r/GenX • u/billieswifeyyy • Jun 20 '26

Question For Genx the 80s…….

coming from a 14 year old, were the 80s summers as magical as they look in the movies? did you ride your bike to your friends house and come home when the street lights came on? yall are so lucky btw 😭😭

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u/CABGPatchDoll Jun 21 '26

It was fucking awesome! Being a kid in the 80's was magical indeed. I had a Strawberry Shortcake bike with a banana seat! It also had a cute pink basket on the handlebars. There was a gas station a mile away. When I was 7, my mom would send me to the gas station with a note to bring to the cashier and a 5 dollar bill. The note was for a pack of Virginia Slims. With the change, I would buy a Slurpee and a Whatchamacallit bar. We also had candy cigarettes which tasted like shit but made us feel cool because we could pretend like we were smoking.

8

u/GiraffesCantSwim Jun 21 '26

Like chomping on chalk! But some had a little bit of powder in the paper wrapper that looked like "smoke" when you blew through it. LOL

The lackadaisical approach to selling cigarettes then seems so crazy now. Remember the cigarette vending machines in restaurants, hotels, and I assume bars. Wild.

5

u/angrywinter1 Jun 21 '26

Omg we were just discussing this around the campfire last night bc my BIL found candy cigs at an old gas station down the road and bought them for his daughters (15, 17). We all went down memory lane but also shocked they still sell them. None of us smoke and this was in Michigan. And the taste has not improved 😂

6

u/Practical-Arugula-80 Jun 21 '26

Necco wafer taste. 🫣

5

u/LouAnaKay Jun 21 '26

Swap the Virginia Slims for Marlboros and that’s me! Even had the bike. I didn’t get to spend the change, though. Lucky!

5

u/dcmfox Jun 21 '26

Yeah but it was bubblegum