While I have both tags and categories marked as ‘Ephemera’, my random collection of witterings about various bits of historic ephemera is no-where near as well structured or as well targeted as Ephemeral 80s.
I’m going to be honest, while any site can be for anyone, you probably have to be of a certain age and to have spent time in certain select (but middling) British demographics for it to truly hit home.
It’s a fairly new blog, with less than two dozen pages, so I was able to work my way through it rather quickly and, having done so, I’ve pulled out a few of my favourite posts.
The Sainsbury Book of Children’s Party Cooking (1983) – This I vividly remember, especially the post box and mushroom house found in the last picture. If Amazon used was quoting me something more reasonable than the 25 pounds it currently wants for a copy of The Sainsbury Book of Children’s Party Cooking (1983), I’d have a copy on the way here right now.
St Michael Dressing Gown (1985) – The cut! The colouring! The unrepentant regional 1980s-ism!
Boots Freetime – Autumn 1985 – I must admit I don’t remember this particular piece of Boots advertising. No, what I do remember is a certain product, a product featured on the page extracted nicked below.
No, it’s not the Amstrad CPC6128 (a computer I’ve only ever encountered as a wreck) but the Duracell ‘Durabeam’ – a pocket torch that, as a small boy, I lusted after, acquired, and promptly found I could put in my mouth and make my cheeks and face glow. It lit up! It flipped! It had batteries and a go-faster stripe! What more could a Transformers-loving boy want?
The internet tells me these little flippy Durabeams are now quite hard to find however the ‘candlepowerforums.com’ forums do have a little more on them here.