Image: Seattle Municipal Archives
About This Quiz
Generation X are in an interesitng position. They're all the people who were born between about 1965 and 1979. They're a small generation who came of age after the Baby Boomers but before the Millennials. That means they didn't bear the full brunt of hte Great Recession, as they were already somewhat established. However they didn't enjoy the full benefits of the glorious thirty-year period the Boomers had from 1945 to 1975, in which the economy reliably grew and a single income could support a family of four even if you had very little education. Generation X did see all of that happen during their childhoods, but they generally only got to live it for a brief period in the 1990s when the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the internet created an economic boost in their 20s.
The Boomers were thus mainly the generation who experienced the '80s as teenagers and young adults. That means they know all about the Rubik's Cube, MTV, leg warmers and really terrible hair styles. How well do you remember this period? Can you name all the members of the Brat Pack? Did you see The Little Mermaid in the theater? Let's find out!
What was the name of the famous anti-drug campaign the government ran?
Go Ahead, Everyone Does It!
Just Say No
Nobody listened to this campaign, as a cursory glance around a room full of 1980s Wall Street traders would prove. The government still kept it running for years.
Don't Do That Stuff
Avoid That Nastiness
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What's a portable music player that holds a cassette?
iPod
Literally any phone?
Discman
Walkman
A Walkman finally replaced the heavy boombox as the portable music of choice. Unfortunately, as headphones were still way behind, everyone could still hear your music, it just sounded terrible.
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How do you communicate a super-important thought to your friend mid-math class?
Text them
Sign language
Pass a note.
Passing notes was risky because they were usually spotted and naturally, they'd have your handwriting in them, even if you weren't the one caught holding them. The best teachers knew when to pretend not to see them, however.
You didn't!
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What musical gift do you make someone to mark a special occasion?
Mixtape
A mixtape was a sign of true love. Romance, friendship, filial - you could say it with a mixtape. You had to wait for the song on the radio, which proved how much effort you put in!
Cassette mix
Playlist
Tape deck
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What 1989 event made you think history was probably over and we won?
Vaclav Havel became president of Czecheslovakia.
Fall of the Berlin Wall
This was the seminal event of all Generation X-ers' young lives. Even if you were 7, you remember it. The wall has now been down for longer than it was up!
Solidarity party won Polish elections.
Japanese emperor Hirohito died.
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What should do you after you watch the VHS you've rented?
Rewind it.
The motto was, "Be kind, rewind!" Some stores imposed a fee if you didn't rewind. Since getting a movie was a real hassle, people couldn't do much about this - but got revenge years later by all switching to Netflix.
Nothing, just keep it.
Return it.
Fast forward to the end, then return it.
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What was the seemingly unsolvable 3" square puzzle that debuted in the '80s?
Slinky
Rubik's Cube
This puzzle defied many people for years. These days, you can just hop on YouTube to learn that there is a method that always works. Fast "cubers" typically need mere seconds to solve it.
Tangler
Bob's Box
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Which visitor is trying to phone home, but needs more than a regular phone?
One of the Goonies
E.T.
This sweet movie was one of the main hits of the decade. It is about an alien who needs to tell his friends where to find him, if he can just get a signal. Unfortunately, it was long before you could get a decent cellphone.
Ferris Bueller
The Ghostbusters
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On what did Bon Jovi inform us he was living?
Cloud 9
A prayer
This song was ubiquitous for Generation X. Love it or hate it, you could not escape it.
$5 a day
His mom's boat.
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What hungry digital character needs to stay away from ghosts?
Pac-Man
Pac-Man was an arcade game that came to early home computers and consoles in the '80s. You run around eating little pellets that give you points, while ghosts try to chase you and eat you in return!
Super Mario
Q*bert
Frogger
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What was the name of the feminist cartoon character whose show was called "Princess of Power?"
ALF
She-Ra
She-Ra was a powerful superhero-type character in the Filmation series. Her show is being rebooted in 2018!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Rainbow Brite
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Which of these is actually a perfectly reasonable material from which to make a shoe?
Jelly
Jelly shoes were semi-see-through plastic shoes that are now understood to be hideous. For a while there, they were the height of fashion.
Stone
All Velcro, all over
All elastic
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What do you call a ball on a string that you attach your your ankle then jump?
Skip-It
Everyone had a Skip-It in the '80s. The fancy ones could count the number of skips so you could use them for exercise - and some had a heavy enough ball on the end that you could also use them to whack other kids' ankles while feigning innocence.
Skipper
Skip rope
Jump rope
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What's a long spring-like toy called that can go down stairs on its own?
Care Bear
My Little Pony
Slinky
A slinky is one of the most satisfying toys in the world - until it refuses to go down the stairs and then it just sits there. Then, it is one of the most frustrating toys you can own.
Glo Worm
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What boot is the only boot worth having?
Swashbucklers
Doc Martens
Doc Martens were the only boot. Sure, you had moon boots for the snow, but you were just waiting to get back into your Doc Martens.
Moon boots
Pretty Woman boots
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What sort of toy starts as a truck then turns into a warrior?
