsight here, I'm going to agree with the statement made in The Matrix: 1999 was the peak of human civilization.

It has all been downhill since then. Possible exception of AI optics and firearms development. Everything else...cars, cinema, economy, world events....trash.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at September 07, 2026 01:04 PM (xcxpd)

145 I would love to go
Back to the
80’s.

We were feral children and teenagers moving in to young adulthood. We wanted and needed to move out of our parents’s homes and believed in the greatness of America and ourselves.

Miracle On Ice;
Reagan;
The hostages being released;
Defeating the USSR and communism.

Good times and it’s a shame we let it all be taken away by woke bull$hit and feelings.

Posted by: Czech Chick at September 07, 2026 01:05 PM (uFuUP)

146 Foxu News (on the other hand) is a National Treasure !

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at September 07, 2026 01:05 PM (VyBeY)

147 No, not the 1970's. Mother's Little Helper, back in 1966.
Coping drugs and a lot more.

Sadly, the term "crack whore" began appearing in mainstream media and public usage during the mid-1980s

Posted by: L - No nic... at September 07, 2026 01:05 PM (NFX2v)

148 Now if they could just get the pan pizza crust back to way it was in the 80s.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at September 07, 2026 12:18 PM

I think the problem is that it's white-bread bland
Posted by: NaughtyPine
________

I assumed they changed the oil or whatever they're using. Crust was always too soggy or crisp after the 80s.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at September 07, 2026 01:05 PM (XvL8K)

149 "we thought we could die at any moment if nuclear war started with the USSR."

I didn't. I never once had any concern over nuke war. Don't know why. Just didn't.

Posted by: Dark Lixtiquatal at September 07, 2026 01:06 PM (Fv808)

150 There's an app for that now. I was shocked.
Posted by: NaughtyPine

Well that seems less fun than getting stamps on the little card.

Posted by: She Hobbit at September 07, 2026 01:06 PM (ftFVW)

151 Plus I was raised to be a dickless chickenshit good little boy so I missed all the fun.

I suppose that could be used to describe me as well although I would call it painfully shy and introverted. Still, I have neither children nor ex-wives from that period and precipitated no abortions so I'm generally good with it.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at September 07, 2026 01:06 PM (ExV1e)

152 90s were the last best decade. It was still demographically American as the invasion had not begun yet. Pre 9/11 post Cold War sweet spot on the foreign policy front. The internet was around kind of but no social media. Great decade for movies and music. Stock market and .com boom post 1995 made a lot of people rich even if temporarily before the crash in 2000/2001. Late 90s anyone with a pulse could get a good high paying job in tech.

Life was good.

Posted by: Sandy Cocazio Ortez at September 07, 2026 01:06 PM (U1NLK)

153 Graduated HS in the '80's. The '80's and 90's were great!

Posted by: lin-duh at September 07, 2026 01:06 PM (VCgbV)

154 we thought we could die at any moment if nuclear war started with the USSR"

No one actually believed that. It was just a media trope...

Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 01:06 PM (cGjQu)

155 Bruce Springfieldstein the beekeeper?

Posted by: Boss Moss at September 07, 2026 01:06 PM (lWlz/)

156 140, lol, I never believed in either one of those views.

media has been selling FUD as long as I can remember

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at September 07, 2026 01:07 PM (VyBeY)

157 The 80s. Come home from a tough day at the mill, and wife is vacuming the floor, listening to MTV when it didn't suck. And both of us take a break during kid's nap time.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at September 07, 2026 01:07 PM (gm9Sb)

158 As for how great the 1980s were, our lips are sealed."

Wake me up

/ wait for it

Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 01:07 PM (cGjQu)

159 John Nolte is right - the '80s were the best. And at the very end, the Berlin Wall came down. Great way to finish that decade.

Posted by: bluebell at September 07, 2026 01:08 PM (ek8iC)

160 Media hype?

Oh yeah, The Day After and Threads with Carl Sagan talking about nuclear winter.

