The 1980's in Stranger Things: All 80's References and What It's Gotten Right

[methodwriter85]

As kind of a mirror image to the anachronism thread I started, I thought it'd be cool to have a "yay" thread, because this show has been doing so much about getting the 80's right, mostly recognizing that the Valley Girl 80's look wasn't really right for these characters.

The wardrobe of the show has been killer...here's a conversation with the wardrobe designer, where she talks about her influences. (And her name is Kimberly. How wonderfully 80's is that?) I love that Fast Times at Ridgemont High was a HEAVY influence on the look of the show. The coral vest that Nancy was wearing definitely reminded me of Stacey Hamilton.

I even love the names- they seem right for the time period, and there aren't any "Madisons" running around, while there's also a 12-year old Jennifer.

[kb3]

CBC radio interview with the prop master

This makes interesting listening.  

Having grown up in this era the startling amount of wood panelling is spot on. And so are the jerks.

[Boilergal]

Every time someone called someone else a douche-bag I yelled NO!!!!  I honestly can't remember what was used - but douche-bag was not it.

I loved the clothes, shoes,  and little items like knick knacks, and kitchen items.  

Seemed to be more rotary phones than I remembered growing up...but it has been a minute (graduated in 1984) 

[nodorothyparker]

I know we still had the rotary wall phone with the long-ass cord well into my high school years, so that would have been the later '80s.  I can't find anything that specifically says when they were phased out by push buttons, although they had been around for awhile.  I do remember buying a push button phone for my dorm room when I went away to college and thought it was just the greatest thing.

http://www.wired.com/2016/07/stories-behind-stranger-things-retro-80s-props/?mbid=social_fb

Along some other neat discussion about some of the specific props used, this mentions that when they were trying to pick which year to set this in they realized they had to go with 1983 or later because anytime before that would have been before the breakup of Ma Bell, which owned all the residential phones and would have had to come out to the house to replace damaged equipment.  The gag with Joyce frying multiple phones and buying replacements at the store wouldn't have been accurate.  I do have a vague memory of the phone company guy coming to the house to replace the wall phone in my parents' kitchen when I was still pretty small.

[Snookums]

Quote

Every time someone called someone else a douche-bag I yelled NO!!!!  I honestly can't remember what was used - but douche-bag was not it.

We definitely said douchebag/grody/barf/gnarly in grade school and junior high (1981-86 for me) but we were also definitely copying slang we had heard on TV and movies. Trying to be cool, both as young kids and as small towners. This was in Oregon, on the West Coast, so it may have reached us from California sooner than the Midwest, but MTV had a HUGE influence on how kids talked.

I remember (sooooo old, soooooooooo old am I) back before MTV. Friday and Saturday night Pop Up Videos. The same ten/fifteen songs in constant rotation because there just weren't that many out there that weren't static shots of the band playing a song. It was perfectly acceptable to stay home on weekend nights on the off chance that a new video would be shown--you did NOT want to be the only one that missed it. 

When MTV premiered and needed to fill its programming the whole thing just exploded. I can't believe how much the American teenscape altered to fit the growth of the channel.

[Taryn74]

I think I commented on this somewhere before, but d-bag (I find the term revolting, btw, can't even stand to type it out LOL) was really jarring to me, too.  I had never even heard the term used until within the last decade, so that one really stood out.

9 hours ago, Snookums said:

I remember (sooooo old, soooooooooo old am I) back before MTV. Friday and Saturday night Pop Up Videos. The same ten/fifteen songs in constant rotation because there just weren't that many out there that weren't static shots of the band playing a song. It was perfectly acceptable to stay home on weekend nights on the off chance that a new video would be shown--you did NOT want to be the only one that missed it. 

Oh, Friday Night Videos was life!  I was too young to stay up until midnight when it came on, so I would record it and be up at like 6am the next morning watching.  With the sound turned down so low I had to sit right in front of the TV, of course.  Couldn't wake the parents up that early on Saturday morning, heh.  To this day certain songs come on the radio and within the first few notes I'm right back sitting cross-legged on that living room floor watching FNV.  Good times.

