The Kashley Show

The Glow of the 80s

Kevin and Ashley Season 1 Episode 34

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0:00 | 35:27

Today, we are going back to the 80s. Close your eyes, and you’re already there. The burn of a metal seatbelt buckle on a summer afternoon. The sound of a Nintendo gun clicking at a TV screen. 

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SPEAKER_03

Welcome to the Cashley Show. We are Kevin and Ashley. We started this podcast after recent tragedies to take a break from negativity and discover the good news happening all around us. Today we are doing the glow of the 80s. We can't stop looking back.

SPEAKER_00

Is that from a song? We can't stop looking. Like we can't. It's gotta be an 80s song.

SPEAKER_03

I'm gonna save the movies and TV till the end because I movies and TVs from the 80s?

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

We may not get to it.

SPEAKER_00

Oh.

SPEAKER_03

There's a lot of stuff.

SPEAKER_00

You can't tell me about it and then say we're not gonna get to it.

SPEAKER_03

We'll see. There's something about the 1980s that just won't stay in the past. Even now, the era keeps showing up in our music, movies, fashion, and social media. It was so vivid that it almost refuses to become history. The eighties had a style of its own: neon colors, big hair, shoulder pads, and acid wash denim. So I'm just gonna list stuff.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Yeah, and I'm just I'm trying to think of because the eighties, I was still pretty little when the eighties ended.

SPEAKER_03

You'll remember a lot of this stuff. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, well, like I'm sure some of it, even though it was 80s like bled over into the 90s.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I remember my mom wearing shoulder pads and the acid wash denim.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like I remember shoulder pads in like women's business suits and stuff, or like different things like that, where they they look like Captain Crunch. Yeah with their big old big old shoulder pads. Got football practice after this?

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I used to have the bangs that went like up.

SPEAKER_00

Oh.

SPEAKER_03

Real big.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, okay. Nice. Good for you. Like almost like windblown.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I'll have to see if I can find a picture of it. First up we have Rainbow Bright. Um I mean, I I remember Rainbow Bright, but like I wasn't uh Me or my sister had a doll of her, just a small doll, I believe. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And like a lunch pill? Did you do a lunch pill? Rainbow Bright lunch pill?

SPEAKER_03

I don't I only remember eating school lunch. I don't know. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00

I'm sorry that I opened up this wound.

SPEAKER_03

School lunch was good when we were kids. They had good food.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

The peanut butter bars I make. That's like the school lunch ladies. When they used to make food and not just give you pre-packaged warmed-up items like they do now. You're welcome. Your Mongolian dinner was pretty good tonight, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00

It was good. That was never anything I got at school, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_03

Alright, next is the Smurfs. Oh, I love the Smurfs. I love the Smurfs too. It was a good show.

SPEAKER_00

Papa Smurf. It was almost like the the Dwarves, right? Like they all have those kind of names.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And the girl there was only one girl. Blonde girl in the whole. Blonde-haired girl.

SPEAKER_00

What was her name? This is very so sad. So misogynistic that we don't remember. There was one girl and we can't remember the one girl's name.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so I haven't watched Smurfs for a long time.

SPEAKER_00

Girly Smurf.

SPEAKER_03

Guess I'll have to look it up.

SPEAKER_00

Blonde Smurf. Daisy. Sarah. Slippy, Slappy, Samsonite.

SPEAKER_03

Smurfette. I was way off. It's so obvious. Smurf it.

SPEAKER_00

She doesn't even really get her own name. Her name is what they all are.

SPEAKER_03

Female Smurf.

SPEAKER_00

Yep. That's basically what it was. Everyone gets names, and you are Girl Smurf. Nice. Oh.

SPEAKER_03

The next one is Care Bears.

SPEAKER_00

Oh. Care Bears were the best.

SPEAKER_03

I had a sunshine one. Sunshine belly one.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I don't. I had a care bear. I don't remember what one it was though.

SPEAKER_03

I remember my sister had a blue one, but I don't remember what it was.

SPEAKER_00

I want to say mine was blue as well.

SPEAKER_03

We'll have to look into what your guys' blue smurfs were.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I wonder if there's some blue smurfs. Blue care bears? Can't get off topic. Stuck on them smurfs.

SPEAKER_03

There's a lot to go through here.

SPEAKER_00

Bear smurf.