Posted by: Anna Puma at September 07, 2026 01:08 PM (2GVsD)

161 Also in the 80s, all the kids actually had lives and hobbies and (as mentioned) part-time jobs outside of high school, instead of being hyper-focused on assembling a resume for college with loads of extra-curricular activities and mandatory "volunteer" work for some retarded left-wing cause.

You could do stupid teenage shit without the entire world seeing photos or videos of it.

Old hippies would try to bring us down by going on about how our crazy senile president was going to attack the poor innocent Russians and start a nuclear war, but unlike the modern "Climate Crisis" the kids pretty much just ignored them.

Posted by: Cave Johnson at September 07, 2026 01:08 PM (BGygK)

162 Loved the 80s. 90s were pretty good too. The oughts were okay. Downhill from there.

Posted by: Darth Randall at September 07, 2026 01:08 PM (BoLwk)

163 154 we thought we could die at any moment if nuclear war started with the USSR"

No one actually believed that. It was just a media trope...
Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 01:06 PM (cGjQu)

Oh it was a real fear. So was the fear of AIDS. The Press was really good at fearmongering and there was no alternative outlets apart from some self-published books that were throughly marginalized.

And don't get me started on the Eschatological fear. Fucking Hal Lindsey and his bullshit.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at September 07, 2026 01:08 PM (xcxpd)

164 Sam's Club 3meat pizza is better than Pizza the Hutt.

Posted by: Boss Moss at September 07, 2026 01:08 PM (lWlz/)

165 Circa 1983 I was exposed to my first dose of NPR's All Things Considered. It sounded so erudite and intellectual...news for the educated thinking person. Then after ten days I realized according to these people the only things going on in the world was AIDS in America and apartheid in South Africa. Just turned it off.

Later in life I became an unrepentant dittohead.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 07, 2026 01:08 PM (2Ez/1)

166 Big hair and tank tops.
Posted by: bill in arkansas

Tank tops? TUBE tops for the win.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at September 07, 2026 01:09 PM (NnhvP)

167 The nostalgia for the 1980s is forgetting something: we thought we could die at any moment if nuclear war started with the USSR. It was a nation-wide anxiety that was constantly being fueled by the media and Hollywood and everything else (presumably for political reasons).

Ehhhhhh, yeah some people believed it - and it was all basically anti-Reagan propaganda by Commie agents and their useful idiot treasonous faggot toadies - but it never bothered me. I didn't think we were all actually going to die in nuclear was despite what the talking heads and libtard Hollyweirdos were saying and besides, in the extremely ridiculously highly unlikely event we did, I really didn't give a fuck anyway.

Posted by: Life sucks enough without phantom fear at September 07, 2026 01:09 PM (TbWk/)

168 164 Sam's Club 3meat pizza is better than Pizza the Hutt.
Posted by: Boss Moss at September 07, 2026 01:08 PM

Hey big boy...

Posted by: The Costco food court at September 07, 2026 01:10 PM (2Ez/1)

169 154 we thought we could die at any moment if nuclear war started with the USSR"

No one actually believed that. It was just a media trope...
Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 01:06 PM (cGjQu)

And the glory that was spandex and aerobics craze. Fit, hot girls in skin tight clothes. Peak. Just Peak.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at September 07, 2026 01:10 PM (xcxpd)

170 The nostalgia for the 1980s is forgetting something: we thought we could die at any moment if nuclear war started with the USSR. It was a nation-wide anxiety that was constantly being fueled by the media and Hollywood and everything else (presumably for political reasons). I'm not tying this to Ryan Reynolds's ridiculous claim that it was about the Cuban missile crisis, I'm just saying that the 80s were permeated with either nuclear anxiety or nuclear fatalism.
Posted by: Blahblahblah
-------

Jeebers...the 50's were much worse in that regard. Weekly tests of the air raid sirens, practicing huddling under your school desk. Here's just a sample:
https://shorturl.at/lcBNz

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 07, 2026 01:11 PM (XeU6L)

171 And a ragtag bunch of teenagers did battle with the Ruskies in Colorado and won WWIII.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 07, 2026 01:11 PM (u73oe)

172 Yeah, yeah I meant tube tops. Looked so good.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at September 07, 2026 01:11 PM (gm9Sb)

173 A large Costco pizza is like $10. And it’s an actual LARGE pizza, Like feed 5 people and have a slice or two left over large. As oppose to a “large” that most pizza places call a small pizza.

