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27 photos that show what life looked like in 1987

·Colby Droscher

Left: Theoldelf // Reddit, Right: JoJoPowa85 // Reddit
Left: Theoldelf // Reddit, Right: JoJoPowa85 // Reddit
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The best parts of 1987 never made it into the history books. A Nintendo hooked up to the wood-paneled TV. A Pizza Hut with a red roof and a booth with your name on it. A Saturday with nowhere to be and a bike that could get you there anyway.

It was a year of acid wash and high-tops, neon ski suits and band tees, hair that took longer than breakfast. Dogs wore sunglasses. Kids danced on kitchen counters. Somebody's uncle won a pickup truck by guessing jelly beans at the state fair (and drove it home, pink wave decals and all).

Some of these photos are soft at the edges, the colors slightly off, a date burned into the corner in orange. Most of the people in them weren't performing for anyone. They were just there, living it, with no idea anyone would ever look back.

Stacker gathered 27 photos from 1987. Most come from family photo albums, alongside a handful of offstage moments from the stars who defined the year.

Black and white photo of a store manager in a white dress and an assistant kneeling beside a rack of VHS tapes at Video World, a video rental store in Chesterfield County, Virginia, in 1987.

Richmond Times-Dispatch // Getty Images

1 / 27

A video rental store in Virginia in 1987

Friday night started here. In March 1987, the staff at Video World in Chesterfield County, Virginia, were restocking shelves still ruled by 1986's biggest hits: "Top Gun," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Stand By Me," and "Aliens." Somebody always had "Top Gun" checked out.

A man sits in the driver's seat of a black GMC S-15 pickup truck with bold pink and purple wave graphic decals along the side, parked in front of a brick building with a "Flight Standards" sign.

V3BabyBurton // Reddit

2 / 27

"My uncle won this truck by being closest to correctly guessing the number of jelly beans in a jar at the state fair in 1987"

He guessed the jelly beans. He won the truck. The pink wave graphics really confirm that this was, in fact, 1987.

A young man in a teal sweatshirt sits in a blue 1984 Pontiac Fiero SE with a small white dog wearing red sunglasses perched on his lap, both looking out the open window.

rage242 // Reddit

3 / 27

"A photo of me, my dog wearing sunglasses, and my 1984 Fiero SE"

The Fiero. The shades on the dog. The teal sweatshirt. 1987 didn't try this hard. It just was this hard.

A man wearing a sweatshirt reading "I'm Rick Astley's Dad" stands behind a roadside sign that reads "Well Done Rick Astley, You've Always Been Our No. 1, Love You," giving a thumbs up.

arcana07 // Reddit

4 / 27

Rick Astley's father celebrating "Never Gonna Give You Up" making it to No. 1 on the UK chart in 1987

Ossie Astley celebrates his son Rick's debut single "Never Gonna Give You Up" hitting number one on the UK charts in 1987. The song went on to top the charts in 25 countries (but Ossie was claiming him as No. 1 long before that).

A man in a color-block track jacket sits next to a desktop computer and monitor, holding a circuit board toward the camera in a promotional photograph from the late 1980s.

miseleigh // Reddit

5 / 27

"My dad in a 1987 magazine ad"

Dad got the call. The color-block jacket, the big glasses, the circuit board held like a trophy. This is what the cutting edge looked like in 1987. The home computer was still new enough that holding its insides felt like a flex.

A toddler sits cross-legged on a dining table, holding a slice of pizza in each hand, next to an open Domino's Pizza box. Crayons, a banana, and a wicker basket are scattered around on the table.

EtherWhey // Reddit

6 / 27

"I was a food-motivated climber back in 1987."

Climbed onto the table. Secured the Domino's. One slice for each hand. Somebody grabbed the camera before anybody grabbed the pizza.

Black and white photo of a group of Cardinals fans in lawn chairs and denim jackets gathered behind an open van in a stadium parking lot, watching a World Series game on a small TV set up on a cooler between two speakers.

Jerry Naunheim Jr./St. Louis Post-Dispatch // Getty Images

7 / 27

Cardinals fans tailgating at Busch Stadium during the 1987 World Series

Cardinals fans watch Game 6 of the World Series from the back of a van at Busch Stadium on Oct. 24, 1987. The game was 500 miles away at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. They showed up anyway, with lawn chairs, a TV, and two speakers. On screen is John Tudor, moments before Don Baylor took him deep for a game-tying two-run homer. The Twins won 11-5, then took the first World Series in which the home team won all seven games the next night.