SPEAKER_03

Next up, this is actually a TV show, but I have it here because it was also You said we were gonna wait till the end. Well I know, but this also had like stuffed animals. So it's Alf.

SPEAKER_00

Oh. Yeah. There was a lot of like puppeteering back in those days. I guess if you don't have computers to do that stuff, you have to have puppets. Yep. That makes sense, I guess. Looking back.

SPEAKER_03

The next one is Wait. Oh, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00

I guess should we wait to the end to talk about shows? Like, I don't even know what Alf was about. He was some alien who ate cats.

SPEAKER_03

Like lived with the fam with a family.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I don't know this story at all or the plot of Did you ever watch Alf? Not really. Like I I know enough about it to I can recognize Alf. And like probably some of the people that were on the show, if you show me their pictures, and that he liked to eat cats. Like he was always trying to eat the family cat or something like that. Other than that, no, I don't know anything about Alf. Right, like Alf is like alien life force form or something like that.

SPEAKER_03

It's funny, discover isn't that the last name of Foolhouse people?

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. I think Tanner's like second after Smith, though, probably. So don't get too excited.

SPEAKER_03

The Tanners discover the alien in their garage, dubbing him Alf for alien life form.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Alright, next up we have Garfield. Well, he was a cartoon. I actually put this on here because there used to be a Garfield-shaped phone that you could have like on your counter. Do you remember that? We never had it, but I remember like commercials for it.

SPEAKER_00

I do remember all the Garfields with the suction cups and people's windows, right? Like the back of station wagons and vans.

SPEAKER_03

Just this is the Garfield phone. So it's just like him. You pick up his back and talk on the phone.

SPEAKER_00

You rip his back off and talk to it. Things were a little different. Yep.

SPEAKER_03

Next we have my buddy.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. And kid's sister.

SPEAKER_03

I was trying to think, was it kid's sister? Little sister? But you're right, kid sister.

SPEAKER_00

My buddy girl version. That's what they called it. Just like the Smurfs. Still. Yep. My buddy. My buddy.

SPEAKER_03

My buddy and me.

SPEAKER_00

Wherever he goes, I go. Or is it the other way? Wherever I go, he goes.

SPEAKER_03

A little bit of the jingle. The next is the optic flower lamp that we had talked about in a previous episode.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. Yeah, the fiber optic one. Yep. Those are cool. Still cool. Just like lava lamps.

SPEAKER_03

I wish my mom still had hers. I'm sure it broke them. The next one is on Halloween. You didn't wear a costume. You wore a plastic smock with a character face on your chest and the vinyl mask with tiny eye holes that fogged up when you would breathe. Do you remember those?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, everyone was freaky looking.

SPEAKER_03

I know I had the little I had a care a care bear one. I don't know. I think it was a care bear one. I remember that. Did you have one of those?

SPEAKER_00

I don't remember what they were.

SPEAKER_03

But you did have some.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, well like not very many. Maybe only like once or twice. Like I think I think we had a lot of homemade Halloween costumes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

We when we lived in our previous house, there was a lady that went to our church and she would make up the funny costumes. One time her son was identity theft and he just had like all these names like taped to a shirt.

SPEAKER_00

Oh nice.

SPEAKER_03

Some like that, I think, is so creative.

SPEAKER_00

Clever.

SPEAKER_03

Alright, do you want to do snacks or do you want to do music? Snacks. Snacks. We have big league chew that came in the foil pouch like real chewing tobacco.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. They like the way they targeted kids. I mean, I guess maybe they still do that, but like the candy cigarettes and candy chew. Although I did always want big league chew. I didn't even play baseball.

SPEAKER_03

But it was just like the shredded, it was like shredded um bubble tape.

SPEAKER_00

Shredded bubblegum, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Next one is the jello pudding pops. I don't know if they still do those, but I uh I've always loved jello pudding and a pop. Great. Next one, it is still around, but pop rocks. That's where I always wanted to get as a kid.

SPEAKER_00

Yep. Still are. Yeah. I still like pop rocks.

SPEAKER_03

The next one is the hostess pudding pies. Do you remember? Oh yeah. They don't do those anymore. Do they not? His host hostess went bankrupt, didn't they? And maybe someone bought him out?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, like Bimbo, Bumbo.