[methodwriter85]

Is anyone else disappointed that they didn't reference Duran Duran? They had a big year in '83. I would have loved if Nancy had a picture of them, too. I did get a kick out of the Tom Cruise and Blondie posters, though. Then again, from what I understand, Duran Duran's target audience back then seemed to be 12-year old girls, meaning Nancy would have been just a bit too old to get into that craze in 1982-1983.

I got a kick out of Nancy's blue phone. It looks like Nancy's phone in Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as a phone that Nancy McKeon's character had in a teen t.v. movie called High School U.S.A. from 1983.

Speaking of Nancy...man, this show is great at naming the characters in period. I mean, a 12-year old Jennifer? Perfect! I'd love to see little girls named Heather or Amy running around, too.

[Dobian]

I started the 80s still in high school and finished college in the mid-80s.  Late 70s-early 80s was a transition period.  You were starting to hear bands like The Police and U2.  Van Halen was maybe the first "party metal" band, and forerunners of 80's hair metal.  But the last remnants for '70s day-glo and disco culture were still present, guys still sported Marlboro Man mustaches and women were still walking around with the Dorothy Hamill haircut in '80-'81 (I have videos of some football playoff games from that time and it's a trip looking at the people in the stands).  MTV just started in '81 (and I also remember watching Friday Night Videos before the dawn of MTV).  Freaks and Geeks was great at depicting this period.  It really wasn't until '82 that the '80s became "The Eighties" with Fast Times at Ridgemont High and all that.  1983 was a great year to set this show in, whether the reason was purchasable telephones or whatever else.  For me 1983-85 was the peak of the '80s.  It started to become cliché after that.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 01/09/2016 at 9:31 AM, Taryn74 said:

I think I commented on this somewhere before, but d-bag (I find the term revolting, btw, can't even stand to type it out LOL) was really jarring to me, too.  I had never even heard the term used until within the last decade, so that one really stood out.

I mentioned this in the episode thread, but SNL aired the Lord and Lady Douchebag sketch on May 24, 1980, which would indicate it is older than people might think.

[EarlGreyTea]

On 9/1/2016 at 11:10 PM, methodwriter85 said:

Speaking of Nancy...man, this show is great at naming the characters in period. I mean, a 12-year old Jennifer? Perfect! I'd love to see little girls named Heather or Amy running around, too.

Amen. I noticed this too. Nancy, Barb, and Mike were particularly realistic names for the period. The little things go a long way into capturing the 1980s.

In what they get right about this show, I like that while it is firmly set in the 1980s, but it isn't overly showy about it. As much as I love The Goldbergs, it's really in your face about being set in the time period. Part of it, I think, is that the kids on this show don't watch TV much or go to the movies.

[methodwriter85]

6 hours ago, EarlGreyTea said:

Amen. I noticed this too. Nancy, Barb, and Mike were particularly realistic names for the period. The little things go a long way into capturing the 1980s.

In what they get right about this show, I like that while it is firmly set in the 1980s, but it isn't overly showy about it. As much as I love The Goldbergs, it's really in your face about being set in the time period. Part of it, I think, is that the kids on this show don't watch TV much or go to the movies.

And even the less-usual names are "right"- I figured Dustin's parents named him for Dustin Hoffman, who was one of the biggest actors in  the world when Dustin would have been born in the early 1970's. Holly was enjoying a brief period of popularity in the 1970's and 1980's before fading back into relative obscurity- I'm guessing from Baby Boomers who loved Audrey Hepburn. Lucas was obscure for the time, but not unheard of, and it's possible he could have been given a family name.

Mike, Steve, and Jonathan are going to be right no matter what the period. Least dated names I can think of.

As for the last point, the people who made the show said that they wanted to not thrust them TOO hard into the 80's- there still had to be traces of the 70's here, because they're in a small town in the mid-West, and not living in the San Fernando Valley or something.

[EarlGreyTea]

3 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

As for the last point, the people who made the show said that they wanted to not thrust them TOO hard into the 80's- there still had to be traces of the 70's here, because they're in a small town in the mid-West, and not living in the San Fernando Valley or something.

I think Eleven's pink dress is the perfect example of this. Several people commented on here that the dress seemed like a 1970s castoff. Perfect considering it's still the early 1980s and Nancy probably outgrew it years before.