A young boy in a suit and tie sips from a wine glass at a restaurant table, with a wine bottle and other glasses visible nearby and adults seated behind him.

lanko69 // Reddit

8 / 27

"Stealing a drink of wine at a wedding while my mom (behind me) isn't looking in 1987"

Mom's right there. He knows exactly what he's doing.

Hulk Hogan, in a yellow tank top and red kneepads, cups a hand to his ear in the corner of a wrestling ring while André the Giant, in a black singlet, stands with his back to the camera across the ring, surrounded by a packed crowd waving foam fingers and signs.

WWE // Getty Images

9 / 27

Hulk Hogan taunts André the Giant at WrestleMania III in 1987

Hulk Hogan cups an ear to the crowd while André the Giant waits across the ring at WrestleMania III on March 29, 1987. WWE announced 93,173 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan. Hogan body-slammed all 500-plus pounds of André and pinned him. At least one fan saw it coming (check the "Hulkster eats giants" sign in the crowd).

A young boy in an Adidas hoodie and jeans stands on a sidewalk next to a Raleigh Burner BMX bike, with parked cars and a row of brick buildings visible on a street behind him.

Cormega99 // Reddit

10 / 27

"Me and my Raleigh Burner (1987)"

The Raleigh Burner was one of the most coveted BMX bikes in the mid-'80s. The Adidas hoodie didn't hurt either. This is what a good Saturday looked like in 1987.

Two young boys in pajamas and sweats pose next to an enormous G.I. Joe Defiant Space Vehicle Launch Complex box on Christmas morning in a wood-paneled living room with a cast iron wood stove.

Snoo_34963 // Reddit

11 / 27

"Christmas was good to us in 1987"

The G.I. Joe Defiant Space Vehicle Launch Complex came out in 1987 (a space shuttle, crawler, and launch station all in one) and retailed for $99.99, a fortune for a toy that year. One of these kids is sitting on top of the box. That about covers it.

A toddler in printed overalls stands on the trunk of a red Chevrolet Celebrity in a parking lot, grinning in front of a classic red-roofed Pizza Hut building in Texas.

JoJoPowa85 // Reddit

12 / 27

"Proof I've been a pizza enthusiast since at least 1987"

Standing on the car. Grinning at the hut. The overalls are perfect. Some kids are born knowing what they want, and what she wanted was Pizza Hut.

A man in a bold pink, teal, and neon yellow form-fitting ski racing suit stands on a snowy mountain summit holding Dynastar skis, wearing blue mirrored sunglasses and a matching headband, with a sweeping mountain range behind him.

Theoldelf // Reddit

13 / 27

"I thought I was the man in my ski race attire back in '87"

The suit. The mirrored shades. The Dynastar skis. The mountain as a backdrop. He was not wrong. He was absolutely the man in 1987. No notes.

A young teenage boy in a denim jacket and acid wash jeans sits with his feet up on a desk, holding a joystick in front of a computer, with an Empire of the Sun movie poster visible on the wall behind him.

Ok_Tip_5184 // Reddit

14 / 27

Actor Christian Bale at home in Bournemouth, Dorset, in 1987

Christian Bale at home in Bournemouth in 1987, the same year Empire of the Sun came out. The poster for it is right there on his wall.

Five teenage boys crowd together in a bedroom covered in rock band posters, throwing up devil horns and mugging for the camera in band shirts, bandanas, and denim before a concert in 1987.

Kittenstorm93 // Reddit

15 / 27

"My friends and I prior to an Iron Maiden show in 1987"

Bandanas. Band tees. Devil horns. An Iron Maiden poster on the wall and a Metallica Master of Puppets shirt in the front row. These five are ready. The bedroom alone tells you everything about 1987.

Freddie Mercury in a white sweatshirt sits in bed eating from a bowl while two cats lounge on the white bedspread around him.

JAlbert653 // Reddit

16 / 27

Freddie Mercury eating soup in bed with his cats in 1987

Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest rock performers who ever lived. In 1987, he was also just a guy eating soup in bed with his cats. He adored them. On tour, he'd call home and ask for a cat or two to be held up to the phone.