SPEAKER_03

But then they did like fruit. I don't remember them doing pudding anymore.

SPEAKER_00

Oh.

SPEAKER_03

But I don't know. Maybe they didn't. I don't know. The next one is s the slice soda. Remember that?

SPEAKER_00

No. I don't think I oh wait, is it orange? Okay, yeah, I do. It's kind of like Sunkissed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

The next one is high C.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Cool. The next one is fruit wrinkles.

SPEAKER_00

I don't know what this is, and that sounds disgusting. I don't want to eat that. This is like green eggs and ham. I don't want to eat that here nor there nor anywhere. You keep your fruit fruit wrinkles to yourself.

SPEAKER_03

You might remember them.

SPEAKER_00

We'll just be easier for me to look them up on my phone. I'm a little worried to search for fruit wrinkles.

SPEAKER_03

Put fruit wrinkles, fruit snacks.

SPEAKER_00

Like little nibs. Why are they called wrinkles?

SPEAKER_03

Because they look like wrinkled fruit.

SPEAKER_00

No, they don't. They look like little nibs.

unknown

I don't know.

SPEAKER_03

But they're called like the licorice nibs. It says fruit wrinkles, chewy fruit snacks. Strawberry.

SPEAKER_00

Well, yeah, no, I see them. And they're all like in the shapes of fruit, also, it looks like. Fruit wrinkles is a terrible name. And that's why they went out of ism.

SPEAKER_03

They were good though.

SPEAKER_00

Their little ad even says, think twice. Get fruit wrinkles. No. If I think about this at all, I'm not getting it.

SPEAKER_03

Alright, the next one is squeeze it. Remember those?

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. They're still around, right? I'm pretty sure.

SPEAKER_03

I know we used to get them for our kids when they were young, but Yeah, I think they're still around.

SPEAKER_00

The next one is because they only cost like 10 cents to make because it's cheap plastic and water with yeah. Blue dye, and like not even the current blue dye. It's like blue dye from the 90s or 80s still.

SPEAKER_03

Toxic blue dye?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, the more cancerous stuff.

SPEAKER_03

The next one is Dr. Pepper Gum.

SPEAKER_00

I have zero memory of this.

SPEAKER_03

They had like I want to say seven up too.

SPEAKER_00

So did it just taste like it as all, or did it like kind of like pop rocks like in your mouth?

SPEAKER_03

It's like the hapa bubba.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, I'm looking at it now. Oh, that looks disgusting. This is worse than fruit wrinkles. Look at that. That's disgusting. This looks like you found it in in the gutter, like pulled it out of the drain.

unknown

I'm not putting that in my mouth.

SPEAKER_00

Give me a fruit wrinkle. Gotta get this Dr. Pepper gum taste out of my mouth.

SPEAKER_03

The next one is cherry sours.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I remember these. Yeah. Kind of like lemon heads, but cherry flavored basically. Yeah. I don't think I like them.

SPEAKER_03

I don't think I did either. The next one is chiclets.

SPEAKER_00

This is gum, right? Yeah. Like little white square gum or something. Is this uh yeah? Oh yeah, they come in a bunch of colors. Okay. Yeah, I do remember these.

SPEAKER_03

The next one is bottle caps.

SPEAKER_00

Yep, I ate those two.

SPEAKER_03

They were terrible. Remember, you get those a lot trick-or-treating.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. In the 80s there was lots of not great candy.

SPEAKER_03

Next one is the bubble jug.

SPEAKER_00

Bubble jug?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. It's just like a tiny little jug. Had probably the same shredded that was in the the big leaf.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, this looks like it comes in like a legit like bubble, like the big thing you buy of like bubbles.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. But it's just tiny. Yeah. And it's you could just like take the lid off and pour some in your mouth.

SPEAKER_00

This is all the when they were making the bubble tape. This was all the stuff that got cut and scraped off and fell on the floor of the factory. They just put it into these jugs and then sold it.

SPEAKER_03

Do you remember the bubblegum cigars? They would when like someone had a girl or a boy baby, they would bring them like the blue were the pink bubblegum cigars.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like I said, all the targeting towards children for oh yeah, okay, yeah. No, I do remember these. But I remember them being disgusting.

SPEAKER_03

Oh yeah, they were just cool because they were like ah pink and blue.

