1980's Archives - Page 3 of 10 - Retro Reminiscing Video and Pictures

Did You Get Your Dodge Boys Shorts?

Phil Rizzuto pitched plenty of products in his day, but this Yankees/Dodge Boys spot is one of those commercials that could only come from its time.

Here’s “The Scooter,” a Yankees legend, selling a pair of gym shorts with the Yankees logo on one side and The Dodge Boys logo on the other. It is part baseball, part car-dealer promotion, and part early-’80s fashion statement.

But the real time capsule may be the ticket information. The ad tells fans they could get Yankees tickets at Yankee Stadium Gate 4, the Grand Central Station Ticketron booth, Ticketron computer outlets, Chargit phone reservations, AAA North Jersey Auto Club offices, or by mail to Yankee Stadium.

How many of those can you still use today? Basically one, and even that one has changed. You can still buy Yankees tickets at the current Yankee Stadium box office if tickets are available, but the old Gate 4 setup, Ticketron booths, Chargit phone ordering, AAA ticket outlets, and mailing a check feel like another world now.

Today it is mostly apps, websites, barcodes, and mobile tickets. Back then, you might have gone to Grand Central, called a number, walked into an AAA office, or mailed away for seats. Holy cow, what a different way to go to a ballgame.

Before Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, there was Luke and Laura.

Luke and Laura’s wedding on General Hospital was not just a soap opera wedding. It was a television event. In 1981, about 30 million people watched a fictional couple get married in the middle of the afternoon, and for that moment, daytime TV felt bigger than prime time.

Today, Taylor and Travis are having the modern version of that same pop culture moment. Instead of everyone gathering around the TV at the same time, people are following it through news alerts, fan videos, social media posts, street closures, and crowds outside Madison Square Garden.

Luke and Laura were the wedding America watched.

Taylor and Travis are the wedding America is following.

Different era. Different screen. Same kind of fascination.

Cocoon: The Movie You May Need a DVD to See

I’m posting the trailer for Cocoon, and it is strange to say this about such a well-known 1980s movie, but today the trailer may be easier to find than the movie itself.

Released in 1985 and directed by Ron Howard, Cocoon was one of those movies that felt different. It was science fiction, but not the laser-blasting kind. It was warm, funny, and surprisingly emotional — a story about growing older, feeling young again, and wondering what you would do if life suddenly offered you more time.

The cast was loaded with familiar faces: Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Jack Gilford, Gwen Verdon, Maureen Stapleton, Brian Dennehy, and Steve Guttenberg. The story followed a group of seniors who discover that swimming in a certain pool gives them new energy, thanks to alien cocoons hidden beneath the water.

For a movie about aging, it had a magical feeling. It made older characters the center of the story, not the background, and that helped make it stand out.

What makes it even stranger now is how hard Cocoon has become to watch. It was released on DVD, but it is not currently streaming in the U.S. and is not sitting there waiting on the usual rental or purchase services like so many other ’80s movies. For most people, that old physical DVD is still the only practical way to see it legally.

Why? No one seems to have given a clear official answer. The likely reasons are the usual modern mess: old rights agreements, possible music clearance issues, studio ownership changes, and maybe simple corporate neglect. It was a 20th Century Fox movie, and after the Fox library ended up under Disney, this Oscar-winning hit somehow became one of those films that just fell through the cracks.

That makes Cocoon a perfect reminder of why physical media still matters. If you have the DVD, you can watch it. If you do not, you may be stuck waiting and wondering why a hit movie with this cast has almost disappeared from everyday viewing.

Do you remember watching Cocoon?

As The World Turns

As The World Turns. This post will never go viral, but if someone remembers their mom or grandma watching this, it is well worth the effort for the post!

As the World Turns was a long-running CBS daytime soap opera that aired from 1956 to 2010, centered mainly around the lives, loves, scandals, and struggles of families in the fictional town of Oakdale, Illinois. At its heart was the Hughes family, with stories built around romance, marriage, betrayal, illness, family conflict, and the everyday drama that made soap operas part of the afternoon routine for generations. It was slower and more character-driven than some later soaps, which helped make it feel like viewers were checking in on people they knew every day.

When a Wine Ad Sounded Like Theater

The commercial was simple, but that was the power of it. Welles sat there with that unmistakable voice, making wine sound important, serious, and almost theatrical. He did not have to do much. He just had to speak, and suddenly a bottle of wine felt like it belonged on a stage.

The line worked because it sounded classy and a little over-the-top at the same time. It made patience sound elegant. It made the product feel refined. And, like so many great old commercials, it gave people something they could repeat for years.

Of course, the ad became even more famous later because of the outtakes, where Welles had trouble getting through the lines. That only added to the legend. The serious commercial became funny in a whole new way.

Looking back, it is a perfect piece of old TV advertising: dramatic, memorable, quotable, and just a little ridiculous.

The FedEx Fast-Talking Man

Before every company tried to make commercials feel like mini-movies, FedEx gave us one that felt like a full workday packed into 30 seconds.

