37 Comments
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Mark Grundmann's avatar

Jiffy Pop on the Stove

Green Army Men torture

Oui magazine

most prized possession - First Walkman

How to find songs on an 8 track

Bo Derek - "10"

School Cheese

Banana Seats and Kick-back gears

Cards in the spokes

You know what a clothespin is and how to use it

TAB cola

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Steven Rider's avatar

Hey! Sabrina was the hottest of Charlie’s Angels. If that makes me weird I don’t want to be normal

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Paul von Zielbauer's avatar

That's about as good an answer as I can think of. You do you, Steven, always!

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Ann Williams's avatar

You can only recite the preamble to the Constitution, or the 3 times tables, by singing them a la Schoolhouse Rock.

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Paul von Zielbauer's avatar

Ann, good call on Schoolhouse Rock. It's hard to say your Gen X if you don't know the opening line of “I’m just a bill.”

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Goldfish's avatar

Got to stay up and watch Johnny Carson when we were on vacation

Also a treat to stay up and watch Sonny and Cher

Everyone watched "Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday night

The fact that everyone was watching the same TV show and discussed it the next day at school or work

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Grace's avatar

Mad magazine, Thrifty ice cream for $0.05 a scoop,BMG and Columbia house CD subscriptions, watching American Bandstand, knowing every word to Rappers Delight, Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley, Dirty Dancing and Top Gun in the movie theaters at least 10x, the arcade at the mall playing asteroids and pac man then getting an orange Julius, BIG HAIR, aqua net extra super hold hairspray, and SO MANY MORE THINGS THAT MADE OUR GENERATION THE BEST!!

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original poster's avatar

"Some small part of you still feels a little bad walking down the sidewalk staring at your phone." Oh yeah!

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Paul von Zielbauer's avatar

I knew it wasn't just me…

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Clint pedersen's avatar

You tried milk and Pepsi and thought “not bad”

You thought Amos Moses was a caveman

You had Wildfire on a 45 and it had nothing to do with acres burned or percent contained.

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Paul von Zielbauer's avatar

Clint, I'm going to admit something to you but don't tell anyone else: when I was 11, I bought the 45 of "How deep is your love?"

Wish I still had it.

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Pete Robinson's avatar

Like the My Sharona one. My brother had that album, and there was that rumor they were actually the Beatles.

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Renee Feltes's avatar

4 wheel Roller skates that clamped onto your shoes

Peter Wheat bread

Bubble gum wrappers with a cartoon printed on the inside

Bench seats in a car so you could snuggle up to your boyfriend

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Kristine Sunday's avatar

Your dad told you to get up and turn the TV channel

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Paul von Zielbauer's avatar

...and get him a beer (from my memory)

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Suzy's avatar

Instantly puts down the phone , flips through to the knack album and drops the needle . All I need now is a pair of Dolphin shorts, a sex wax tee and a pair of Vans. Thanks for the Saturday morning living room dance . It’s nice to be silly sometimes

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Paul von Zielbauer's avatar

Love it, Suzy. You got the beat!

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Mary Davin's avatar

All of this applies to late Boomers as well!!! Born in 1963 and I remember first gear “My Sharona” sophomore year in high school. My best friend in High school was the niece of Jack Lord (Steve McGarret of Hawaii Five-O). There was a bar we used to sneak in to and the band would always play the Five-0 theme song when they saw her. 🌊🌺🌊

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Paul von Zielbauer's avatar

Mary, what a worthy tribute to adolescence: Having the house band launch into the Five-0 theme as you illegally enter a bar, because your uncle is Jack Lord. Thanks for sharing.

(Also, I should have included a bullet point, "You know who Jack Lord and Karl Malden are.")

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Em S. A'cor's avatar

When TV shows had theme songs. “Love Boat” and “Greatest American Hero” FTW.

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Paul von Zielbauer's avatar

Good call, em. Hawai'i Five-0 is hard to beat, imo. https://youtu.be/ASvQ-bNURn4?si=8rpoH6yJObiBq1v4

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Em S. A'cor's avatar

You sound like an elder Gen X like me.

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Paul von Zielbauer's avatar

I figured my HF0 reference would likely date me. But honestly, I don't remember ever watching it. I was a little too young. I do remember seeing that wave barrel, however, and thinking it looked demonic.

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Em S. A'cor's avatar

Ah, yes. The Twilight Zone was like that for me. A little before my time, so I was too young to appreciate it. Too creepy for me. Maybe even still. Haha!

I was watching the 50th anniversary SNL show a few weeks ago, and I thought Gen X is the perfect age to enjoy the whole span of it. We were kids for the classic, original stuff, in our 20s and 30s for all of the iconic bits, and old enough now to shake our heads at the current iteration. Ha! My age is showing.

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Darren Howatt's avatar

You remember lawn darts as good game for the whole family.

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🌱Nard🙏's avatar

Lip Smackers lip gloss

Drinking hose water

Knowing where you friends were because their bikes were in the front yard

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Paul von Zielbauer's avatar

Yes! Life before bottled water. I may have to include that, because it's so easy to forget there was Life before Evian & Poland Spring.

What happened to all the bikes in the yard?

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🌱Nard🙏's avatar

Traded in for online video games…and Snapchat :(

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Tim S.'s avatar

A lot of this stuff is Boomer stuff, like Cannon and Barnaby Jones.

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Paul von Zielbauer's avatar

Well I'm early Gen X, so I guess it's early Gen X for me, maybe late boomer for you. In any case, it's all good.

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