SPEAKER_00

But then yeah, they were just yeah, disgusting, terrible candy.

SPEAKER_03

You want to look this the next one up? It's garbage can dash dy. Garbage candy. These candies were shaped like things you'd find in the garbage can, like fish bones, old shoes, dog bones, soda bottles, and apple course. And apple course.

SPEAKER_00

That's that's fun. Yeah. I'll have some candy from the garbage, please, and make it look like the garbage. I mean, I guess that's like a fun little idea.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. It came in a little garbage can.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Little garbage can. Garbage-shaped candy that you can eat.

SPEAKER_03

Just little hard candies.

SPEAKER_00

Yep.

SPEAKER_03

The next one is the Ghostbusters Slimer Gum that came in like a toothpaste tube.

SPEAKER_00

Ugh. Well, candy in the 80s was disgusting. Disgusting looking, disgusting tasting. Ugh. So glad that I was only a small child in the 80s and didn't know any better.

SPEAKER_03

I know they still have Nest Quick now, but there was a lot of commercials with that cartoon rabbit that's on it.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, vaguely. He's kind of like the Trix rabbit, but a little bit different. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Alright, that is it. So for snacks. Snacks.

SPEAKER_00

And those are that was all gross. Almost all of that was disgusting.

SPEAKER_03

We got all the garbage candy. Kids nowadays, kids, good stuff.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, they do. There's so much.

SPEAKER_03

I have sit ubu sit. Good dog. That was on full house. That's from the 80s. I remember on full house. But yeah, it was from the 80s. VHS tapes had a slightly blurry picture.

SPEAKER_00

I remember VHS. I had no idea what tracking was, and I still don't. I just know you had to push the buttons to get it to like line up and not the lines. Like the yeah, the lines going through. And like it was just guessing. Like you push the one side, like tracking would go like left or right or up or down or whatever. You'd push one, and if it got worse, then you just push the other one until and it would get better.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

The next one is the Snoopy Snow Cone Maker.

SPEAKER_00

I never had this. I've I've heard of it, and obviously I know what a snow cone maker is, but I don't know if I ever saw a Snoopy one.

SPEAKER_03

They did have it in a house, like Snoopy's dog house, and then it just you put the ice in and and it just came straight out of this little thing, like boop.

SPEAKER_01

Like that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Well, mine was different, but yeah, like that. The next one is cars had ashtrays in the doors and cigarette lighters that glowed orange and popped out when they were ready.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Just cigarette ashtrays like down like in the middle console and then on the doors. The little armrest are you pop it. Yep.

SPEAKER_03

Yep, and the metal seatbelt buckles that got so hot in the sun they would burn you. The green plastic baskets, strawberries used to come in.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. Now they're just in the clear plastic landfill stuff. Yeah, that's too bad.

SPEAKER_03

The garbage pail tri kids trading cards.

SPEAKER_00

Never had them.

SPEAKER_03

Me neither, but we see them at a store.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah, like yeah, hobby and stuff stores. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Alright, next one. The next one is Baskin Robins. So used the 31 flavor.

SPEAKER_00

I don't think I remember that. From Baskin Robins? Yeah. Okay. That's fun.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I don't know if you gotta choose the team or what, but yeah. I remember them being there. I don't know if I ever got one, but I remember them being there. And then the McDonald's Happy Mill toys. Oh yeah. I mean they still have those, but it they didn't.

SPEAKER_00

Totally different. Yeah, it doesn't hit like it did in the 80s and 90s.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I remember the this would have been the 90s, I guess. Maybe. When was Little Mermaid?

SPEAKER_03

I think it was the early 90s.

SPEAKER_00

Was it? Yeah. Because I remember getting all those toys and like playing in the bathtub with them, right? Because that's what Little Mermaid was all about.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And you had to go every week to get the new one, the new toy. Yeah. The cool toys were the McDonald's toys. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

McDonald's had that figured out.

SPEAKER_03

And our neighbor gives away some of those for Halloween, some old ones. Yeah. It's kind of fun. Alright. The clapper. Let's let you turn on and off your lamp by clapping your hands.

SPEAKER_00

So cool.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. The Tootsie Roll Pop Owl, patiently counting licks before he bit through the whole sucker.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that commercial. How many licks?