[Cowgirl]

I liked seeing the pudding in cans.  I hadn't even realized that I haven't seen a can of pudding in years!  

I think the tennis shoes are very accurate for my part of the country (rural west) during that period. 

And dang - - I had completely forgotten about Friday Night Videos!  I used to watch that show sometimes. 

[EarlGreyTea]

Was Steve wearing a Members Only jacket for the last few episodes? I wish those would make a comeback, because he looked really hot wearing it. Hilariously spot on! I was born in the late 1980s, so I can't speak to this, but can someone else talk about when Members Only jackets came into style? Did they get it right with the timeframe?

Also I loved that Lucas' sister was named Erica. Assuming she was born in the mid 1970s, when All My Children and Erica Kane were in its heyday. I think the name was super popular during that time period.

Edited October 29, 2017 by EarlGreyTea

[methodwriter85]

I like the Duran Duran reference. They were popular throughout the early 80's, but peak Duran Duran in America seemed to be 1984, when they were touring the U.S.

[EarlGreyTea]

I present the season 2 playlist on Spotify, for those who were digging this season's music (I think it's unofficial, but it looks like it has most of the music). I will say it's obvious that their budget has exploded, and that 1980s bands are probably tripping over themselves to get their music into this cultural zeitgeist. The Duffers said that the music budget was spent mostly on the final episode.

Rock You Like a Hurricane for the introduction of Billy and Max was probably my favorite. One of my all-time favorite character introductions for the music alone.

[Last Time Lord]

There was was talk about Kentucky Fried Chicken being shortened to KFC in the episode one thread, and if that was an anachronism or not. Personally, my family always did, I was born in ‘85, so that was in the ‘90s. 

My question here, though, is if they were using the Finger Lickin’ Good slogan in 1984, because Steve saying that kinda took me out of the scene.  

[nodorothyparker]

 

1983 commercial with the refrain of "finger lickin' good day."

[Jordan61]

On 9/5/2016 at 4:20 PM, methodwriter85 said:

Holly was enjoying a brief period of popularity in the 1970's and 1980's before fading back into relative obscurity- I'm guessing from Baby Boomers who loved Audrey Hepburn. 

My sister is named Holly and she was born in 1975. But it's not because of Audrey Hepburn. My mom asked me (age 4 at the time) what we should name the new baby, and being a huge Land of the Lost fan, I said Holly. I also had a dog I named after one of the Monkees (Mickey).

[Last Time Lord]

5 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

 

1983 commercial with the refrain of "finger lickin' good day."

Well, that answers that!

thanks. 

[MaryWebGirl]

I'm not sure what the spoiler policy is for this thread right now, so just in case

Spoiler

Eleven's dress at the Snow Ball was so perfectly "nice dress for a dance" in 1984. Nancy's too for that matter. People tend to think 80s clothing is all neon and Cosby sweaters, but those were more real life day-to-day clothes.

[Cowgirl]

I loved the buffalo check kind of plaid dress that Nancy had at the dance.  The clothing in this show is so accurate, as is the hair.  I wish the hair and makeup people working on the Goldbergs could get a tutorial.

[starri]

On 10/29/2017 at 0:38 PM, EarlGreyTea said:

Was Steve wearing a Members Only jacket for the last few episodes?

He was.

[methodwriter85]

3 hours ago, Cowgirl said:

I loved the buffalo check kind of plaid dress that Nancy had at the dance.  The clothing in this show is so accurate, as is the hair.  I wish the hair and makeup people working on the Goldbergs could get a tutorial.

Well, the problem with that is that the Goldbergs aren't really supposed to be an accurate look at the 80's, because they're basically a pastiche of that time period. They don't set the show in any particular year. The early, mid, and late 1980's all have really distinctive looks which makes trying to do one sort of look to represent the entire 80's kind of hard. That show is more like a 50's cafe, just with people wearing scrunchies instead of poodle skirts.

They did do a really good, subtle job of moving the show from 1983 to 1984. Nancy's mother's hair went from 1979-1981 looking to a more mid-80's look. Carole's hair, from the brief glimpse that we got of her, got bigger. Tommy H's hair got longer and possibly more a mullet, moving away from his short, conservative hairstyle from season 1.

