Growing up in the 1980's Ireland

upncmnhistori

At the risk of being ate on this thread for asking this beacuse I know some people don't like looking back on the past ...what was like to be a teenager in the 1980's? I know one girl who grew up in the 1980s and she was telling me that because of recession time they had to were the same clothes nearly everyday (she was from a family of 6) but I am not speaking just about recession just growing up in the 1980-1990 era in Ireland?

byronbay2

I can corroborate the "same clothes all week" theory - but not because people were poor. That's just the way things were done in those days. There was no school uniform so you put your clean clothes on Monday morning and, unless you got soaked or "destroyed" at some stage during the week, you wore them until you put on your "good" clothes on Sunday.
It never ceases to amaze me that my children consider it perfectly normal to change their entire set of clothes every day and put everything in the wash even though it's perfectly clean.

newmug

Have to agree with the above.

And your username reminded me of the tele of that era - Summer Bay, Home and Away. Neighbours, Dallas, Dynasty, McGuyver, The A-Team, Knightrider, Chips, The Streets of San Fransisco, Baywatch, I could go on and on!

Why cant they make tele like that anymore!?!?!?!

Peregrinus

Yup, we dressed with this in mind. You can wear the same pair of jeans every day for an awfully long time, and a sweatshirt for nearly as long.

You changed your undies, of course, and you would change your shirt more frequently than once a week (but probably not daily). And - I'm a boy - girls might perhaps have changed clothes more frequently than boys. But this "wear it for a day and then wash it" lark was completely unknown.

Clothes were (relatively) more expensive in the 1980s than today and as teenagers I think we had (relatively) much less money than today's teenagers, so between these two things most of us did not have extensive wardrobes. Plus, the more you washed stuff the sooner it wore out, so you tended not to wash it until it actually needed to be washed. And, if it didn't need to be washed yet, then you could wear it again, couldn't you?

[Cue: "We were poor, but we were happy" Monty Python sketch ]

nuac

so growing up in 80-90 is history.

Growing up in 40's and 50's - now that is history.

gobnaitolunacy

You had it made if your family went on hols to Trabolgan or Mosney.

Being in a car with adults while they were smoking wasn't frowned upon.

Dublin was a far away place where telly was made and dreams came true.

You believed statues of Our Lady moved on a daily basis.

When people were described as 'gay' they were happy.

Tabnabs

Is this the 1880s or the 1980s?

There was no school uniform

My sister wore a school uniform in the 70s at a very average suburban Dublin school.

How was it different in the 1980s?

Houses only had one car mostly, two was the exception. TV didn't have a remote control, the youngest in the room was the remote. Smoking was perfectly acceptable indoors, in the car etc. Foreign nationals living in Ireland were very unusual. Unemployment was high and we were used to "tightening our belt", but the moneyed classes still enjoyed a very high standard of living.

Foreign holidays were not the norm as they are today and weekend breaks to foreign cities were almost unheard of. Flying was massively expensive and you bought your tickets in a travel agent. But airlines gave toys or magazines to keep kids happy.

Going to England opened up a whole new world of sweets and toys that Ireland didn't have and apparently so much cheaper too. Duty free was popular with kids and adults for the same reason too.

And the music, in the main, was dreadful... :pac:

But regardless, you generally started your day with

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF-uZuce5R0

gobnaitolunacy

Tabnabs wrote: »

And the music, in the main, was dreadful... :pac:

]

And fashions, Christ what were people thinking?

Unless you were close enough to the uk and could pick up the Beeb or had the right aeriel all you got was RTE1 and 2 on the box.

Radio was mainly the gospel according to RTE, a few pirate radio stations and local stations here and there.

Tabnabs

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

And fashions, Christ what were people thinking?

True, very true, but the 70s were worse still and the 90s not really much better when you look back at the photos now!

bullpost

Street fashion was much more fun - punks,mods,skinheads,goths,suedeheads etc.. Its all so uniform these days.

Tabnabs wrote: »

True, very true, but the 70s were worse still and the 90s not really much better when you look back at the photos now!

upncmnhistori

I remember having RTE 1 and Network 2 just in those days well from the very early 90's onwards. Tough growing up in the 80's then the nightlife was like......?

ejmaztec

Consumers got ripped off and didn't realise it because there was no internet to compare prices on.

tinyk68

As I teenager in the 80's Top of the Pops on a Thursday night was the highlight of our week. We waited with baited breath to find out what was Number 1 because it mattered in those days. Then on Sunday afternoons it was three hours of MT USA with Vincent Hanley. We got to see all the cool American bands like ZZ TOP and VAN HALEN. I wanted to be Pat Benatar and all the boys wanted to be with her! There were no music channels in those days. Hard to bleieve now..