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_00

Um one, two, right? Yep. You even threw in the little psales. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

The hot metal sides.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Just like the seatbelts.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, the the big toys made of wood.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. Ours was made of wood at school.

SPEAKER_03

And then we had like the the metal spiderweb chain that you climb up.

SPEAKER_00

Yep. We played on hot metal and splintery wood as children.

SPEAKER_03

Someone was playing tag and I got pushed. Like there's a space in between where you walk and where you get into the chain thing. And I got pushed down and I got my armpits scraped from that wood as I fell. That's why they don't have stuff like that anymore. Easily to fall down those things.

SPEAKER_00

It was like the probably the last generation that was like physically tough as kids. Like we played on hot metal, splintery wood, and our candy was cigar and tobacco chew. Jeez. And garbage candy.

SPEAKER_03

Garbage candy. The next one is smoking indoors was allowed.

SPEAKER_00

Because you're smoking in your car with your children who probably weren't even buckled in. Just standing in the front seat.

SPEAKER_03

You never buckled your seatbelt as a child. It's still obviously hard for me to do it as an adult.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's true, huh? You still haven't grown out of that. I do remember driving from like California to Idaho, like sleeping, not only not buckled, but we have this like big van. And it had like a step going down, like to get out. So you had the floor, and then it had a step. And then it had a double door, like but not like a sliding door, right? Like a double door, like French doors, I guess, for a house. Like a French doors. And I remember sleeping in the step. Like so I have the door, the double doors that go to the outside, and I'm in this like groove, like the where the step is, right? It's only I don't know, eight inches, ten inches wide. And I'm like sleeping in there with a pillow and a blanket.

SPEAKER_03

And like you're lucky that lock was secure.

SPEAKER_00

I don't even know if it was. It was the door just shut. I don't even think it was locked. It was just shut.

SPEAKER_03

Jeez. You could have died.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Made it though. Yeah, you did. Here I am.

SPEAKER_03

Next one I have is Atari.

SPEAKER_00

We never had an Atari. Never even had a Nintendo.

SPEAKER_03

We didn't either. My uncle had an Atari. That's my memory of Atari. And his Stu? Yeah, and his kids are younger than me. So I'm assuming it was his.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, right. Oh, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_03

Next I have swatches.

SPEAKER_00

I don't what is a swatch?

SPEAKER_03

They're just different watches that you could like pull out the little face of the watch and put in, put onto a different color band or watch so it can match your outfit. Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_00

That's fun.

SPEAKER_03

Next one is Fanny Packs.

SPEAKER_00

Still around today.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. The typewriter. I had to use this.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I remember using a typewriter, not only like a typewriter to type, like, but then putting whiteout for the mistakes, right? Like, dang, you gotta like white it out, and then you gotta like do the thing to like pull it back and like and like put it in all of its.

SPEAKER_03

And you have to make sure it's in the right spot again.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and you start typing and you're in the wrong spot. And then you gotta like white out your whiteout and your other. This is terrible.

SPEAKER_03

Doing your book reports with encyclopedias.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. Yeah. The Britannica. Yep.

SPEAKER_03

Waterbeds.

SPEAKER_00

My parents had a waterbed. Yeah. I think everyone's parents did. Like that was the thing. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_03

It's terrible to try to get out of.

SPEAKER_00

Well, yeah, I think it was awful for your back.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Sleeping on water. Like that's not supportive.

SPEAKER_03

Can you imagine like every time I move at night? Like you waking up moving everything.

SPEAKER_00

Like, go downstairs.

SPEAKER_03

Go to another waterbed.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And I I think maybe I told you this. Like our our parent my parents' heater broke in the waterbed one time. And like, so the water was like legit like 70 degrees or something, like very cold. So like put down blankets and stuff on top of the waterbed. So you slept on top of blankets on top of cold water. This is terrible. This is awful. And I think it got a hole in it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And now like it's leaking water all over. Like this is just such an awful idea. Which I'm sure is why they're not around anymore.

SPEAKER_03

Probably. Mood rings were a big thing.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I still like mood rings.

SPEAKER_03

Do you?

SPEAKER_00

I do.

SPEAKER_03

That's funny.

SPEAKER_00

Just the idea behind it. Like it knows what moods you're in based off of. I don't even know what.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Your temperature?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Is that how it works? Like based off of the finger. Temperature of your finger?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's funny. The rabbit ear antennas.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, for TV.