And 11's dress was great. That style seems to pop up a lot in mid-80's movies/t.v. shows I've seen, including on Scott Baio when he dressed in drag on The Fall Guy.

Let's hope when the show moves to 1985 (I'm guessing that's next) Joyce will finally get a hairstyle update. Maybe Molly Ringwald's circa Detention Club hair? I can see that working well on Joyce, and it'd be practical.

[Shenanigan]

In Eleven's mom's house, I spied one of these babies on a shelf, which was just PERFECT. I still have one from my childhood.

 

Edited November 3, 2017 by Shenanigan

[Duke of dork]

[Mommycpa]

I noticed in one of the episodes, El called the man who bumped into her on her way to see her sister a “mouth breather.”  

 

I was 23 in 1984 and do not recall hearing that expression till much later. They are spot on with the clothes and hair!

[secnarf]

1 hour ago, Mommycpa said:

I noticed in one of the episodes, El called the man who bumped into her on her way to see her sister a “mouth breather.”  

 

I was 23 in 1984 and do not recall hearing that expression till much later. They are spot on with the clothes and hair!

Not sure if this was discussed in the anachronisms thread, but it was a call-back to the mouth breather references in season 1.

[milizard]

Some of those sweaters Nancy wears--I had very similar looking ones I wore in the 80's.  I was at my mom's over the weekend.  She still has my late father's Members Only jacket hanging in a closet.  I remember those were all over the place.  Some of the hair, though, doesn't seem right.  Steve's is way too big this season.  I think boys were still going for the feathered look.   Then the mullet was feathered on the sides, short on top, and long-ish and curly in the back, frequently with a perm.  I briefly had a girl mullet (when I was about the age of the younger kids in the same year), which is embarrassing to admit, but everyone had one.

[Taryn74]

23 minutes ago, milizard said:

I briefly had a girl mullet (when I was about the age of the younger kids in the same year), which is embarrassing to admit, but everyone had one.

Ha ha ha I had the girl mullet too, in fourth grade (which would have been the timeline of the show).  Kind of a bowl cut in the front and then long in the back.

Mullets on guys didn't become popular in my part of the country until four - five years later, when hair bands became all the range.  And the funny thing is, I never knew what it was called until way after high school.  I always had to describe it, like - they have it cut short, almost shaved in the front and on the sides and then it grows down long in the back.  (Always thought mullets were ugly though, so there is that.)

Rat tails were even worse though.  *shudder*

[milizard]

1 hour ago, Taryn74 said:

Ha ha ha I had the girl mullet too, in fourth grade (which would have been the timeline of the show).  Kind of a bowl cut in the front and then long in the back.

Mullets on guys didn't become popular in my part of the country until four - five years later, when hair bands became all the range.  And the funny thing is, I never knew what it was called until way after high school.  I always had to describe it, like - they have it cut short, almost shaved in the front and on the sides and then it grows down long in the back.  (Always thought mullets were ugly though, so there is that.)

Rat tails were even worse though.  *shudder*

I didn't know what they were called until much later, either.  I remember a show once called it, "business in the front, party in the back".  I think that's a good way to describe it.  I may be off by one year with the mullet.  (If that's the case, then feathered hair would still be in then, but not such big hair as Steve's on guys.)  I specifically remember my 8th grade school picture, and having the mullet then.   I'll have to find my old Jr. High yearbooks.  

[Cowgirl]

I agree on the name "mullet."  Frankly, I don't think that name became popular until Billy Ray Cirrus was popular in the 90's.  In the West, where I'm from, we called them a "bi-level."  And yes, I had the girl version as well. 

[CoyoteBlue]

On 11/7/2017 at 1:06 PM, milizard said:

 Then the mullet was feathered on the sides, short on top, and long-ish and curly in the back, frequently with a perm.  I briefly had a girl mullet (when I was about the age of the younger kids in the same year), which is embarrassing to admit, but everyone had one.

Yeah, I never realized I was sporting a mullet until I looked back as an adult. But honestly, girls almost had to have mullets because the feathered bangs took up the entire front half of your head. Leave your hair long and straight in the back and "mullet!". 