A young boy in a colorful graphic sweatshirt, acid wash jeans, and Nike high-tops dances on a kitchen counter, grinning, with a stove visible in the foreground.

myworkaccountatwork // Reddit

17 / 27

Dancing on the countertop in 1987

Acid-wash jeans, Nike high-tops, and a sweatshirt that was doing everything at once. Nobody told him the counter wasn't a stage. Nobody was going to.

A small blond toddler in a blue jacket and red Converse sneakers holds the leash of an enormous Great Dane at what appears to be a dog show, smiling at the camera while the dog stands nearly as tall as he does.

Patches_Mcgee // Reddit

18 / 27

"Me and my dog in 1987"

The kid has the leash. The dog is just letting him think it matters.

Black and white photo of Tony Hawk skating the wall of a concrete bowl at the Del Mar Skate Ranch in California, with onlookers watching from the edge.

John Storey // Getty Images

19 / 27

Tony Hawk at the Del Mar Skate Ranch in 1987

Tony Hawk at the Del Mar Skate Ranch in 1987. His father, Frank, founded the California Amateur Skateboard League and the National Skateboarding Association largely to support his son's career. It was working. The park itself wasn't so lucky: the Del Mar Skate Ranch was demolished that July.

Two young men in light blue dress shirts, ties, and suspenders sit on stone steps eating hot dogs, with the facade of the New York Stock Exchange behind them.

hotsaucermen // Reddit

20 / 27

Wall Street interns at lunchtime in 1987

Two young interns in suspenders and ties eat hot dogs on the steps across from the New York Stock Exchange. They were starting out at a turbulent time on Wall Street. On Oct. 19, 1987, a day now known as Black Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6%, the largest one-day percentage drop in its history. Two months later, Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" hit theaters, and Gordon Gekko's "Greed is good" became the decade's unofficial motto.

A smiling man in a striped shirt and baseball cap holds a camcorder in the foreground while a woman, two girls, an older woman, and Mickey Mouse pose in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland.

Bob Riha Jr. // Getty Images

21 / 27

Recording the family at Disneyland in 1987

A tourist aims his Zenith camcorder at his family and Mickey Mouse on Disneyland's Main Street in April 1987, with Sleeping Beauty Castle behind them. Camcorders were turning family vacations into home movies by the mid-'80s, and a lot of them ended up on VHS tapes in closets across America.

A man in a tan suit stands in front of a blue chroma key wall giving the TV weather report, with a monitor beside him.

zanesix // Reddit

22 / 27

"My dad's first day on the job in 1987"

First day on air. The trick with chroma key is that you can't see what's behind you. You just have to trust the monitor and keep talking.

Black and white photo of Grateful Dead fans in tie-dye sitting along the tops of a row of portable toilets at Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, while others dance on the pavement below.

Barry Chin/The Boston Globe // Getty Images

23 / 27

Grateful Dead fans at Sullivan Stadium in 1987

Deadheads turning a row of porta-potties into bleachers at Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1987. It was a big summer to be a Deadhead. This show opened the band's six-show stadium tour with Bob Dylan, and within weeks "Touch of Grey" would be on its way to becoming the band's first and only Top 10 hit. Down below, nobody was waiting in line for anything. They were dancing.

A young woman with dark tousled hair and blue eyes looks directly into the camera in a close-up photo taken inside a vehicle, dated February 22, 1987 in the corner.

Berenbos // Reddit

24 / 27

Gillian Anderson in 1987

Gillian Anderson, February 22, 1987. She was 18. X-Files was still six years away.

A beaming young boy in a white dress shirt, striped red and white tie, and slacks stands outside with an American flag flying behind him and a tall office building to his right.

asylum83 // Reddit

25 / 27

"My best friend on the day he became a U.S. citizen. He was adopted from Colombia"

The smile. The tie. The flag is right where it needs to be. This is what the best day looks like.

A bearded man crouches by a smoky campfire with a small girl in jeans and a Mickey Mouse belt, both holding sticks over the flames, with a tent and tarp visible behind them in the woods.

StreetTacoNamdDesire // Reddit

26 / 27

"My dad and I in 1987. He loved bringing me camping. I apparently didn't know what we were doing."

Dad knows exactly what he's doing. She's working on it.

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