Wuzzles
Popples
Transformers
Transformers began as a toy that was super cool because it was a car that turned into a robot warrior. These days it is also a very successful movie franchise directed by Michael Bay.
Fashion Plates
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It's hot and you want a sugary treat to cool you down. What does a Gen X-er reach for?
Squeezeit Fruit Drinks
Jello Pudding Pops
Popsicle
Many of the best snacks of the Gen Xers' youth are no longer with us. Popsicle has survived, thank goodness!
McDonald's shake
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What's the first site from which you downloaded free music?
Napster
Napster is all legitimate now, but when it started, it was a scrappy pirating service. The modern version is not the same thing, really, but it bought the trademarks to sound cool.
Rhapsody
Youtube
AOL
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What sort of printer produces paper with sprocket holes down both sides?
Dot matrix
Dot matrix is a method of printing, and became a brand. It was enormously successful until replaced by the laser and inkjet printer.
Dell
Epson
Canon
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Who were the original Mean Girls?
Janes
Sarahs
Heathers
"Heathers" was a hugely successful movie about teen bullying, taken to an extreme. In 2010 it was adapted as a musical.
Lindsays
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Which of the below is NOT a member of the Brat Pack?
Ally Sheedy
Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis is certainly not a Brat Pack member. The Brat Pack were a group of up-and-coming beautiful actors who appeared in a series of coming-of-age movies.
Rob Lowe
Molly Ringwald
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Which of these is not a line from the theme song for "Fraggle Rock"?
Let the music play
Worry's for another day
Up at Fraggle Rock
Fraggles are relations of the Muppets. They live at Fraggle Rock and they are amazingly chilled out, according to their theme song.
Let the music play
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What is the name of the bear who tells stories?
Yogi Bear
Teddy Ruxpin
Teddy Ruxpin was a stuffed bear with a cassette player. You would put a cassette in the back and the bear would "tell" you the story contained on the audiobook inside.
Storytime Bear
Bad News Bear
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What was a wristband called that you put on by smacking it against your skin?
Smacker
Slap bracelet
A slap bracelet was very satisfying to put on! You would slap it against your wrist and it would stick to itself with a magnet.
Tack-On
Smack bracelet
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In what room do you find the Dewey Decimal System?
Kitchen
Living room
Laboratory
Library
The Dewey Decimal System is a way of tracking books. Before you could just scan them, they all had their own reference card and a system for locating them. Generation X were probably the last group of kids to learn it in school.
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What do you carry your makeup in?
A Caboodle
This was the fashionable way to carry makeup. You can still get them for a mere $20, though they aren't as robust as the old ones.
A bag
Pockets (since jeans had them then)
Trapper Keeper
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What is Bert and Ernie's relationship?
Roommates who don't like each other
Friends
Bert and Ernie were long suspected to be a couple, but in the '80s, that wouldn't have been possible on TV. It's likely the makers of "Sesame Street" never intended anything else, but these days, it's fun to imagine what could have been!
Husbands
Colleagues
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What videogame always ends with you dying of dysentery?
Centipede
Oregon Trail
This text-based game nearly always ended with your character dying of dysentery. The goal was to navigate the Oregon Trail and get to ... Oregon!
Galaga
Frogger
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What did you use to check your pronunciation growing up?
Dictionary.
Speak & Spell
This device was the equivalent of a pronunciation YouTube channel or website. You typed in a word and it would speak the correct pronunciation.
Parents!
You didn't.
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What size were early computer discs?
5" 1/4
Floppy discs are so named because they were actually floppy, though they were in a plastic sheath that protected them. The earliest ones known to Generation X were five inches and a quarter in size and contained practically nothing by today's standards.
3" 1/2
6"
12"
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What catchy song series made you inadvertently learn civics?
The Ramones
Animaniacs
Kids Incorporated
Schoolhouse Rock
Schoolhouse Rock explained what a bill was and how it became a law. It disguised civics as a fun cartoon, so kids would sit through it!
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What is the best way to carry around lots of papers?
In a bag!
Inside your huge perm
Trapper Keeper
Trapper Keepers are so wholesome that it's hard to believe they were really cool. They are literally a file folder with sections for different pieces of work. These days, you just put it all in Google Drive.
Backpack
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How do you check your email at school?
Go to the library and log in
If you are Generation X, you probably got email around the age of 14-20. That meant you had to go someplace to check it, since no mobile device had it.
You didn't, as it did not exist.
Use your phone
Plug your laptop in to a modem
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What do you call a symbol that is two vertical lines and two horizontal lines crossing one another?
Pound symbol
The pound symbol meant a currency symbol in the UK, but in the US it was what we now call a hashtag. The change was made in the last 15 years with the rise of social media.
Satan symbol
Hashtag
X
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If you wanted to wear an oversize shirt as a crop top, what did you use?
Tie a knot.
Scrunchie
Trick question: you didn't.
T-shirt clip
A T-shirt clip was a tacky way to make your shirt cling. As fabrics have grown more sophisticated, fitted shirts that actually conform to more bodies are much more easily made.
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You Got:
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