The famous Federal Express fast-talking commercial starred John Moschitta Jr., who became known as one of the fastest talkers people had ever heard. In the ad, he plays a high-pressure office worker rattling off orders, calls, deadlines, and instructions at machine-gun speed.

That was the whole point. Business was moving faster, offices were busier, and everyone needed things done yesterday. FedEx used the joke perfectly: in a fast-paced world, you needed a delivery company that could keep up.

It was funny, memorable, and very 1980s — phones ringing, papers flying, everyone rushing, and one man talking faster than most of us could even listen.

“Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop”

I remember my mom calling it the “Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop,” and for years I wondered where that came from. Now I know she wasn’t just making up a funny name — that was actually part of Wham-O’s marketing.

The original Hula Hoop craze took off in 1958, but like most fads, it cooled down. Wham-O later tried to bring it back by adding a new twist: sound. They put small ball bearings inside the hollow plastic hoop so that when you spun it around your waist, it made a swishing, “shoop shoop” kind of noise. TIME described the 1967 version as the New Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop, with bright colors and ball bearings inside to give it that “whirry” sound.

That explains why the name stuck with so many parents. It wasn’t just a hula hoop anymore — it was the one that made noise. Toy collectors and nostalgia sites still point to the Shoop Shoop version as Wham-O’s attempt to freshen up the craze, and later versions from the 1970s kept the name alive.

It’s funny how those advertising names became part of everyday family language. A kid might have just called it a hula hoop, but Mom remembered the commercial name: Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop. And once you hear that, you can almost hear the sound of it spinning again.

Lee Press-On Nails for Teens

Lee Press-On Nails became a huge 1980s beauty fad because they made grown-up glamour feel easy and affordable. For teens watching the commercials, that was the big hook: you didn’t need a salon, long natural nails, or even much patience. You just pressed them on and suddenly had a polished, stylish look.

The commercials made them look almost magical. In just minutes, girls and young women could go from plain nails to perfect nails, ready for school, a party, a date, or just feeling a little more grown up. For many teens, Lee Press-On Nails were like makeup in a box: a quick way to experiment with beauty without making a permanent change.

Of course, they didn’t always survive real life. Opening a locker, digging through a purse, typing, or doing chores could send one flying. But that was part of the memory. They were fun, flashy, temporary, and very 1980s.

Wendy’s Soviet Fashion Show: “Daywear… Eveningwear… Swimwear”

The Wendy’s Soviet Fashion Show ad was a wonderfully odd 1985 commercial from the same general era as Wendy’s famous “Where’s the Beef?” campaign.

The setup was simple: a fake Soviet fashion show where every outfit looked almost exactly the same: gray, shapeless, dull, and joyless. The announcer presents each look as if it’s glamorous high fashion: daywear, eveningwear, and the best-remembered punchline, “Swimwear.”

The joke was Cold War-era contrast. Wendy’s was saying other fast-food burgers were all the same, boring and uniform, while Wendy’s offered something better and different. It was a very 1980s ad idea: take a shot at Soviet sameness, then turn it into a hamburger comparison.

The spot was directed by Joe Sedelmaier, who was known for offbeat, deadpan commercials, including Wendy’s Where’s the Beef? work. IMDb lists the writers as Cliff Freeman and Joe Sedelmaier, with Lily Monkus among the credited performers.

It also drew some complaints at the time, though not as many as you might think. A 1985 Washington Post article reported Wendy’s received about 120 letters criticizing the Soviet-themed commercial, while the company noted that was small compared with its daily customer count.

Looking back, it’s pure 1980s advertising: Cold War humor, deadpan delivery, one unforgettable visual gag, and a punchline people still remember decades later:

“Swimwear.”

Probably no toy gave me more joy than Hot Wheels.

It was great the first day you got the track, but the fun didn’t stop there. A new car didn’t cost all that much, even for a kid, and suddenly the whole race changed. One new car meant new matchups, new winners, new arguments, and another reason to reset the track and try again.

Hot Wheels were introduced by Mattel in 1968, created to compete with Matchbox, but they had a completely different attitude. Matchbox cars looked more like regular cars you’d see on the road. Hot Wheels looked like something a kid dreamed up: wild colors, big wheels, racing stripes, spoilers, flames, and hot rod styling. The first line is remembered as the “Original 16” or “Sweet 16.”

And they were fast. That was the magic. Mattel built them with low-friction wheels and axles, wider hard-plastic tires, and a suspension design that helped them fly down those orange plastic tracks smoother than other little cars of the time. The Strong National Museum of Play notes that Mattel engineers wanted them to “zoom,” using thick plastic mag wheels, minimal-friction axles, and torsion-bar suspension.

Then came the tracks. If you got a new setup, like the one with the Super Charger, it worked with the track you already had. That was the genius of it. You didn’t have to start over. You just added on. A curve here, a loop there, a launcher, a jump, and suddenly your living room floor became Daytona, Indy, and a demolition derby all at once.

Looking back, Hot Wheels were a great value because every piece made the whole thing better. One car could change the race. One track set could change the whole afternoon. And for a kid, that little orange track and one fast car were enough to make the whole room feel like a speedway.