Posted by: Sandy Cocazio Ortez at September 07, 2026 01:11 PM (U1NLK)

174 I came of age in the 70's. I'm one of the fortunate few who was too young to register for the draft and too old to have to register for selective service.

I recently read an article where the writer asserted that for all intents and purposes, time and culture stopped Dec. 31, 1999. As ludicrous as it sounds, the more I think about it, the more it rings true.

Happy Labor Day everyone, especially our host Ace.

One other thought. Sefton mentioned the subject of Trump renaming everything in his content this morning. I don't think it's misplaced ego. I think it's his way of sticking it to Obama and his 'fundamental transformation of America'. Remember it was Obama who started renaming stuff - like 'Squaw' Valley and McKinley. Biden continued it with removing Rebel names from military bases. Trump's just giving them a taste of their own stoopid medicine.....

Posted by: Anonymous Rogue in Kalifornistan (ARiK's phone) at September 07, 2026 01:11 PM (QGaXH)

175 AIDs/HIV?

Dr. Anthony Fauci waves.

Posted by: Anna Puma at September 07, 2026 01:11 PM (2GVsD)

176 142 As for how great the 1980s were, our lips are sealed.
Posted by: Anna Puma at September 07, 2026 01:04 PM (2GVsD)

Anna a Go-go?

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at September 07, 2026 01:12 PM (xcxpd)

177 "Devo was right.
Posted by: fd

"Whip it good!"?"

We are Devolving.

Posted by: fd at September 07, 2026 01:12 PM (MWfyi)

178 The intro to Funeral for a Friend is Amazing. The other part meh.

Posted by: Boss Moss at September 07, 2026 01:12 PM (lWlz/)

179 I suppose that could be used to describe me as well although I would call it painfully shy and introverted. Still, I have neither children nor ex-wives from that period and precipitated no abortions so I'm generally good with it.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at September 07, 2026 01:06 PM (ExV1e)

Always a silver lining I reckon

Posted by: Accentuate the positive at September 07, 2026 01:12 PM (TbWk/)

180 And a ragtag bunch of teenagers did battle with the Ruskies in Colorado and won WWIII.
Posted by: Duke Lowell

Wolverines!

Posted by: She Hobbit at September 07, 2026 01:12 PM (ftFVW)

181 Wolverines didn't win WWIII, only two of them made it to Free America.

Posted by: Anna Puma at September 07, 2026 01:12 PM (2GVsD)

182 Never really thought Nuclear War would start, but then didn't worry about Islamic war to end all wars.

Posted by: Skip at September 07, 2026 01:13 PM (Ia/+0)

183 173 A large Costco pizza is like $10. And it’s an actual LARGE pizza, Like feed 5 people and have a slice or two left over large. As oppose to a “large” that most pizza places call a small pizza.
Posted by: Sandy Cocazio Ortez at September 07, 2026 01:11 PM (U1NLK)

A huge slice of pepperoini, a hotdog and a drink for $3.50. You can't beat that for a meal anywhere anymore.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at September 07, 2026 01:13 PM (xcxpd)

184 Our local Hut was a small footprint store in a strip mall. It smelled like childhood accidents. Why was every restaurant in the '70s so dark? Was it the drugs? It was the drugs, wasn't it? The lunch special was ok, but I don't get the nostalgia.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at September 07, 2026 01:13 PM (diia5)

185 Go-Gos and the Bangles for the win.

Posted by: Anna Puma at September 07, 2026 01:13 PM (2GVsD)

186 Ronald Reagan, the investment boom and my Detroit Tigers won the World Series. Plus Mrs. Paco became a naturalized citizen at a ceremony at the Orange Bowl, presided over by VP George H.W. Bush. And both of my children were born in the 80s. It was a golden age.

