Me getting a free hug (really! the sign said hug me!) from WishBear at Toonseum in Pittsburgh.
Hi, this is Rose from Yello80s.com!
My aim is to make this site an online compendium of that radical decade for Generation X‘ers to reminisce on and later generations to use as reference.
When I was a kid in school I often wondered what it was like for people who lived during the turn of the century (late 1800s-early 1900s). There was so much change and advancement and really, unless you were a little older when 1899 turned into 1900 you probably wouldn’t have noticed a whole lot different from day to day. But those of us born in the 70s whose childhoods really took off in the 1980s are old enough now to have really paid attention and witness the turn of this century. We know what Y2K was and why people thought it was the end of the world.
As I started thinking about that I realised that being in the digital and social media age now gives us an opportunity never had before- we can really leave a living history behind recorded in film (colour!), sound , 3D and virtual realities. Our very thoughts from the mundane to the prophetic are timestamped in Facebook (or Meta, or whatever it ends up as by the end of the week) and Twitter (or X, or whatever we’re calling it in 20 years). How amazing the 1900s were and 2000s are proving to be.
I hope you’ll feel free to poke around and relive on Yello80s. May it be as fun for you to visit as it is for me to build!
My first Care Bear – Love-A-Lot
Credits and Links
Online
Mr. Breakfast.com Cereal Project
Print Sources
1. Hi There Boys & Girls : America’s Local Children’s TV Programs – Tim Hollis
Excellent source by state and city, great sense of humour
2. The Great American Cereal Book : How Breakfast got its Crunch – Martin Gitlin
Comprehensive facts and history, great photos and very interesting read
3. Totally Tubular ’80s Toys – Marl Bellomo
All of the popular favourites and great author memories
Excellent history of popular and obscure artifacts from our retro youth and info on what’s still around for the curious mind
5. The World of Smurfs : A Celebration of Tiny Blue Proportions – Matt. Murray
Loaded with photos and stuff you never knew about the development of everything Smurfy
6. Back to our Future: How the 1980s explain the world we live in now – David Sirota
Well thought-out narrative of the influence of 80s politics on today’s American culture. Good read for anyone growing up in the 80s or anyone studying current events.
7. The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows – David Schwartz
8. CandyFreak: a journey through the chocolate underbelly of America – Steve Almond
A delicious, hilarious read
9. Classic Toys of the National Hall of Fame – Scott G. Eberle
10. Obsolete – Anna Jane Grossman
A rollicking look back at what’s gone and why it probably should be.
11. Anime Movie Guide – Helen McCarthy
If you’re looking to start watching anime start here.
12. Legends of Animation: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera – Jeff Lenburg
13. The Art of Hanna-Barbera – Ted Sennett