SPEAKER_03

The drive in movie speakers.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah, hanging on like the car. Windows and they were horrible.

SPEAKER_03

Like the sound was always awful.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I wonder when did they shift from that to doing like over the radio? Because that's really all I remember. Like I didn't remember those speakers until you said that. I always just remember you turn your car to whatever station for whatever screen you're watching.

SPEAKER_03

I don't remember when they changed it. The Domino's Noid.

SPEAKER_00

Was it like the weird guy that was like their Yeah, kind of like a rabbity thing? Yeah. I've I vaguely remember that. Wasn't he kind of freaky looking and a little bit evil?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he was like red. It was like in a red rabbit suit kind of. Did we just pull it up?

SPEAKER_00

So Trix did the rabbit and then Nesquick and then Dominoes, and everyone was trying to get in on that. Yeah, I I vaguely remember him and remember being like, he is weird.

SPEAKER_03

Avoid the noid. Alright. Next we have the snow on the TV.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. Yeah. The snow on the TV and like scrambled channels, all that stuff. I remember what like we talked about this in like the 90s episode. Like I remember Disney used to like unscramble the channel for like a week or two every year. Yeah. And I remember watching the Disney Channel scramble. There's no no sound. The pictures all scrambled, but still the lines scrolling up through. Yep. Still watching it.

SPEAKER_03

Yep. Those famous red cups at Pizza Hut.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah, they're like kind of see-through. Yeah. We should get some of those.

SPEAKER_03

Do you remember did you guys do book it?

unknown

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03

You need to read so much, and then you got like a free personal pizza at Pizza Hut.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03

You had like a pen, I think. And you had like stars you got put on it, and then once your stars were filled up, then you got a little coupon for free personal pizza or something like that. I don't know. Guess California wasn't a business pizza hut. Get kids to read.

SPEAKER_00

None of that business.

SPEAKER_03

Next one is when you go to people's houses and they have like a bowl of nuts with the nutcracker in the middle, just like snack. It's out.

SPEAKER_00

Right? Like all these nuts that you have to crush up by myself. Yeah, I'm like, thanks. I guess. I'll be over here doing a bunch of work while I'm visiting your house.

SPEAKER_03

The next one is the Reader's Digest magazine. Yeah, I loved that.

SPEAKER_00

The because it always had like Laughter's the Best Medicine quote. Like there was like a couple things. Laughter's best medicine. There was like an army one. It was like a military, that was kind of the same type of thing. But it was like military stories, and then something else. Yeah. That's all that I ever read as a kid from Eater's Digest.

SPEAKER_03

Only that. The rotary phones. My grandparents had one. I don't remember having one as a kid, but maybe we had one for a while, I remember it.

SPEAKER_00

Had a big huge long cord. Like probably 20 feet long.

SPEAKER_03

When sodas were connected by plastic rings, get like a six pack. You just hold it up so it's a big thing.

SPEAKER_00

The ones that like killed all the turtles that you had to cut? Okay, yeah, I remember those.

SPEAKER_03

They didn't they didn't kill turtles here.

SPEAKER_00

Back when soda came in six packs. Now they just come in like twelve. You drink a lot more soda nowadays.

SPEAKER_03

Maybe you can't get a six pack of like the mini ones with the rings on them still. Maybe.

SPEAKER_00

Because we only want to kill small turtles.

SPEAKER_03

The next one is crash test dummies. Yeah. Those commercials. Yep.

SPEAKER_00

Yep. To try and get you to wear your seatbelt. Stop sleeping on the floor of the car.

SPEAKER_03

The pink hair curlers. Did your sisters have those?

SPEAKER_00

I don't know, maybe.

SPEAKER_03

Wash your hair and it's all wet, and then my mom would put the hair in curlers, and then you have to sleep on it, which was horrible. Terrible is sleeping. And then you take it out in the morning when it's dry, and then your hair is curly.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. It was awful. Yeah, it sounds awful.

SPEAKER_03

I I don't know if your sisters used to have like sticker earrings.

