What Life Was Really Like in the 1980s

Our ongoing series of photo collections exploring the everyday (and sometimes mundane) moments of daily life has taken us back to the colorful, “tied up with a bow” picture-perfect scenes of the 1950s and 1960s, before drifting into the more laid-back, slightly scruffy world of the 1970s. Now it’s time to turn the dial up to 11 and venture into the bold, bright, and totally — as the kids today might say — extra 1980s.

Life in the ’80s: Malls, Arcades, and the Soundtrack of Freedom

Driveways were still filled with boxy sedans and station wagons, not unlike the ’70s, but now they came with more gadgets, buttons, and futuristic “automatic everything.” Teens practically lived at the mall and spent free time under the tropical plants in the center court with an Orange Julius in hand.

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The unmistakable bleeps and bloops of Pac-Man drifted from arcades, and even from our living rooms. And for the first time, the Sony Walkman broke us free from the family stereo, letting us carry our favorite songs everywhere and giving everyday life a personal soundtrack, no matter where we went. And let’s not forget the Cabbage Patch Doll riots.

Family life remained much the same, though with more moms returning to the workplace, schedules got more complicated, and latchkey kids grew very familiar with frozen dinners.