[milizard]

20 hours ago, CoyoteBlue said:

Yeah, I never realized I was sporting a mullet until I looked back as an adult. But honestly, girls almost had to have mullets because the feathered bangs took up the entire front half of your head. Leave your hair long and straight in the back and "mullet!". 

True, but I think the mullet was a little tighter on top.  I looked back on my 84-85 yearbook.  The girls almost all had the feathered sides and curled hair, but it was wider on the sides.  A few started getting more mullet-like that year, though.  The boys hadn't gotten there yet, (for whoever mentioned it previously that it was a few years later).  The boys almost all had their hair parted in the middle, and feathered on the sides, but straight instead of curly like the girls.  Dustin's hair for most of the episode would have made him a laughing-stock.  He more likely would have had the hairstyle that he sported in the Beyond Stranger Things follow-up.  At the dance, though, it is more like Prince, so it would've been seen as cool, once the kids got used to it. 

[methodwriter85]

The thing that I learned while studying 1980's yearbooks is that for most of that decade, styles were actually pretty conservative, at least for high school kids. It's pretty much preppy, preppy, and preppy. What we think of as the outrageous 80's style is really more like 1988-1991.

[Robert Lynch]

 

 

This is is my 1st grade picture from 1990. You might have said that I started the Mike Wheeler hairdo before Mike, right? How I miss my rebellious phase and thick hair wavy. This was my phase before my mom wanted me to cut my own hair. This happened after this photo was taken. It was fun while it lasted. Not exactly an 80s year book, but pretty damn close. And now 27 years later on Stranger Things...how retro is that?

 

[milizard]

With all due respect, first graders hairstyles are often very different than 8th graders.  I have a second grader.  We go for easy to take care of instead of fashion-sense.

[Robert Lynch]

I know. I know. But I was seven at that time. I thought my hairstyle wouldn't have made a comeback. Turns out I was wrong. But it's kind cool, you know. I wasn't fashion sense in a way, but I wanted to see what would have happened if my hair grew. Turns out that was the most my hair grew. All photos after 1991, my hairstyle was rather tamed.

[kieyra]

Coming super late to this show and bumping an old thread. Bear with me, I just watched season one for the first time.

I was right about these kids' ages at the time. I also saw all the Spielberg movies, read all the Stephen King books, saw all the John Hughes movies, spent hours and hours in the video game arcade. So I'm picking up almost every reference they're throwing. 

BUT. I didn't have a single male peer in elementary, middle or high school who had that horrific, thick, face-encircling bowl haircut. Maybe it was a regional thing? I would have been in south FL at the time, and they would have been ridiculed at my school(s). It drives me nuts on both Will and Mike, but especially Mike, who is bordering on Little Lord Fauntleroy. It's not the same retrospective ick factor as the mullets, it's just mega distracting and out of place (to my eyes).

Other than that: Both "Nancy" and "Barbara" strike me as names that would have given to girls born in the sixties, not the seventies. I feel like 'Heathers' was iconic for a reason (I went to school with plenty of Heathers). Also Michelle, Kim, Karen, Tracy, Tammy, etc. 

(I never heard or read anyone say 'mouth breather' until maybe 5-6 years ago, and I've been 'online' since ... well, literally 1984 or so.) 

Edit: Okay, got a little ways into S2. Jonathan is referencing the Smiths in S1, but doesn't recognize Siouxsie Sioux? No, show. Wrong. 

Edited July 5, 2019 by kieyra

[ElectricBoogaloo]

8 hours ago, kieyra said:

I never heard or read anyone say 'mouth breather' until maybe 5-6 years ago, and I've been 'online' since ... well, literally 1984 or so.

Mouth breather was a pretty common insult in California in the 80s.

[DietCokeJunkie]

9 hours ago, kieyra said:

Other than that: Both "Nancy" and "Barbara" strike me as names that would have given to girls born in the sixties, not the seventies.

But they weren’t born in the seventies. The character of Nancy (and Barb, if she’d lived)  is about 17 years old in season 3, which is set in 1985. This would make her year of birth circa 1967. So yes, their names are spot on. 

[CarpeFelis]

On 8/29/2016 at 9:24 AM, Boilergal said:

Every time someone called someone else a douche-bag I yelled NO!!!!  I honestly can't remember what was used - but douche-bag was not it.

