Friday, January 21, 2011

Things I Loved

Ask any child of the 80s what they remember and be prepared for a long list of fondly remembered toys, games, and cartoons. My own personal list is long and filled with nostalgia.

By the time I was finished, I had ten--yes, ten--Cabbage Patch Dolls. I still have eight of them, packed away in a box here in my apartment (four come out each Christmas). I sold one on eBay a few years ago (it was one of my later ones that wasn't very special) and I got rid of my "water baby" CPK eons ago because I can't imagine that she was anything but mold-infested inside.

My "Cabbies" were my favorite toys for many years--my children, really. Together with my best friend, Christina, I hauled them around in doll strollers, tucked them into special doll beds, and dressed them in any one of about a gazillion doll outfits I had. I once left Theodore in a hotel in Salt Lake City and was heartbroken until I received word that Grandma Cooper had gone to rescue him for me. I was a very happy girl the day the package containing Theodore arrived at our house.

Ariana (Christmas, age 8)

Tabitha (Christmas, age 9)

Besides my beloved Cabbies, I had some interest in Barbie, a few bajillion My Little Pony toys, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, and other assorted fads that no self-respecting child of the 80s could be without.

Like the Get In Shape, Girl! Rhythm and Ribbons:



God only knows what happened to the cassette tape, but the ribbon got some play time.

I was also into Voltron and even had the action figures.



You know, robotic lion things that come together to make a big evil-fighting robot. There's nothing absurd about it.

And cartoons...oh, the cartoons! If you ask me, the 80s were the decade for cartoons. As evidence, I present:

The Jetsons:

Who didn't dream that someday our cars would fly and fold up into tiny briefcases?

The Flintstones

Yabba-Dabba-Dooo!

Scooby Doo


Fraggle Rock, The Smurfs, The Littles, Heathcliff, Ducktails (woo-oo!) and so many others.

And let's not forget Fat Albert!



This isn't even taking the Peanuts and Garfield specials that came on from time to time.
I rest my case.

2 comments:

Maayan Schneider said...

1. I had a small but respectable collection of blue rubber Smurfs, at the time. (Hebrew name: Dardasim, an ingenious combination of the words for "young child" and "dwarf");

2. They're making a Smurfs movie this year.

3. A few years back, in Jerusalem, I met one of the guys who was on the original Smurfs drawing teams in Belgium. He had made two tiles with Smurfs that he kept in his house: One, a Smurf offering Smurfette some love, dedicated to his wife; the Second, a stone-throwing "Intifada Smurf", inspired by his years in the Holy Land. My friend, you have not seen black humor until you see a Smurf throwing stones. I loved it.

Maayan Schneider said...

P.S. My confirmation word for the previous comment was "feesses". #IsweartoGod . Just so you know what I went through to post that ;)