Submitted by Kelinda S

Tart and chalky, Smarties were a goodie bag staple. (In Canada, they were marketed as Rockets, but were exactly the same candy.) I read that there’s a growing trend of kids smoking Smarties. Kids these days are seriously weird.

Submitted by Jonathan C

I remember everyone owning a hacky sack, and only the soccer players being any good with it. Still, hacky sacks are a win for sure — just about any activity that makes you and friends get in a circle is.

Updated: Featured Comment

Impetua sez:

I grew up in Oregon and HATED this stupid game. Since it originated in Oregon in the early 70’s, by the mid to later 70’s we were all obligated to enjoy it as part of gym class. Those of us who were not that coordinated (me and almost everyone I knew) had to suffer through it every year.

And yes, the kids who did stand around and play it on the edges of the playground or campus even through high school were the weird kids that nobody talked to.

Submitted and Written by Angela P

Smell The aroma of pages fresh off the Ditto machine was a memorable feature of school life for those who attended in the ditto machine era. A pop culture reference to this is to be found in the film Fast Times At Ridgemont High. At one point a teacher hands out a dittoed exam paper and every student in the class immediately lifts it to his or her nose and inhales.

Concern about the toxicity of the ink and students’ habit of sniffing the pages contributed to the decision of some school districts to abandon ditto machines in favor of other technologies.

Submitted by Rosemary S

Based on A. A. Milne’s classic stories, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was an epic cartoon win. The show also dared to be darker than other animated programs from the late ’80s — remember that episode where Piglet was home alone during a storm? (I think there’s a peek of it in the intro.)

I love this theme song, too. Oh bother…

Submitted and Written by Brian D

It was the original playlist. There was no real way to get individual songs off of all your different cassettes, and there was no such thing as a multi-disc CD-changer, much less a “Shuffle” option on an iPod! All you could do to get your favorite songs from differentartists on to a single collection was man your stereo, blank tape inserted and at the ready, listening to your favorite radio station, and prepared to press that “RECORD” button the instant they started playing a song you liked and wanted to capture!

It wasn’t easy! You had split seconds to determine if those first few beats were indeed the song you wanted. You had to avoid DJ’s babbling through the beginning of songs and try and hit “RECORD” as soon as he finally shut up. Miss the timing? Rewind –> Stop –> Play over and over and over again to get the tape back to the proper spot and ready to try recording again. And then, what if that damn DJ started babbling before the song was finished?! Or the radio station inserted their call letters or a jingle in there somewhere?! There was no telling when the next time the station would play that song again, or if you’d even be around to hear it!

I think back and remember making mixtapes with Third Eye Blind and Sugar Ray on them. Hmm…