We used the word back when I was in college in the late ‘70s (upstate NY).

[methodwriter85]

5 hours ago, DietCokeJunkie said:

But they weren’t born in the seventies. The character of Nancy (and Barb, if she’d lived)  is about 17 years old in season 3, which is set in 1985. This would make her year of birth circa 1967. So yes, their names are spot on. 

Yeah, I really do love that aspect. And in Barb's case, her parents were on the older side, it looked like.

And again, I have to "yay" a Jennifer being 12 in season 1. Although I'm not sure how I felt about a Heather who would have been born in circa 1968 in season 3, although there's Heather Langenkemp so it's not an obscure name. Still, I kind of wish her name had been like Stacey or Tammy or something.

The whole mall set was just beautifully done. They got a real mall that was built in 1984 called Gwinett Place Mall in Georgia. They took the completely dead wing of the mall and made it look like the 1980's. Just beautiful.

Edited July 6, 2019 by methodwriter85

[VCRTracking]

On 8/29/2016 at 9:24 AM, Boilergal said:

Every time someone called someone else a douche-bag I yelled NO!!!!  I honestly can't remember what was used - but douche-bag was not it.

12 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

We used the word back when I was in college in the late ‘70s (upstate NY). 

It was the joke of this 1980 SNL sketch:

[kieyra]

Catches up to season 3

Mike still has a hideous bowl haircut

God damn it

Edit: so does Will, but his looks like a wig?

Edited July 6, 2019 by kieyra

[Armchair Critic]

29 minutes ago, kieyra said:

Catches up to season 3

Mike still has a hideous bowl haircut

God damn it

Edit: so does Will, but his looks like a wig?

I agree with you about the bowl cuts, nobody over 5 years old wore their hair like that then. Most guys sort of feathered their hair back, Mike would be wearing his hair more like Ralph Macchio or Rick Springfield.

[kieyra]

12 minutes ago, Armchair Critic said:

I agree with you about the bowl cuts, nobody over 5 years old wore their hair like that then. Most guys sort of feathered their hair back, Mike would be wearing his hair more like Ralph Macchio or Rick Springfield.

I’m at the beginning of the second episode (at the mall). They’ve also got so much makeup (and lip color?) on the actor playing Mike that I’m finding it genuinely distracting. At this point I look at him and I see the Vermillion androids from Legion, sans moustaches.

https://www.vulture.com/2018/05/legion-recap-season-2-episode-8.html

I guess I’ll stop complaining about this soon, it’s just taking me out of the show in an aggravating way. 

Edited July 6, 2019 by kieyra

[Robert Lynch]

59 minutes ago, kieyra said:

Catches up to season 3

Mike still has a hideous bowl haircut

God damn it

Edit: so does Will, but his looks like a wig?

To answer your question about Noah Schnapp, he is so wearing a wig this season because here he has Pacific wave bangs like Wil Wheaton. I think he got rid of the bowl cuts after season 2 wrapped.

[nodorothyparker]

I don't know what they're doing with the bowl cuts on the boys either.  I keep telling myself it's middle school in Indiana, which pre-internet the Midwest did always seem to be a bit behind trends, but still, those are little boys' haircuts.  Hair should be getting more heavily styled as they head into the mid '80s.  For reference, two movies that came out the same year this season was set: St. Elmo's Fire and The Breakfast Club: 

It's just strange because the show is getting so much else right.  My husband and I both were these kids' ages in 1985, and we've each seen things we actually owned or wore.  

[methodwriter85]

On 7/6/2019 at 8:03 PM, Robert Lynch said:

To answer your question about Noah Schnapp, he is so wearing a wig this season because here he has Pacific wave bangs like Wil Wheaton. I think he got rid of the bowl cuts after season 2 wrapped. 

Yeah, I'm really baffled at Will's wig this season because it wasn't his real hair, and his actual hair looked absolutely fine and believable for 1985. Wil Wheaton had that style, so did Johnny Deep in Nightmare on Elm Street. The only reason I can think of is that they still wanted Will and Mike to look alike, but at this point the hair's the only thing making them look alike. They really don't look that much a like anymore.