A New Sense of Direction & Growth: The Eighties.


WHAT A DECADE!!!(Continued)

By Ginger Mueller

In the early 80's you moved onto the ever popular 10 speed. Gosh that seat hurt.

Your roller skates had metal wheels.

You had rubber boots for rainy days. Your shoes actually fit inside of the boots (with a little help from your Mom and some plastic bags).

Your Holly Hobby sleeping bag was your most prized possession.

You wore a "poncho" with your faux fur "muff" and toe socks with your clogs.

You begged Santa for the electronic game...Simon.

You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color.

You kept losing your mittens so your Mom bought you the kind that were attached by a string. Your Hello Kitty pencil case was cuter than anyone else's.

You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad. You wore that Little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffled shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture.

You wanted your first kiss to be at the roller rink. You tried to make sure that no boys would grab the comb out of your back pocket and skate away at the roller rink.

Your hairstyle was described as having "wings".

Strawberry Shortcake and her friends Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.

You carried a Muppets lunch box to school.

Every now and then "Its A Hard Knock Life" will pop into your brain and you can't stop singing it all day. You thought unicorns were real. It was a big event in your household each year when the "Wizard of Oz" would come on TV. Breakout the popcorn and sleeping bags! Light as a feather, stiff as a board. You loved The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe so much you got the whole Chronicles of Narnia series for Christmas but never read the other books.

You completely wore-out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Footloose and Flashdance soundtrack albums. You tried to do lots of arts and crafts things, like yarn and popsicle stick God's Eyes or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom.

Shrinky-dinks! What was so appealing about these? I still remember how the oven smelled when they were "baking".

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape recorder up to the speaker.

You couldn't wait to get the free animal poster that came when you ordered books from the Scholastic book orders your teacher would give you. Remember? The order catalogs looked like miniature newspapers.

You learned everything you needed to know about girl Issues from JudyBlume books.

Are you here God? It's me Margaret

Care Bears.

You thought Olivia Newton John's song "Physical" was about aerobics.

Friendship pins which you wore on your tennis shoes. Shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs. You wore knickers.

You collected Smurfs.


Maumee-Wabash Portage: The Glorious Gate.

Fort Miamis: The First European Settlers
Historic Fort Wayne: The Great American Outpost
Wabash and Erie Canal:The Great Waterway.
Johnny Appleseed: The Pioneer Spirit
The American Civil War: Fort Wayne's Soldiers.
Arrival Of Locomotives:The Canal's Demise.
The Rise of Industry: Fort Wayne's Revolution.
The Management of Progress:The Prewar Years.
The War to End All Wars: Patriotism and Fervor.
The Promise of Hope: The Depression Years.
Great Strides in Industry: World War Two.
High School Proms & Cherry Sodas: The Fifties.
The Coming of Age: Fort Wayne in the Sixties.
The Rebirth of Fort Wayne History: The Seventies.
The Bicentennial of Fort Wayne: 200 Years of Prosperity.
The Year 2000: Reflections and Great Expectations.

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Last updated 01/20/2003