United States in 1985

💰 How much things cost in 1985

Currency: USD

🎵 The music of 1985

The song of the year: Wham! – Careless Whisper (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 #1)

Other songs people listened to in 1985:

• Madonna – Like a Virgin
• Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
• Dire Straits – Money for Nothing
• Tears for Fears – Everybody Wants to Rule the World
• Don Henley – The Boys of Summer
• Simple Minds – Don't You (Forget About Me)
• A-ha – Take On Me
• Huey Lewis – The Power of Love
• John Parr – St. Elmo's Fire

📺 TV, cinema and pop culture

Cartoons: Transformers / My Little Pony / Care Bears / Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears (on Syndicated / ABC Saturday morning). 1985 was the golden age of 80s cartoons. Transformers, Jem, Thundercats, My Little Pony, Care Bears — all on at the same time.

TV series: Miami Vice (NBC) — Crockett and Tubbs in linen. The show that defined 80s aesthetics.

At the cinema: Back to the Future — 88 mph, a DeLorean, and Chuck Berry. The perfect movie.

Person of the moment: Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) — every kid wanted a hoverboard and a DeLorean

The cult toy: Transformers / My Little Pony / Care Bears. Depending on your household, you were either a Transformers kid or a My Little Pony kid. There was no middle ground.

👗 Fashion and snacks

Fashion: Preppy peak: Oxford shirts, khakis, Top-Siders. Also: Madonna clones with lace and crucifixes.

Snacks: Doritos, Reese's Pieces, Ring Pops, Hostess Twinkies, New Coke (disaster of the year)

📰 What happened in 1985

Event of the year: Live Aid concert raises $125M for Ethiopia. Crack cocaine epidemic begins. New Coke disaster.

Sport: Super Bowl XIX: San Francisco 49ers beat Miami Dolphins 38-16. Joe Montana MVP again.

💻 Technology and everyday life

Tech news: Windows 1.0 released by Microsoft. Nintendo Entertainment System launches in the US. Super Mario Bros.

The gadget to have: Nintendo NES with Super Mario Bros (October 1985 US launch)

How people communicated: VCRs were in most homes now. You could record TV shows. Time-shifting existed.

How people listened to music: Live Aid in July 1985 — the biggest concert ever staged. Watched by 1.9 billion people.

The weekend: Back to the Future in theaters all summer. Everyone wanted a DeLorean.

📵 What didn't exist yet in 1985

• internet for all
• cell phones widely
• DVD (1996)
• Windows stable
• Nintendo NES just launched (Oct 1985)

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