When it comes to nostalgic memories, nothing beats Christmas. Our childhood festive memories include fantastic toys, classic TV shows and beautiful decorations, all wrapped up in a wonderful package of seasonal cheer.

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Whilst Christmas is still a wonderful thing, especially if we’re lucky enough to share it with children of our own, there’s some things that instantly remind us of when we were growing up. And it’s with this in mind that we’ve selected the following ‘20 Items That Will Remind You Of Christmas In The 1980s’…


How many of these hold a special place in your heart? Are there any other 80s Christmas memories you would add to the list? Be sure to let us know by posting a comment!

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1. Jelly Fruit Slices

Do you remember your parents or grandparents receiving Jelly Fruit Slices as a Christmas present? We didn’t dare try eating them until we were at least 20 years old, when we were delighted to discover that they didn’t taste like fruit at all!

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2. Foil Decorations

In many ways Christmas decorations are far better than they used to be, because at least most of us don’t now have those massive foil ones that looked as if they would set alight within seconds. But at the same time, we miss the effort we went to, and we absolutely loved the colourful decorations that adorned our house when we were kids.

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3. Nutcrackers

We bet your grandparents had a nutcracker out at Christmas. Are we right? We never wanted to try eating the contents of the nut, but we took great delight in cracking the crisp outer shells over and over again!

4. Cheesy Films

We know that the question ‘what is the all time greatest Christmas film?’ is a subject that will spark great debate, so rather than tell you our favourite (Santa Claus: The Movie), we’ll let you remember your own personal cheesy festive choice.

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5. The Argos Catalogue

When you were writing your list of Christmas toy requests to Father Christmas, where was the first place you went to for inspiration? The Argos catalogue of course! We don’t know about you, but our list usually contained goods totaling hundreds of pounds!

6. Terry’s Chocolate Orange

Terry’s Chocolate Orange tastes good all year round, but there’s something about devouring one you’ve been given as a Christmas present that makes it seem just that little bit sweeter.

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7. The Snowman

Whilst this is of course still shown at Christmas to this day, it’s crowded out by all manner of inferior animated Christmas shows. This is the original and the best, and we still shed a tear when our snowy friend melts at the end.

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8. Making Paper Chains

Did anyone else spend ages making Christmas paper chains to display in their bedroom? There was alot of licking involved, but the result was definitely worth all the effort we put into creating them.

9. The Radio Times…

We have a confession to make. Even in the age of on demand TV and streaming services such as Netflix, we still buy a TV guide at Christmas and highlight the shows we want to watch or record. Are we on our own?

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10…And The TV Times!

These days of course every channel is listed in one publication, but back in the 1980s we had to purchase both the Radio and TV Times!

11. Cadbury’s Roses

Featuring such delightful chocolates as ‘Golden Barrel’, ‘Strawberry Dream’ and ‘Country Fudge’ (our personal favourite), Cadbury’s Roses have been enjoyed by generations of families at Christmas. But the massive size of the boxes means that we enjoyed them just that little bit more back in the 1980s!

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12. Christmas Pop Songs

Many of us are massively fond of Christmas songs, and of course we all have our favourite. Whether it’s Wham giving us their heart at Christmas, Elton John inviting us to step into Christmas, or Slade simply reminding us to hang our stockings on the wall, we all love a good festive sing along. And a recent poll showed that ‘The Greatest Decade For Christmas Music’ was…. The 1980s of course!

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13. Making Snowflakes

Surely you can’t have forgotten this. You fold up a piece of circular paper, cut some shapes, and open it up to reveal your own personalised snowflake, as individual as the ones that you prayed would fall outside your window.

14. Beano and Dandy Annuals

Many of us looked forward to the yearly release of these brilliant annuals. Even seeing today’s annuals featuring the latest childhood crazes fills us with that lovely warm feeling of nostalgia, as they remind us of a time when receiving one of them would make us oh so very happy. From The Beano to The Dandy, from Bunty to Mandy, we loved catching up on the latest stories of our favourite comic strip characters.

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15. Quality Street

As much as we love Cadbury’s Roses and more modern offerings like Heroes, it’s Quality Street that tops are list and also reminds us the most of Christmas when we were kids. How about you? Although if someone gave us a box that only contained Toffee Pennys we’d be oh so very happy.

16. Festive TV Shows

Christmas meant some fantastic TV shows and specials, and we can all remember snuggling down to watch Only Fools and Horses, Blackadder or Morecambe and Wise with our families. Another show that holds a particularly nightmarish place in our hearts is The Box Of Delights. Does anyone remember it? And more importantly, was anyone else as petrified of it as we were?

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17. Woolworths

Where did we do much of our Christmas shopping back in the 1980s? Woolworths of course, and we really miss it! It reminds us so much of when we were kids, and as much as there have been many suitable shopping replacements, they don’t give us that same warm feeling in our tummy.

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18. Selection Boxes

Are we the only ones that insist on being given a selection box every single Christmas? For 40 years we’ve continued this yearly tradition, and we don’t intend to give it up any time soon!

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19. Awesome Toys

There are certain toys that take us right back to our youth. Whether we owned them or sought after them, they remind us of a time when we didn’t have to worry about our children, job or finances. From My Little Pony to M.A.S.K., from Care Bears to He-Man, Christmas was a time when we hoped we would get our most loved toy, but sadly we didn’t always receive the gift we wanted!

20. Dodgy Tree Lights

Remember the scene. You’d spend an hour putting up lights and decorating your tree, only for ‘the big plug switch on’ to be spoilt when the lights didn’t turn on. Usually this meant that one of the bulbs had either blown or needed to be screwed back in, which resulted in your dad having to spend another two hours checking every single little bulb!

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If you have enjoyed reading this post, please do spread some warm, festive, nostalgic memories to your friends and family by sharing it with them!