These 32 Nostalgic Photos Capture the Heart of 1984
In 1984, hair got bigger, technology got smaller, and Walkmans were all the rage. These nostalgic snapshots capture a world where MTV was changing the game with something called a music video, payphones still lined the streets, and kids rode their bikes until the streetlights flickered on. From shoulder pads to skater boys, let’s take a look at a changing year that still knew how to slow down and live in the moment.
1. Cool Cats Hanging Out After School
2. Dave’s Corner Deli Pictured on Broadway, New York City
3. Just Some Gals Defying Gravity in the High School Yearbook
4. A Young Kurt Cobain Tinkering With an Electric Guitar
5. Rocking That British Pride
6. A Japanese Ad Promoting the Sony WM-30 Walkman
7. ‘A Lifetime and Several Phones Ago’
8. Three Friends on Their Way To See Van Halen
9. ‘My Brother in 1984’
10. Risky Business: A Man Transfers Files From His Commodore ’64 to His ’84 Apple Computer
11. ‘My Father and I Carrying the 1984 Olympic Torch’
12. ‘Outside Chad’s Van on the Way to Stonehenge Festival’
13. The Hair in 1984 Was Unparalleled
14. A Young Conan O’Brien Pretending to Punch a Friend in Front of the Harvard Lampoon Castle in Massachusetts
15. ‘Me Posing for the Photo Booth Camera’
16. Michael ‘Air’ Jordan Taking Flight at the 1984 Summer Olympics
17. A Seattle Teenager Poses for a Snap in His Heavy Metal Shrine
18. ‘My Dad in Peak ‘Rex Kwon Do,’ Circa 1984′
19. US Astronaut Bruce McCandless II Conducts a Spacewalk Without a Safety Tether on February 7, 1984
20. A Family Soaks in the Views Atop the Grand Canyon
21. Freddie Mercury With Longtime Friend Mary Austin
22. An Ad for Apple’s Macintosh Released on January 24, 1984
23. ‘At My Drafting Table With My Electric Eraser Before Our Office Used Computers’
24. ‘Rowan Atkinson With His 81′ Aston Martin Vantage V8 in London’
25. ‘Larry Nance at the Inaugural NBA Slam Dunk Contest’
26. ‘Kate Capshaw, Harrison Ford, and Ke Huy Quan During the Filming of ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ in 1984′
27. Ric Flair Meets a 12-Year-Old Dwayne Johnson
28. A Panoramic View of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum During the 1984 Summer Olympics
29. A Woman Sits on Her Bike While Using a Payphone in Brooklyn, New York
30. A Model of Falkor on the Set of ‘The Neverending Story’
31. Tina Turner Rocks Her Signature Hairdo at the MTV Music Awards
32. ‘Skater Boys, 1984’
Looking for similar content?
We’ve got a couple of ideas for you. Check out 15 Iconic Photos of 1980s Hair Bands in Their Prime, along with 20 High School Photos That Perfectly Sum Up the 1980s Teen Experience. Want to relive those ’80s live shows? Be sure to read 18 Photos That Capture the Energy of ’80s Concerts.