What do you see when you picture the 1980s? If you didn't live through it, you're probably seeing something very different from those of us who did. Hey, Gen X kid Jason Toon here. I'm using this issue of Shoddy Goods, the newsletter from Meh about consumer culture, to set the record straight on the real color of the decade.
"Do you have a moment to talk about velour?" Every so often on social media, there's a mild kerfuffle about what the 1980s looked like. One of we who were sentient at the time will point out that daily life during the age of Miami Vice, Rainbow Brite, and Cyndi Lauper was visually a lot more brown than the stereotypes would have it. Somebody else will agree that Stranger Things got that detail exactly right. Then along comes the inevitable Actually Guy, with more confidence than expertise, to smugly scoff that you must be getting it mixed up with the '70s. Sigh. So let's settle this once and for all. The '80s were brown. Very, very brown. Nicotine-stain brown. Folgers crystals brown. Jell-O brand chocolate pudding brown. To paraphrase Orwell, if you want a picture of the '80s, imagine brown pillows on brown furniture on brown carpet - forever. But don't take my word for it. Behold some actual pictures of the '80s in all their brownanity.
The '80s I remember The road to Brownsville Two trends - both reactions to the hard-edged, boldly colored midcentury modern style - brought brown into the homes and wardrobes of the 1970s. One was a post-hippie back-to-the-land affinity for the rustic, the natural, the earthy. The other was a conservative traditionalism that favored colonial American decor and muted, restrained fashion. Mix in the eternal human love of coziness, and a thousand browns bloomed. On January 1, 1980, everyone did not in fact run out to buy chrome furniture and fuchsia blazers with giant shoulder pads. All that fake wood paneling did not magically transform into white tile and glass block at the stroke of midnight. No feather-haired crowds descended on hair salons to get their laid-back '70s coiffs buzzed and gelled and spiked up for the '80s. That's the inherent problem with assigning styles to any decade: the distinctive looks we associate with the time take years to kick in.
"Let's get this shoot over with, it's time for my Gaines-burger" But it wasn't just that there was still lots of '70s stuff around. Plenty of new brown stuff still sold like hotcakes (also brown). Even the original Atari 2600, an '80s icon if ever there was one, was bedecked with a strip of fake wood veneer. If you wanted your product in American homes, you bucked the brown at your peril.
No actual trees were harmed in the making of this Atari 2600 When was peak brown? If I had to pin down peak brown, I'd say 1983. The more exuberant hues of the '70s like tomato and avocado were in retreat, but the pastels and brights of High '80s were still a little too outré for mass consumption. What was left? Raw umber, burnt sienna, tan, sepia, mahogany, and all the other crayons that kids never need to sharpen.
The taupe and the sable really make the beige pop Flipping through magazines and catalogs from the time, it's clear that the Brown-Industrial Complex was operating at full capacity. These weren't just '70s leftovers. America still had an appetite for brown well after Duran Duran hit the charts. Even as other distinctively '80s touches creep in, like bed ruffles, brass hardware, and cooler grays, brown holds its own.
The Brown Age hits its zenith, 1982-1983 The early-mid '80s was also the golden age of what I call "brown shows": TV shows with a muted color palette and a cozy, homey vibe, the kind of show you pull over yourself like a warm blanket. Newhart and Murder, She Wrote are classics of the genre. But just about every family sitcom cultivated that feeling: a herd of deer could pass unnoticed against the myriad earth tones in the living rooms of Family Ties and Mr. Belvedere. What goes around comes a-brown Americans had started wearing more reds, yellows, and blues by then, with higher-contrast patterns like stripes and polka dots. By mid-decade, a tropical palette of neons and pastels would join them to solidify what we think of as the ‘80s look. The rise of video games, personal computers, and blockbuster sci-fi movies also spread a sleek, high-tech aesthetic as seen in such era icons as silver Atari jackets and parachute pants.
Unwrapping the future Decor, of course, changes more slowly than fashion. Home magazines may have promoted stark whites and cool pastels, and the candy-colored wackiness of the Memphis Group may have been hailed as the next big thing in postmodern living. Commercial spaces, too, only embraced the Swatch aesthetic slowly and spottily. Sure, on The Facts of Life, the rustic Edna's Edibles was replaced by the totally tubular Over Our Heads, with every '80s decor cliche from neon to pink to glass brick. But these photos of a mall from 1990 show acres of brown tile with cream accents. Even Taco Bell didn't switch to a purple-and-aqua color scheme until 1992. Those of us old enough to remember the '80s already know all this. Sure, we remember the multicolored puffy coats and the purple leg warmers and all those futuristic blank videotape jackets. But we also remember all that stuff happened against the backdrop of a million shades of brown.
Muddy Kodacolor memories of the way we browned So much wood paneling, everywhere! I don’t even know if I could get a room wood paneled even if I wanted to. (Spoiler, I kind of want to.) Over on this week’s Shoddy Goods chat we’re sharing photos of the 80s, or 70s, or even 90s to check on how brown we were. Join in, let’s see that couch you grew up with! Past Shoddy Goods stories:
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