SPEAKER_00

Like instead of having earrings, you just put a sticker on your earlobe?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so it's like a design, like they'll be like matching ones, like two diamonds, two pink diamonds, two purple diamonds. I mean, I don't remember those at all. Did you guys ever have this picture, the orange pitcher that's like the Oh yeah, and that you had to push down the button on top to like let the pressure so you could like pull it off?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

What was that? Tupperware, probably. Made it.

SPEAKER_00

I have no idea who made it. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03

And these beach chairs with like Yeah, the strands are with like plastics. Yeah, and your foot always went through them. Yeah, but always felt like that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, they were always getting, yeah. We we took them to the ocean one time, and I remember like my dad was being my dad. Yeah, and he was like out in there, like sitting as the tide was coming in. Yeah, like sitting in the sand there, and like they'd come and like he'd let it like like run him over and everything. And then like it finally, you know, would knock him over or do whatever, and the chair got sucked out in the ocean. It was like you could see it in the waves, like like coming crashing back in and stuff, but we couldn't get the chair, like the ocean the ocean would suck it back out and like up in the waves, and like now we're worried that like this chairs like smashing down, so people are playing in the waves. There's like this metal chair.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know how we could sit in the waves like that because I feel like it collapses, like the slightest move.

SPEAKER_00

Right, and I'm sure that's why like I don't remember how long he was in the in there for, but yeah, that's what he was doing for fun.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

He was probably actually younger than I am right now.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_00

I'm guessing. If it would have been in the eighties, yeah, he probably was younger than I am right now.

SPEAKER_03

So maybe he's just being silly like you.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yeah. So next we have up is toys. First toy is cabbage patch kids.

SPEAKER_00

Never actually had one. I think my sisters did though.

SPEAKER_03

I had them. They always smelled so good. Like a baby. Yeah, this one's the Fisher Price playset. Do you remember this?

SPEAKER_00

The barn?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, like there's the barn, and then there's like the little parking garage thing, and you there's an elevator to go up.

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Those were great. And then had these weird little people in their weird little cars.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, don't they still have something like that now, though? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

They're they're completely different though.

SPEAKER_00

Right. They look more like people and they're more accurate now.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Manufacturing's come a long way.

SPEAKER_03

Couche balls, they still have those.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, still got those.

SPEAKER_03

Pac-Man was big back then.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I don't know if I ever really played Pac-Man. I mean, like I've played it, but not in any sort of earnest.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I liked Pac-Man.

SPEAKER_00

Even as a kid. As a kid, I played like going back to like probably not Pizza Hut, like round table pizza. We had a round table pizza and they had like video games. They had arcade inside the pizza place. And there was the one like you could be the truck or like cars on like a on tracks, and there was like four steering wheels. Do you remember that? And like you're like everyone could drive and you're just driving around this track together. That was my favorite as a kid. That was fun.

SPEAKER_03

I think Pizza Hut used to have video games and too.

SPEAKER_00

I think that was a pretty normal thing.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Little restaurant, and you have a little section for kids to play video games. Not kids. Like I'm adults were in there too.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. Polypockets.

SPEAKER_00

Again, never had them myself.

unknown

I loved polypockets.

SPEAKER_03

Those were the best. Those Fisher Price skates that you strapped onto your shoes. Learn how to skate.

SPEAKER_00

They didn't actually really roll.

SPEAKER_03

No, they were terrible.

SPEAKER_00

At all.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

There was like no bearings. It was just plastic on plastic, trying to roll with all your weight on it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Oh, we have glow worms.

SPEAKER_00

I don't know what that is.

SPEAKER_03

It's like a little doll. It was like a caterpillar, but its face w would glow. I'll show you how that.

SPEAKER_00

And this was fun?

SPEAKER_03

Oh. Well, you didn't play with it. It was like more like a thing you went to sleep with.

SPEAKER_00

Oh.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I don't know. I guess you could play with it. But it's just like this little worm thing.

SPEAKER_00

It's kind of scary.

SPEAKER_03

Its face would light up. You'd snuggle it when you were scared at night.

SPEAKER_00

I'd be scared of the glow worm. There's a giant worm that glows in my room at night while I'm all by myself.

SPEAKER_03

The pound puppies.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. I don't know if I remember much about them, but like I now that you say it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Teddy Ruxpin?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

He was creepy. For sure.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Like one of the first talking stuffed animals.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, his his torso was m basically hard plastic covered with a shirt. Next one is micro machines.

