Much has been written about the decades when America’s baby boomers came of age. Now, as children raised in the 80’s step into leadership roles, some are looking back on that decade, and the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond is hosting a new show.
The 60’s and 70’s were a time of spiritual and social exploration – the age of women’s lib and black power, rock music and pop art, hippies and hari krishnas.
The 80’s, on the other hand, were down to earth, with Madonna hailing the material world and Olivia Newton-John, surrounded by body builders, urging Americans to get physical.
Andrew Talkov remembers it well. He oversees exhibitions at the Virginia Historical Society and has worked with the Richmond Times-Dispatch to build a show around the paper’s photos from the 1980’s.
“I was between 8 and 18 years old. I don’t think I fully understood the decade that sort of formed the way that I look at the world, so it was a really nice opportunity to look back at a time that I lived through."
He concludes this was the age of consumerism.
“There was mass media to consume – the blockbuster movie really took off, and in fact, Blockbuster itself got its start in the 1980’s. You know nowadays we have to convince young people that we went out on a Friday night to a store and rented a movie, and also – interestingly enough – the 80’s were the first time that a majority of American households had cable. CNN comes to mind, but also MTV, and I just find it interesting that 30 years later everyone is trying to cut the cable. In the 1980’s everyone was trying to get the cable.”
Oprah Winfrey would have the top daytime talk show on television, while Ronald Reagan stood on the political stage.
“And then there is the photograph of Donald Trump in the collection of the Richmond Times Dispatch that we feature in the exhibit, but this was long before he admitted that he had an eye on the presidency, Talkov says.”
In Richmond, another man was making political history:
“Obviously Doug Wilder is an important name from the 1980’s, being the first African American elected governor of any state, but actually the photograph of Gigi Gits, who was a pretty well-known young lady in the Richmond punk scene during the 1980’s is pretty prominently featured, and I’ve run into quite a few people who see her photograph with her signature Mohawk and say, ‘I remember her!’”
In addition to photos, Talkov promises a news reel from the 80’s.
“We have footage from some of the most memorable events of the period – the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the assassination attempt against Ronald Reagan, the freeing of the Iran hostages.”
And objects that recall the decade.
“Historical objects like the gloves and tambourine that Prince used in the movie Purple Rain, sneakers that were worn by UVA basketball star Ralph Sampson in his early days as an NBA star. He, of course, wore a size 17 shoe. He was 7’4” tall.”
The show opens November 18, and to celebrate the historical society will host an 80’s cover band and party where people are invited to don their favorite 80’s fashions and compete for the chance to ride around the block in a Delorean.
For more information, go to http://www.vahistorical.org/events/programs-and-activities/social-events/back-80s-concert-exhibit-opening
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
