Walkmans, Rubik’s Cube and other disposable cameras… The 1980s seem so distant today, as technology and the world have evolved so rapidly in less than fifty years. The minitel, this hexagonal invention which could have been an alternative to the Internet, was quickly set aside and then forgotten by most French people; even though some continued to use it until 2012, as Le Monde reminded us on the eve of its final shutdown.

That being said, recalls the specialized blog Le Curionaute, the 1980s were not only those of a technology that is now obsolete: it was also the time of Pins to pin on your jacket, colored bandanas or objects as well as fluorescent clothes. Without forgetting, of course, the famous skateboards and their eternal rivals, roller skates. At the time, they were equipped with four wheels, evenly distributed on each side of the skate… and therefore mechanically slower than today’s skates can be.

A certain number of toys were born or had their hour of glory in the 80s. This is the case, for example, of the yoyo and the “tac-tac”, which acted as flagship games in playgrounds in many many schools in France or Navarre. The kiki, a little monkey sucking his thumb also seems difficult to forget, continues the blog. As well as the panini albums, filled with vignettes!

Among the technological devices which, despite their technical roughness, still manage to hold their own in the face of current competition, there are also the Polaroids, which many budding photographers greatly appreciate. Some of these objects are also quite expensive… By searching your attic or your cellar, you could get your hands on one of the treasures mentioned in our slideshow, which you will find below.