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Those were These are
the days, my friend…
By Pam Dillon
What were you doing in 1988?
It was the year Gretzky and the
Oilers (can you believe it?) won the
Stanley Cup for the fourth time
straight, Brian Mulroney was Prime
Minister and you could buy a nice,
three-bedroom house for around
$125,000.
Yes, 20 years is a long time.
Asked to travel down that
Memory Lane, Susan Baker* dusted
off the albums, did a little mental
arithmetic and plenty of reminiscing
with her nearest and dearest.
As a result, she’s come up with
some vivid snapshots that could be
yours if you looked back…way back.
Right around now, two decades
ago, it was back-to-school season and
Susan was making lunches to go.
Bologna and mustard on white, she
lists. Leftovers in a thermos. Peanut
butter and strawberry jam on raisin
bread. (Peanut allergies weren’t a big
deal then, she explains.) The kids were
8, 10 and 14. Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles were a hot topic of household
conversation. Santa was still real for
the youngest, Patty*, and the boys
were crazy about Nintendo and Super
Mario Brothers.
Out comes a picture of smiling
kids in flannel pajamas, surrounded by
the crumpled wrapping paper and loot
of Christmas morning. Susan is in the
background by the twinkling, artificial
tree. Her hair is curly, permed.
She laughs. “See that? I had a 26inch
waistline. It seems like a lifetime
ago.” She was 42.
Snapshots spill out onto the living
room table. School pictures. Group
shots of sports teams. Family celebrations.
“A lot of things were different.
September 2008 • 24 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
We didn’t own a computer. Nobody
knew anything about the internet. I
was at home, a stay-at-home mom,
and we had a minivan. I was so proud
when we got it,” Susan grins. “We
were all over the place with dance and
ringette and soccer. Swimming too.”
“Yes, I was one of those soccer
moms.”
Lifestyle habits were a bit different
in the 80s, she explains. “I smoked
– nearly half a pack a day. So did a lot
of my friends. People had ashtrays in
their houses, as I remember it, and
you would smoke in restaurants.”
She pauses to choose her words.
“I don’t think we were quite as health
conscious. That was just starting. I
knew the four food groups and prepared
healthy meals, but McDonald’s
and Kentucky Fried Chicken were very
big with the kids.