SPEAKER_00

Oh. Love these.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you did.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. David and I used to have the military micro machines. Yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_03

I think my brother even had some. He's a bit younger than us. But I remember him having one of them at least.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, they were way fun. I would I would break leaves and do things to like earn money to go buy those. And I think they were like they were like $1.25 for a pack of them.

SPEAKER_03

And they're crazy expensive to get now. Yeah. Alright, just a couple more. We have strawberry shortcake dolls. Never had one. They smelled like whatever flavor that person's name was. What? It's like strawberry shortcake, so she smelled strawberry-ish. Okay. There's like lemon meringue.

SPEAKER_00

That was her name?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And she smelled like a lemon or like lemon meringue pie?

SPEAKER_03

I'm sure she smelled like lemon meringue pie, but lemon cleaner. As much as you could possibly get a dog smell like that.

SPEAKER_00

Right, that's why I say lemon cleaner. That's seems like that's the only smell you can get lemon.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Stretch Armstrong.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Again, I don't think I ever had one.

SPEAKER_03

My brother had one. You could stretch pretty far. It was cool. The California Raisins.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I remember them.

SPEAKER_03

We had some of those figures.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I don't think we ever did. I remember them and I remember the commercials. And it was they were just mascots for raisins, right? To try and get you to be raisins.

SPEAKER_03

Well there there was a yeah, and there was a cartoon of them.

SPEAKER_00

What was the cartoon about?

SPEAKER_03

The California raisins.

SPEAKER_00

What did they do?

SPEAKER_03

Well, I don't know. Played instruments, and I don't really remember. I don't have a deep memory of it. I just remember seeing it.

SPEAKER_00

No, that's fine.

SPEAKER_03

And the last one I have is Gumby and Pokey.

SPEAKER_00

Is Pokey like his horse? Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

What what was Gumby? Like what and what was the show about? Like Alf and the California Raisins and Gumby. Like what is all this madness? And eating garbage candy. What was the 80s actually? Now that we've done this episode, this sounds like a terrible decade. This sounds awful.

SPEAKER_03

This is why we played outside all the time. Had our own imaginations.

SPEAKER_00

Then had to sleep with a glowing worm while we smoked our cigarette candy to help put us to bed.

SPEAKER_03

Alright, I won't do the TV shows and music and movies because we're already oh, I do have to mention.

SPEAKER_00

Didn't we do the TV shows?

SPEAKER_03

I just did a couple. I did forget to mention my brother-in-law told me that I forgot to do Jaboz jeans.

SPEAKER_00

Jabot's Jabo's Ginko?

SPEAKER_03

No, I'm pretty sure it was Jaboz.

SPEAKER_00

Jabot's? I don't know. Jaboz. They were in the 90s?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, they were the expensive jeans. We never had them. But uh they were always like everyone wanted those, but we never got them because they were expensive. So there you go. Jaboz jeans. For those who had them. It was not me.

SPEAKER_00

Are you gonna say his name? You give him a shout-out?

SPEAKER_03

Alright, there's your Jaboz jeans, Johnny.

SPEAKER_00

There you go.

SPEAKER_03

And hello, Daphne. I know you're listening with your dad. Alright, do you have anything else?

SPEAKER_00

From the 80s?

SPEAKER_03

I know this was a harder one for you because you were young. But uh I was young too. But I have more of a memory of things about the eighties than you, I think.

SPEAKER_00

Why?

SPEAKER_03

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

I'm trying to think of like the eighties. Where's the beef? Is that like a Wendy's commercial? It's like an old A.

SPEAKER_03

I think it was just beef. I don't think it was Wendy's, was it?

SPEAKER_00

I don't know. I I thought it was Wendy's because they were like saying the the other burger places don't put enough hamburger or enough meat in their burgers or something. Yeah, right. She was like, oh, she's like, where's the beef? Is that from the 80s too?

SPEAKER_03

Catchphrase in the United States and Canada introduced as a slogan for fast food chain Wendy's in 1984.

SPEAKER_00

Dang.

SPEAKER_03

The 80s endure because they remind us that style can be joyful and that sometimes the best thing a decade can do is refuse to be forgotten. Remember, even a small act of kindness can be someone's beacon in their darkest moment. Choose kindness every day. Reach out to someone today. You have the power to change a life. Be the signal of hope this world needs.