We often find ourselves wishing we could return to the innocent, carefree days of our youth, and the trials and tribulations of the past year or so have only reinforced how much we miss our wonderful 1980s childhood. From utterly delicious chocolate to never bettered TV shows, the 80s were full to the brim with amazing memories that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

So set aside every single one of your worries for just five minutes and join us on a journey of nostalgia, as we explore the following 10 things that all 80s kids really, really miss.



10. Woolworths

Online shopping may be an extremely convenient way to spend your hard earned cash, but over the last few decades it has heralded the end of an ever increasing number of high street shops, many of which we have fond memories of visiting during our younger days.

And whilst we definitely miss the likes of C&A, Our Price, Tandy and Blockbuster, the establishment that gave us the greatest joy as a child was Woolworths, with its affordable toys and impressive selection of tasty pick and mix.

9. Secret bars

Whilst modern day supermarkets likely have a wider selection of chocolate than ever before, there are a handful of discontinued bars that we’d absolutely love to sample just one more time.

We were massive fans of 54321, Dream, Time Out and Fuse, but if we had to pick just one item of chocolate to be reintroduced into our local newsagent then it would have to be Rowntree’s delectable Secret bar.

8. Wide Awake Club

The live Saturday morning children’s TV show is something you rarely see these days, but us 80s kids will always have our memories of Going Live!, Live & Kicking and SMTV Live (or Tiswas, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop and Saturday Superstore if you’re slightly older than we are).

But the one show we enjoyed more than any other after a busy week at school was the legendary Wide Awake Club, presented by the terrific trio of Timmy Mallet, Michaela Strachan and Tommy Boyd.

7. Nintendo Game & Watch

These days you can store an insanely large number of video games on a single device, so why do we still long for the time when a single pixelated adventure filled up the entire memory of our heavy handheld machine?

It’s because the likes of Tomytronic and Tiger Electronics gave us on-the-go gaming experiences that will never be bettered, except for by the geniuses at Nintendo, who kept us entertained for hours on end with their iconic Game & Watch series.

6. Cartoon lunch boxes

Our 1980s school days gave us memories that we will treasure forever, with our retro pencil cases, Head bags and Roger Red Hat reading books being far superior to anything being offered to a modern-day primary school child.

But our greatest feelings of pity are reserved for when we see our children’s grey, plain lunch boxes, which are a far cry from the colourful He-Man and My Little Pony-adorned containers that transported deliciously unhealthy snacks into our 1980s classroom.

5. Ghost Castle

If you’re anything like us then you spent much of your childhood playing games like Downfall, Game of Life and Mouse Trap, or perhaps you preferred your board games to have an exclamation mark at the end of their title so enjoyed Go For Broke!, Go For It! or Sorry! instead.

In our opinion, the greatest board game of the entire 1980s – and definitely the one we miss playing the most – is the legendary Ghost Castle, with its creepy rooms, spooky skull and deadly axe.

4. Toys “R” Us

We’ve nothing against the likes of Smyths Toys, but visiting a modern-day toy superstore doesn’t even come close to giving us that amazing feeling of wonder we experienced when entering the doors of Toys “R” Us as a child.

Perhaps it’s simply because we’ve grown older and matured, but we like to think that Toys “R” Us really was as magical as its famous TV advert suggested.

3. Cassette recorders

Whilst it might seem crazy to long for the days of primitive technology, there really was something special about the basic nature of a Nokia 3310 that makes us prefer it to any of your modern-day mobile phones.

And the same goes for playing music, because whilst it’s clear how impressive today’s streaming services are, we still miss using a chunky cassette player to record songs from Sunday evening’s Top 40 chart countdown.

2. Tab Clear

It’s not just the discontinued chocolate bars from our youth that we sorely miss, because a large number of incredibly tasty beverages have also disappeared from shop shelves during the last few decades.

And whilst we do long for just one more sip of Kia-Ora, Um Bongo, Five Alive and Panda Pops, it’s Coca-Cola’s short-lived Tab Clear fizzy drink that got our taste buds tingling the most when we were growing up.

1. Bum bags

If you could choose just one 1980s fashion to resurrect into modern-day clothing outlets alongside the already back-in-vogue items like ripped jeans, which would you choose?

Do you consider shell suits to be too much of a fire hazard to be brought back? How about a pair of empowering shoulder pads? Personally, we would choose bum bags, even though they were hardly the most flattering accessory ever to have been invented.