Trendy Toys of the 1980s
Child Prodigies
U.S. States
What Color Was It?
A Cartoony Category
Books by First Lines
100

These popular dolls were “adopted” rather than purchased and came with their own birth certificates.

Cabbage Patch Kids

100

He got his start acting in films like 1963’s It Happened at the World’s Fair. He is also known for starring in movies like Overboard and Swing Shift with his longtime love, actress Goldie Hawn.

Kurt Russell

100

The first U.S. manned sub-orbital flight launched from this state, with Alan Shepard inside the spacecraft

Florida

100

The Pillsbury mascot, introduced in 1965

white

100

This mystery-solving cartoon pooch debuted in the fall of 1969.

Scooby-Doo

100

“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.”

To Kill a Mockingbird

200

These cuddly stuffed toys “care a lot.”

Care Bears

200

This childhood chess prodigy is known for his defeat of Soviet chess player Boris Spassky.

Bobby Fischer

200

Alcatraz, an island penitentiary off the coast of this state, closed on March 21, 1963

California

200

The outfit worn by Sir Charms, the Lucky Charms cereal mascot

green

200

This is an educational cartoon from the 1970s that features songs like “I’m Just a Bill” and “Conjunction Junction.”

Schoolhouse Rock

200

A classic Sylvia Plath novel begins, “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they executed the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.”

The Bell Jar

300

Originally marketed as a spherical paperweight, this fortune-telling toy became popular with children of the 1980s

Magic 8 Ball

300

This actor and filmmaker got his start in acting as a child, with roles such as Opie on The Andy Griffith Show

Ron Howard

300

On March 25, 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at a rally in Montgomery, this state’s capital

Alabama

300

The two colors of the first Earth Day flag, flown at an Illinois high school in 1970

green and white

300

This prehistoric cartoon series of the 1960s includes Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles.

The Flintstones

300

This Capote true crime novel begins, “The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there.

In Cold Blood

400

A popular brainteaser in the 1980s, the object of this toy is to get six sides of matching colored tiles aligned

Rubik’s Cube

400

This Spanish cubist painter is known for works like Guernica and The Old Guitarist.

Pablo Picasso

400

The 1962 World’s Fair, also called the Century 21 Exposition, opened in this state

Washington

400

The first-ever Post-It notes, invented at 3M in 1974

yellow

400

A spinoff of Archie comics, this show stars a pop-music group solving mysteries as they tour the globe.

Josie and the Pussycats

400

“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

500

Known as the world’s first action figure and an All-American hero, he debuted in 1964 from Hasbro toys.

G.I. Joe

500

This child prodigy is known for musical ditties like “My Cherie Amour” and “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.”

Stevie Wonder

500

This state was the site for the Greensboro sit-ins

North Carolina

500

The Cloud, Prince’s custom-built guitar that stars alongside him in the film Purple Rain

white

500

This ’80s cartoon features characters named after Renaissance artists.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

500

“When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.”

The Outsiders

600

He was a talking teddy bear created by Ken Forsse, an animatronics enthusiast.

Teddy Ruxpin

600

This musician was known for “Back in the High Life” and for working with the musical groups Traffic and Blind Faith.

Steve Winwood

600

In 1960, these two states hit a record high with populations of over 15 million people, according to the census.

California and New York

600

The 1932 Ford Coupe driven by John Milner in American Graffiti

yellow

600

Bob Kane created this animated cat-and-mouse series as a spoof of his Batman comics

Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse

600

A 1969 anti-war novel opens, “All this happened, more or less.

Slaughterhouse-Five