Judgement Day

newmug wrote: »

Have to agree with the above.

And your username reminded me of the tele of that era - Summer Bay, Home and Away. Neighbours, Dallas, Dynasty, McGuyver, The A-Team, Knightrider, Chips, The Streets of San Fransisco, Baywatch, I could go on and on!

Why cant they make tele like that anymore!?!?!?!

Oh God - the 1980's - the decade that taste forgot! The Streets of San Francisco is the only vaguely watchable thing in that pile of bilge. Anyway, they still churn out plenty of rubbish such as Home & Away, Dallas (MkII), and wall-to-wall CSI. Roll on the 24th October!!

Dummy

In Dublin, pirate radio stations were all the rage then. The early 80's saw the likes of Radio Dublin & Big D Radio. Late 80's saw Radio Nova, KissFM & Sunshine Radio.

The Dandelion Market was on St Stephens Green and you bought your bikes in the Penny Fathing there.

McDonalds opened their doors on Grafton Street in the early 80's and queues were out the door.

If you wanted a phone in your house, you ordered & then waited for almost 2 years (if my memory is correct).

There were lots of postal strikes which was a bummer on Valentine's Day.

I remember petrol strikes too and people making mad dashes to the North with loads of 5 gallon drums in the back of the cars.

I remember people bought butter in the North, and hid it all around the car in case they were stopped. TV's too brought people to the North.

Summer holidays were a 2 week visit to some relations farm in the back of beyond - but they were great. You learned to drive a Massey Ferguson when you were 11 or 12.

You & your brothers would have to hightail it by train, bus or by thumbing it down the country to help uncles save the hay. And they were made into haystacks - none of these circular bales you see now. And to quench your thirst, you were given very cold buttermilk.

After playing a big hurling or football match, you got a glass of Miwadi and a marieta biscuit.

Most cars did not have radios, so you sang all the way on a long car journey. "one day at a time sweet Jesus ......." Or "we're all off to Dublin in the green, in the green .....".

Some parts of the country still used the telephone exchange - you picked up the phone and an operator would answer and you would ask for Dublin 123456.

For free phone calls on a public phone, some people would tap the phone with their finger.

There was always a traffic jam (with cars) on Grafton Street.

There were no contraception machines in the toilets in pubs. In fact you could not buy contraceptives anywhere. In fact you never knew what they were or what they were used for.

You always went to mass on Sunday. In fact you would travel to the other end of the county to get a 6 o'clock mass there. And you listened to the priest very carefully.

You'd have to dance with girls at weddings otherwise you'd be a wallflower.

You had to always get up & sing at weddings.

Some people could be heard asking "what's your 20" down the microphone of their illegal CB radios. (as a result of movies like Convoy and Smokey & the Bandit which were big hits).

These are some of my memories. I'd love to go back - the 80's were great.

Ten ten till we do it again. (CB jingo for bye for now).

Eileen Down

Frankie said "Bang" for some reason or another.

upncmnhistori

Looks like Ireland has come a long way since the 80s though it seems we are going back at the same time with Dallas, A-team, and other 80's remakes.

Adyx

tinyk68 wrote: »

As I teenager in the 80's Top of the Pops on a Thursday night was the highlight of our week. We waited with baited breath to find out what was Number 1 because it mattered in those days. Then on Sunday afternoons it was three hours of MT USA with Vincent Hanley. We got to see all the cool American bands like ZZ TOP and VAN HALEN. I wanted to be Pat Benatar and all the boys wanted to be with her! There were no music channels in those days. Hard to bleieve now..

We had RTE 1 and 2 and our television took half an hour to warm up before you could watch anything.

upncmnhistori

Televisions had to warm up?!

Judgement Day

upncmnhistori wrote: »

Televisions had to warm up?!

They ran on steam - didn't you know.

Judgement Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr-Vd0do-cs

ardmacha

McDonalds opened their doors on Grafton Street in the early 80's and queues were out the door.

Not quite they opened in the late 70s.

I remember people bought butter in the North, and hid it all around the car in case they were stopped.

Also 1970s. As I recall the UK Labour government subsidised certain essentials including butter. So vast quantities of butter were "exported" through the customs hut at Killeen and ended up on sale in Jonesborough a mile away, where people repatriated it with the help of the subsidy.

