Christmas Wish Lists Across the Decades - 1980s Edition

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#80sChristmasList

The 1980s coincided with my high school and college years. They also coincided with the last decade of the Cold War, the advent of new technologies, and the emergence of Tom Clancy and the technothriller genre of popular fiction.

The following is a sampling of various Christmastime lists from across the decade, although the default year is 1985, which was my freshman year at Miami-Dade Community College. I eventually ended up owning all of them; if I didn't receive them during the holidays, I'd get them later as birthday presents or, as in the case of my first personal computer, an out-of-the-blue gift from a relative. And, of course, once I got a few jobs, I'd buy things on my own.


  • Personal computer (I was given one in 1987, an Apple IIe that cost approximately $2,100, or $4,774.56 in 2019)
  • New-release VHS tapes of feature films (average cost in 1985: $79.99, or $190.85 in 2019)
  • Novels by Stephen King
  • Novels by Tom Clancy
  • Music albums on audiocassette (Billy Joel, movie soundtracks, and Boston Pops Orchestra with John Williams recordings)
  • Audiobooks on cassette
  • Computer games for the Apple IIe (NATO Commander, Crusade in Europe, Silent Service, Gulf Strike)
  • Star Wars collectibles (though for a time I stopped collecting and even put most of what I had in boxes)
©1986 G.P. Putnam's Sons

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