Posted by: Paco at September 07, 2026 01:13 PM (2L+MU)

187 In some ways, the 90s were an extension of the 80s.

Posted by: Cow Demon at September 07, 2026 01:13 PM (WB/3O)

188 I've pointed out that he funded research more than any other world leader back then and they still refuse to concede anything.
Posted by: NR Pax at September 07, 2026 01:02 PM (/k3in)
----------
Trouble was, they gave the money to Fauci.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at September 07, 2026 01:13 PM (amcLV)

189 The workplace became much more hectic with the fax machine's introduction. We had a little more time for reflection on our work product in the first half of the '80s when we put documents in envelopes which were picked up by USPS at the end of the day.

Posted by: Oglebay at September 07, 2026 01:14 PM (2ap+5)

190 4 Good music stopped being created December 31, 1989.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at September 07, 2026 12:14 PM (u73oe)

July 7, 1992: Images and Words by Dream Theater was released.

Posted by: Cow Demon at September 07, 2026 01:14 PM (WB/3O)

191 Mostly remember everyone was packing around pounds they didn't need to

Posted by: Skip at September 07, 2026 01:14 PM (Ia/+0)

192 BTW-H&I Channel is running Star Trek TOS (the only TRUE series) all day long and several days during the week.

Posted by: Anonymous Rogue in Kalifornistan (ARiK's phone) at September 07, 2026 01:15 PM (QGaXH)

193 15 Didn't even know that Pizza Hut did away with the classic look. That tells you how long ago I've been in one.

Posted by: one hour sober at September 07, 2026 12:19 PM (J4Dwc)

I don't believe there are many sit-down restaurant Pizza Huts these days. Some of the small strip-center outlets have a few seats and stools at a small counter. No or very small tables for one or two. No waitress service.

Posted by: Gref at September 07, 2026 01:15 PM (5rh/l)

194 Trouble was, they gave the money to Fauci.
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea

At least our country was willing to do more except point out the obvious behaviors that if stopped could have saved a lot of lives.

Posted by: NR Pax at September 07, 2026 01:15 PM (/k3in)

195 Jeebers...the 50's were much worse in that regard. Weekly tests of the air raid sirens, practicing huddling under your school desk. Here's just a sample:
https://shorturl.at/lcBNz
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 07, 2026 01:11 PM (XeU6L)

Agree. By the '80's, the writing was on the wall. The Soviet Union was failing big time, but they were sane enough to not want to start a nuclear war.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 07, 2026 01:15 PM (1z8ji)

196 " BTW-H&I Channel is running Star Trek TOS (the only TRUE series) all day long and several days during the week.
Posted by: Anonymous Rogue in Kalifornistan"

So you are saying that Star Trek is on?

Posted by: fd at September 07, 2026 01:16 PM (MWfyi)

197 By the way the movie The Brink Of War is pretty good.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 07, 2026 01:16 PM (2Ez/1)

198 I suppose if I had to pick a single Point of No Return, it would be the "journalist" chick who wrote that women should be lining up to give Bill Clinton blow jobs for keeping abortion legal. That was the black-and-white admission that politics -- everywhere and always -- trumped principle.

Posted by: Oddbob at September 07, 2026 01:16 PM (vTZFs)

199 We be alls think the best yeers were when's Presdent Obana was are leeder. He was a loving blank Presdent!!

Posted by: Mary Clogginstein from Brattleboro, Vt at September 07, 2026 01:16 PM (+3Cdu)

200 And the glory that was spandex and aerobics craze. Fit, hot girls in skin tight clothes. Peak. Just Peak"

This. Wore much Polo and Boathouse Row sweaters....

Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 01:16 PM (cGjQu)

201 Hut's

LMAO. That apostrophe is kicking everyone's asses.

Posted by: Cal at September 07, 2026 01:17 PM (zhWvq)

202 Bloom County and Calvin & Hobbes.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at September 07, 2026 01:18 PM (amcLV)

203 So you are saying that Star Trek is on?"

Is BeastMaster on?

Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 01:18 PM (cGjQu)

204 And don't get me started on the Eschatological fear. Fucking Hal Lindsey and his bullshit.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at September 07, 2026 01:08 PM (xcxpd)

As someone who was raised partially in those circles (which not coincidentally contributed to being a pussy) I can attest that the END OF THE WORLD was coming every other week. Apocalyptic predictions and literature reached a fever pitch alongside Satanic panic. Lot of fucking weirdos.

Posted by: EHRMAGHEDDON at September 07, 2026 01:19 PM (TbWk/)

205 Oh yeah, The Day After and Threads with Carl Sagan talking about nuclear winter.
Posted by: Anna Puma at September 07, 2026 01:08 PM (2GVsD)

Only the most infamous examples. By the way…Carl Sagan appeared in the Viewpoint special Ted Koppel hosted after the former. Don’t forget the music. “It’s A Mistake” by Men at Work. “Shout” by Tears For Fears. Radio KAOS by Roger Waters. “Two Suns In The Sunset” by Floyd, Pink…

Scholastic Book Orders had books on offer depicting the world after nuclear war.

And so on.

Posted by: Cow Demon at September 07, 2026 01:19 PM (WB/3O)

206 The 80's was a huge success for the Hi-Fi generation. When a "rack" was stereo gear and not computers (or that other set of things.)

Separate amp, tuner, turntable, tape deck, equalizer, etc. And blow your eardrums out speakers.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at September 07, 2026 01:19 PM (2Cry5)

207 Watching a couple of Star Trek shows today and yesterday

Posted by: Skip at September 07, 2026 01:19 PM (Ia/+0)

208
I recently read an article where the writer asserted that for all intents and purposes, time and culture stopped Dec. 31, 1999. As ludicrous as it sounds, the more I think about it, the more it rings true.

The Y2K singularity

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 07, 2026 01:19 PM (Cqx++)

209 At least our country was willing to do more except point out the obvious behaviors that if stopped could have saved a lot of lives.
Posted by: NR Pax

By the time of my first sex ed class, HIV/AIDS was included. But they made a huge deal out of the kid that got it from a transfusion. Don't remember much emphasis on avoiding butt sex and needles. Funny that.

Posted by: She Hobbit at September 07, 2026 01:19 PM (ftFVW)

210 As someone who was raised partially in those circles (which not coincidentally contributed to being a pussy) I can attest that the END OF THE WORLD was coming every other week. Apocalyptic predictions and literature reached a fever pitch alongside Satanic panic. Lot of fucking weirdos.
Posted by: EHRMAGHEDDON at September 07, 2026 01:19 PM (TbWk/)

Shoulda run away and joined the circus.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 07, 2026 01:20 PM (1z8ji)

211 @BREAKING NUUZ!!!
BREAKING NUUZ!!!
5m

This just in !!!

President Trump has renamed all Pizza Hut franchises to "America Hut" !!! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!

Posted by: Will Robinson. at September 07, 2026 01:20 PM (A3xvt)

212 And blow your eardrums out speakers.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at September 07, 2026 01:19 PM (2Cry5)

"thirty inches of thigh-slapping, blood-pumping, nuclear brain damage!"

Posted by: Oglebay at September 07, 2026 01:21 PM (2ap+5)

213 Separate amp, tuner, turntable, tape deck, equalizer, etc. And blow your eardrums out speakers."

Pioneer, Thorens, SAE, Advent ...

