things you miss and don't miss from the 70s and 80s

[graveyard johnny]

things you both miss and don't from the 70s and 80s 

miss - toast toppers - proper coronation street - pubs with strippers on - shops all closed on Sundays - real Tetleys Stones and Websters bitters 

don't miss - single glazing - everyone smoking everywhere - no central heating - woollen blankets - cars with chokes 

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

Don't miss - Dog ###### all over the place, that toilet roll at school that was like tracing paper and if you weren't careful, your fingers would go right through it when you were wiping your backside.

Miss- A relatively stress free life, that feeling when you broke up from school for the summer holidays.

[Gerrumonside ref]

Don’t miss:

Racism at football matches;  the grim effects of Thatcher’s ideas in my home town; dirty air;

Miss:

Gigs/Sport events where everyone enjoys the moment instead of trying to capture for social media likes; the affordability of social things as above; the community aspect of pubs where we shared in each other rather than sat at home staring at screens;

[Padge]

Don't miss - Tetleys Stones and Websters bitters 

Miss - Rock Nights at Wigan Casino

[shaun mc]

3 hours ago, Padge said:

Don't miss - Tetleys Stones and Websters bitters 

Miss - Rock Nights at Wigan Casino

Same here re Websters. We used to have a saying that if you drank Websters all night, you'd end up waterlogged before you were p!ssed

[Stirlin]

18 hours ago, Sidi Fidi Gold said:

Don't miss - Dog ###### all over the place, that toilet roll at school that was like tracing paper and if you weren't careful, your fingers would go right through it when you were wiping your backside.

Miss- A relatively stress free life, that feeling when you broke up from school for the summer holidays.

We had Izal medicated , no matter how many sheets you used , shiny or buff side it would not wipe yer bum proper like just skidded over the top . Thought I had seen the last of it after school but they used it in the dockyard bogs in Pompey , Jack called it John Wayne bog roll as it took no s*** from anyone , one of the things I don't miss.

I miss Wagon Wheels that were a good meal , not the pathetic excuse on sale now , Camerons pubs in York ,

3 pints of Strongarm for 99p.

[CanaBull]

Don’t miss: The racism and troublemakers in town on match days. Flares. Hair metal bands from Sheffield.  Thatcher.

Miss: Fish and chips in newspaper. No social media.  Pickled onion monster munch that would remove skin from the roof of your mouth.  Being able to put socks on without making involuntary noises. 

[Futtocks]

36 minutes ago, Stirlin said:

We had Izal medicated

 

[graveyard johnny]

13 minutes ago, CanaBull said:

 

Miss: Fish and chips in newspaper. 

now your talking - you could read the paper while you were eating

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

2 hours ago, Stirlin said:

We had Izal medicated , no matter how many sheets you used , shiny or buff side it would not wipe yer bum proper like just skidded over the top . Thought I had seen the last of it after school but they used it in the dockyard bogs in Pompey , Jack called it John Wayne bog roll as it took no s*** from anyone , one of the things I don't miss.

I miss Wagon Wheels that were a good meal , not the pathetic excuse on sale now , Camerons pubs in York ,

3 pints of Strongarm for 99p.

I'm going a bit off topic here but an old work mate of mine, arriving home in the early hours from a night out, much the worse for ware and starving, looked in the fridge for something to eat, saw a burger on a plate, he put it under the grill to cook, after a while he pulled the grill tray out to check on it and saw a Wagon Wheel completely melted through the grills, it had been left in the fridge by one of his kids.

[graveyard johnny]

miss the John Peel sessions - don't miss Simon Bates Our Song

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

13 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

miss the John Peel sessions - don't miss Simon Bates Our Song

I worked on a building site in the late 80s/early 90s and this big tough brickie ran off crying when the theme tune to "Our Song" came on the radio, his girlfriend had just chucked him a couple of hours earlier

[marklaspalmas]

Don't miss: almost everything

Miss: being a kid

[graveyard johnny]

miss - the salvation army band playing in the street on a Sunday morning 

don't miss-one pair of school trousers for the entire year which were worn until they shone, not sure what they were made from!

[Bearman]

Some posh buggers on here. Toilet roll ?

Chips in newspaper and save the paper to read and wipe your bum too.

Now that was recycling

Edited January 29 by Bearman

[Stirlin]

25 minutes ago, Bearman said:

Some posh buggers on here. Toilet roll ?

Chips in newspaper and save the paper to read and wipe your bum too.

Now that was recycling

You still using the sponge on a stick then ?

[tonyXIII]

On 29/01/2026 at 17:03, marklaspalmas said:

Don't miss: almost everything

Miss: being a kid

Me too!

I miss my youth. The best years of my life, the 70s and 80s. I wish I had made more of them at the time.

[graveyard johnny]

48 minutes ago, tonyXIII said:

 The best years of my life, the 70s and 80s. I wish I had made more of them at the time.

my mate had a spare ticket to see the jam - cos I  was a young rockabilly in to the stray cats and wore a red harrington instead of a black one I  looked down my nose and said "nah" to that ticket 

GRAVEYARD JOHNNY "YOU EFFIN EFFIN IDIOT"!

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

2 hours ago, tonyXIII said:

Me too!

I miss my youth. The best years of my life, the 70s and 80s. I wish I had made more of them at the time.

Childhood is spoilt on kids ....

[Futtocks]

51 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Childhood is spoilt on kids ....

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be though.

[graveyard johnny]

miss Andrews liver salts that used to fizz 50 times better than the current stuff - don't miss the horrible warm school milk with the cow sh@t on the bottle 

[Futtocks]

A thing I don't miss - in the early years after decimalisation, old folk saying "I bet you don't know what that is in old money" all the bleedin' time.

Being properly brought up, I had to indulge them politely instead of pointing out that there was no earthly need for my generation to ever have to know the answer to such a question.

[The Phantom Horseman]

On 29/01/2026 at 17:17, graveyard johnny said:

 

don't miss-one pair of school trousers for the entire year which were worn until they shone, not sure what they were made from!

The aforementioned and ubiquitous Izal medicated...

 

[RoyBoy295]

Don't miss,

           early childhood days of the outside toilet at the end of the yard. The tin bath in front of the fire on Sundays and the pecking order in which ensured. Frosted bedroom windows on a winter morning (on the inside). Hand me down clothes.

Do miss,

         The Alpine pop man, being a kid, being spoiled when at your grandparents, how life was so simpler then.

[graveyard johnny]

On 04/02/2026 at 19:00, RoyBoy295 said:

Don't miss,

           early childhood days of the outside toilet at the end of the yard. The tin bath in front of the fire on Sundays and the pecking order in which ensured. Frosted bedroom windows on a winter morning (on the inside). Hand me down clothes.

Do miss,

         The Alpine pop man, being a kid, being spoiled when at your grandparents, how life was so simpler then.

the Alpine pop man? or Alpine pop?  what made it that colour? I  shudder to think- you could see a bottle of yellow pineappleade glowing  from space