The main relic of that period is that butter in the Republic is still sold in pounds (454g) while it is in 500g packs in NI, and cheese is the other way around.

mikemac1

Hand me downs, was just normal

You could buy a car late in the year and use "for reg"

New cars needed to be "run in"

You called children over to your door and gave them money to buy cigarettes for you.
Do that nowadays and get a reputation for giving kids money and you'll get a visit from the gardai :eek:

Harp Larger was everywhere. So was Kaliber.
Cider was for poor people and students. Bulmers had not yet done their premium pricing strategy and heavy marketing of cider

Buy bottled water?? In Ireland where the place never stops raining?? Irish people to buy water?? Lol, that will never happen

Shops in rural towns closed at 6pm at the latest and they also closed at lunch.
Late night shopping and Sunday opening was unheard of.

Dubs were arrogant when it came to GAA football and everyone was sick of listening to them. :rolleyes:
Still the same.....

Wallpaper on school books!

People rant about 20 minutes on hold with UPC yet Telecom Éireann would take 6 weeks to install a phone line. And that was fast.
Multiple of that before Albert Reynolds took over Posts & Telegraphs

Meeting your sister at lunch to swop books, you could only afford one book for that subject so you swopped it.

A Merc or a BMW actually meant something. Nowadays they are as common as muck, nobody cares.

What happened Shergar?

Flights were outrageously expensive, a family holiday was a day out in Salthill.

Thumbing at the crossroads was common, schoolkids and workers did it every day.
Nowadays the little darlings get driven to school in an SUV.

Dublin was a far off place, you got Bus Éireann on December 8th.
When you got there you thought the Dubs were in an almighty rush and there was heavy hustle & bustle. What's yer rush like?

Mac the Knife was a household name :eek:

But the 80's wasn't all bad, we had Féile and the Trip to Tipp :cool:

Kurz

Every bicycle's spokes were covered in rooster-shaped reflectors that came free with the Cornflakes.

upncmnhistori

I remember the wallpaper books but for me it was the 90's. I also remember prizes you would get in cornflakes. I got the tailend of the 80's so the tv shows I remember besides the childrens shows were something like 'Who's the Boss?', 'Perfect Strangers' and 'Roseanne'.

3ndahalfof6

While it was great, it was also shiite, I was made wear those trousers which had the elastic at the bottom of the leg, I almost died.

Seanchai

RickDees Weekly Top 40
Casey Kasem Coast to Coast
Radio Nova (the original one)
Energy 103
Sunshine 101
Atlantic Radio
Jefferson Starship
Solid as a Rock
Boy Meets Girl
Everything But the Girl


We might as well have been in America!

Live Aid
Self Aid
Johnny Logan
Mary Coughlan
Bagatelle
Being lifted over the turnstile on my first visit to Croker
The big snow of 1981
Margaret Thatcher, evil personified.
The black flags flying
Bobby Sands, hero, being elected and dying
The enormous emotion everywhere around me during the Hunger Strikes
Cardinal Ó Fiaich, one of life's good guys.
John Stalker, hero, receiving a standing ovation on The Late Late Show
Hume-Adams Agreement
Packie Bonner
The Malvinas

Adyx

upncmnhistori wrote: »

Televisions had to warm up?!

It was a really old TV, on it's last legs. It was a great incentive to go outside and play though.

Chuck Stone

Just let me say that I was horrified by poor selection of crisps compared to up north when our family moved to the deep south from norniron in the latter half of the mid eighties.

These are important things when you're a kid.

upncmnhistori

adverts

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkRDKtijZrs

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DtzKqMH3ak&feature=related

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4fk9_wnGII&feature=relmfu

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtWfIi96VuU&feature=relmfu

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcBwE4kZiu4&feature=relmfu

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CFhTuSgdtI&feature=relmfu

7. Who can forget as it was shown a couple months back on the television and used a few times actually. Correct me if I am wrong but I definetly saw this add a few weeks back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btqSxlUJyxo&feature=fvwrel

endacl

Peregrinus wrote: »

You changed your undies, of course, and you would change your shirt more frequently than once a week (but probably not daily). And - I'm a boy - girls might perhaps have changed clothes more frequently than boys. But this "wear it for a day and then wash it" lark was completely unknown.

Second that. Undercrackers used to be reversible, a la 'Lord Anthony' jackets! Who remembers those?

Seriously though, things used to be more tribal. If you were a metalhead, you liked metal. And nothing else (at least openly...). Likewise if you were a curehead, a punk, or any other of the various crews. Your music had to match your hair, and to a lesser extent, your smell. You really had to commit back then! If you were in UCD studying arts you had to wear 501's (rolled up of course), 10-hole docs, and a baggy jumper down to your knees...



Oh, and we didn't have Oxygen. We had Self-Aid. Youtube it, kids. You've no idea what ye missed.