Rock on

Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 01:21 PM (cGjQu)

214 Then there were those fleeting six weeks when it was actually OK to wear a Members Only jacket.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at September 07, 2026 01:22 PM (2Ez/1)

215 Speaking of the 80s, a minor plot point in the Megan sequel was noting the major tech breakthrough Xerox made back in the 80s...

Posted by: 18-1 at September 07, 2026 01:22 PM (sKqQm)

216 Nood open thread.

Posted by: Nazdar at September 07, 2026 01:22 PM (NcvvS)

217 The IBM PS/2 series came out in 1987. The architecture was a dead end but it did give us VGA and the PS/2 keyboard connector.

I worked for an IBM dealer at that time. IBM spent a whole bunch of money training us on those products and I sold a boatload of Model 30s, 50s, and 70s. Those went for about $2k, $3K, and $4K, respectively. And then you needed a VGA CRT monitor, $300-$3000 at the time.

Posted by: fd at September 07, 2026 01:22 PM (MWfyi)

218 thirty inches of thigh-slapping, blood-pumping, nuclear brain damage"

Dominator, baby

Posted by: man at September 07, 2026 01:23 PM (cGjQu)

219 Fine. Just go away then.

Posted by: fd at September 07, 2026 01:23 PM (MWfyi)

220 The 80's was a huge success for the Hi-Fi generation. When a "rack" was stereo gear and not computers (or that other set of things.)

Separate amp, tuner, turntable, tape deck, equalizer, etc. And blow your eardrums out speakers.
Posted by: Martini Farmer at September 07, 2026 01:19 PM (2Cry5)

Stereo "receivers" were coming on strong, too. All the functions in one box, aside from turntable and tape deck, of course.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at September 07, 2026 01:23 PM (1z8ji)

221 President Trump has renamed all Pizza Hut franchises to "America Hut" !!! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!
Posted by: Will Robinson. at September 07, 2026 01:20 PM

Now serving America Dry ginger ale.

Posted by: Suck it, eh? at September 07, 2026 01:23 PM (2Ez/1)

222 166 Big hair and tank tops.
Posted by: bill in arkansas

Tank tops? TUBE tops for the win.

I have the 70's halter tops neck and neck with tube tops.

Posted by: Happy at September 07, 2026 01:23 PM (QZkUY)

223 119
If you think the 80's were good, you should have seen the 70's.

Carter's inflation would beg to differ...
Posted by: moki

He wan't there until the second half.

I was there for the whole thing. Aside from Carter, it was fantastic.

Posted by: Happy at September 07, 2026 01:24 PM (QZkUY)

224 15 Didn't even know that Pizza Hut did away with the classic look. That tells you how long ago I've been in one.

Posted by: one hour sober at September 07, 2026 12:19 PM (J4Dwc)

I don't believe there are many sit-down restaurant Pizza Huts these days. Some of the small strip-center outlets have a few seats and stools at a small counter. No or very small tables for one or two. No waitress service.Posted by: Gref at September 07, 2026 01:15 PM (5rh/l)

I just checked. The last one I was in was on Grand Haven Rd, across from the movie theaters in Norton Shores, Michigan. It's a Classic. Kudos to the franchise owner.

Posted by: one hour sober at September 07, 2026 01:24 PM (J4Dwc)

225 208
I recently read an article where the writer asserted that for all intents and purposes, time and culture stopped Dec. 31, 1999. As ludicrous as it sounds, the more I think about it, the more it rings true.

The Y2K singularity

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 07, 2026 01:19 PM (Cqx++)

Y2K was one of the 10,000 things that have occurred during my life the Media and Democrats (BIRM) preached would exterminate me and all of humanity. Still alive! (You bastards!)

Posted by: Gref at September 07, 2026 01:26 PM (5rh/l)

226 47 If you think the 80's were good, you should have seen the 70's.

