Today kids have cable television and video recording cell phones. I enjoy reminiscing about the 80’s. Known as the “Me” decade due to total societal indulgence. As an 80’s baby, I was not concerned with political scandals and was unaware of the evolving medical concern with AIDS. In my eyes, the 80’s held many elements of wonder and joy. Every so often, I remember the 1980’s and a broad smile comes to my face.

At the start of summer in the 1980’s, my mother would take me to the Buster Brown shoe store. Located in the Cheltenham Mall in Philadelphia, it was THE place for children‘s shoes. My legs swung as the clerk measured my feet for a new pair of Dr. Scholl’s sandals. Dr. Scholl’s are an orthopedic slide sandal, consisting of a wooden base that is held on your foot by a leather strap. The wooden base of the shoe clicked against the ground while you walked. For a child there was nothing more entertaining. I wore a pair every summer and almost broke my neck attempting any speeds quicker than a slow walk. You don’t see many children in Dr. Scholl’s anymore.

Jellybean shoes, nicknamed jellies were a wardrobe staple for any fashionable 80’s girl. The shoes were made from plastic that cut into your foot when it began to sweat. They cost about $5 and were found in shoe stores and your local supermarket bin. Jellies could go from casual to dressy in a matter of moments and had color schemes that fit every piece of clothing in your closet. Guess bought back jellie shoes for a time and charged consumers $50- $75 a pair. The current experience was not the same as digging through the bin, crossing your fingers and hoping you find a desired pair in your size.

On Saturday morning, before heading out the door to spend the day running the streets with your friends did you watch Saturday morning cartoons? Who does not remember when every cartoon on the air was made in Japan and dubbed into English? The original G.I. Joe show, Beverly Hills Teens, Pole Position- great cartoons that aired during the 80’s. Kids today have state of the art animation, but then we had the Smurfs-top that kiddies.

Along the same vein, there was Kung-Fu theater. Nothing like this exists currently on television. Kung-Fu theater ran movies from Japan, China and Korea that had badly dubbed English dialogue and the most unbelievable stunts ever committed to celluloid. They were so bad, they were great! Kung-Fu theater could entertain a house full of children for many hours. The residual effect of watching Kung-Fu theater was spending many hours in the hospital waiting room. Those impossible stunts cannot reproduce themselves.

The 80’s. Even with its big hair and bad makeup, for children during that time the decade was fun. Television and fashion from that time, no matter how simple, has still managed to leave a lingering impression on the adults of today.