Posted by: Happy at September 07, 2026 12:21 PM (QZkUY)

Carter's inflation would beg to differ...
Posted by: moki

My 70's was awesome. Great job, great music, we bought our first house. I have no bad memories of that decade.

Same. The music, the lady's fashions, just how laid-back everything was. You had Richard Pryor, Cheech and Chong, George Carlin and Mel Brooks doing comedy that would be eviscerated by the wokies today.

Posted by: Happy at September 07, 2026 01:27 PM (QZkUY)

227 That table cloths. That vinyl fascia with the cloth/fiber backing. Shiny and yet yielding to the touch. Easy to clean.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at September 07, 2026 01:28 PM (Y/06r)

228 Jeebers...the 50's were much worse in that regard. Weekly tests of the air raid sirens, practicing huddling under your school desk. Here's just a sample:
https://shorturl.at/lcBNz
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc.
-----

I'll add that peoplewere building bomb shelters in their back yards. In municipalities, Civil Defence Fallout Shelter signs were everywhere

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 07, 2026 01:28 PM (XeU6L)

229 Y2K was one of the 10,000 things that have occurred during my life the Media and Democrats (BIRM) preached would exterminate me and all of humanity. Still alive! (You bastards!)
Posted by: Gref at September 07, 2026 01:26 PM (5rh/l)

I think it was the first time I really noticed it. On the other hand, you had acid rain, ozone hole, peak oil, etc etc.

Then the polar bears started showing up everywhere.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at September 07, 2026 01:29 PM (Y/06r)

230 Teenagers in the 80s were not particularly afraid of nuclear war, certainly not to the extent that teens today seem to be terrified of Muh Climate Crisis. There were some good "nuclear war is bad" songs and some good post-apocalyptic movies, but that's about it. Certainly nobody was making it their entire personality or sinking into a deep depression the way kids now are doing about climate.

Despite AIDS and the insistence of the 60s hippie crowd that "anyone can get it" (because they didn't want to stigmatize the gays), teenagers in the 80s were still having sex. Like, normal sex. A boy and a girl would date for a while and then they'd do it in the backseat of a car or sneak into one of their bedrooms while the parents were asleep. Girls who put out too easily were sluts. Boys had the occasional stolen Playboy but weren't crippled with "porn brain" from seeing every act imaginable online.

Posted by: Cave Johnson at September 07, 2026 01:30 PM (BGygK)

231 AIDs/HIV?

Dr. Anthony Fauci waves.
Posted by: Anna Puma

Only if gay or from Chicago, check when Number one showed up after a trip to Africa.. 1968 or 9 IIRC.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at September 07, 2026 01:31 PM (NnhvP)

232 I really miss just randomly showing up to a movie theater and having 3 choices, all of which later were considered classics.

Posted by: Texican ette at September 07, 2026 01:31 PM (SNf74)

233 1910 was the last “good” year for this country.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at September 07, 2026 01:32 PM (X5qGl)

234 232 I really miss just randomly showing up to a movie theater and having 3 choices, all of which later were considered classics.
Posted by: Texican ette at September 07, 2026 01:31 PM (SNf74)

And variety. You actually had multiple types of comedies.

Now, it's like we are in Warhammer 40k- but without the cool stuff.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at September 07, 2026 01:34 PM (Y/06r)

235 Nood.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at September 07, 2026 01:34 PM (Y/06r)

236 The nostalgia for the 1980s is forgetting something: we thought we could die at any moment if nuclear war started with the USSR. It

This was more seventies and earlier. I remember duck-and-cover practice in the seventies. In the eighties, the fear was mostly gone—Reagan decided that a good defense against nuclear weapons was a better idea than mutally-assured-destruction, and suddenly a media and elite that had been ridiculing MAD for years decided it was sacrosanct.

At which point we stopped fearing, because obviously the fears were all media-inspired.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at September 07, 2026 01:40 PM (kYmoU)

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