SMELLS LIKE GEN X BLOG
Explore the written archive for 70s nostalgia, 80s nostalgia, and 90s nostalgia across music, movies, TV shows, toys, fads, commercials, trends, and the weird pop-culture debris that never fully left your brain.
Use this page as the main written gateway into Smells Like Gen X: start with a decade hub, follow a topic lane, search the archive, or jump straight into the latest post.
Looking for a specific year, song list, movie countdown, TV ranking, toy post, fad archive, commercial rewind, or category lane? Search the archive directly instead of scrolling the whole feed.
The blog works best when you use the decade hubs as your map. Start with the 70s, jump into the flagship 80s hub, or head into the expanding 90s archive.
Start here for 70s songs, movies, TV, toys, and the slower, stranger, more analog version of Gen X memory.
Big hooks, bigger movies, iconic toy aisles, prime-time TV, mall culture, and now the full 1980–1989 fads archive in one decade hub.
Alt-rock, sitcom empires, CDs, snack-branding overload, holiday toy panic, and the polished late-era Gen X archive.
These topic lanes route into the main category hubs, so visitors can browse the archive by what they actually care about.
Start here for year-end countdowns, chart rewinds, radio nostalgia, and the songs that permanently colonized your brain.
Dive into year-by-year movie countdowns, box office rewinds, poster-wall nostalgia, and video-store-era comfort watches.
Network giants, sitcom empires, Nielsen-era countdowns, forgotten shows, and the TV memories that still feel weirdly personal.
Holiday toy panic, weird products, year-by-year toy posts, and the kind of childhood plastic that still lives in your head rent-free.
Schoolyard crazes, mall fads, bad hair decisions, logo flexes, and the short-lived obsessions that defined everyday Gen X life.
Dive into classic commercial rewinds, catchphrases, mascots, cola wars, beer ads, Super Bowl spots, and the campaigns that completely colonized Gen X memory.
These are the strongest written entry points into the current Smells Like Gen X archive.
The strongest decade page on the site right now, with clear paths into songs, movies, TV, toys, fads, commercials, and broader 80s nostalgia.
One of the most distinctive lanes on the site now that the full 1980s fad run is live. Great for fast nostalgia hits and everyday-memory weirdness.
Classic ad campaigns, mascots, cola wars, beer slogans, and the TV spots that got so big they stopped feeling like ads.
Fresh nostalgia, deep cuts, countdowns, weird trends, and beautifully unnecessary rewinds across the Gen X archive.
Apple’s “1984” ad didn’t feel like a normal commercial when it hit TV during Super Bowl XVIII. It felt bigger, stranger, and more important — the kind of TV moment Gen X viewers didn’t forget.
Read more →1989 was the last big weird blast of the 80s. From Hard Rock Cafe wear and biker shorts to fanny packs, crimped hair, extensions, and rat tails, these were the fads everybody noticed.
Read more →1988 mixed school drama, loud fashion, dance crazes, and younger-kid obsessions into one unforgettable Gen X year. From teen mags and scrunchies to slam books and Pocket Rockers, these were the fads everyone noticed.
Read more →1987 was not just about fashion. It was a full-blown pop-culture mood built on labels, hair, music, mall style, and ad-driven crazes that somehow became part of everyday life.
Read more →The biggest fads of 1986 were all about image. From Top Gun cool and acid-wash denim to surfwear, shell-toes, slouch socks, and Just Say No, this was a year when fashion drove the culture.
Read more →From Garbage Pail Kids and Hulkamania to Choose Life shirts, friendship pins, banana clips, and New Coke, these were the biggest fads of 1985.
Read more →From Madonna lace style and Trapper Keepers to sticker books, Miami Vice fashion, parachute pants, and 80s slang, these were the biggest fads of 1984.
Read more →From breakdancing and Mr. T mania to Valley Girl talk, Swatch watches, jelly shoes, and Jheri curls, these were the biggest fads of 1983.
Read more →From E.T. mania and the Commodore 64 boom to Atari obsession, Jane Fonda workouts, Thriller fever, and Members Only jackets, these were the biggest fads of 1982.
Read more →From Rubik’s Cube mania to MTV, Princess Diana fever, arcade obsession, home video, and the aerobics boom, these were the biggest fads of 1981.
Read more →From Pac-Man mania to the Urban Cowboy craze, these were the biggest fads of 1980 — the trends, toys, fashion crazes, and pop-culture obsessions that took over America.
Read more →The top toys of 1995 marked the end of the Gen X toy era, mixing Barbie, Sky Dancers, Power Rangers, Talkboy, Hot Wheels, Lego, and other shelf favorites into one final mid-90s countdown. Here’s a nostalgic look at the biggest toy crazes of 1995 and why this year felt like the handoff to younger millennials.
Read more →DON’T MISS THE REWIND
Countdowns, forgotten media, weird rabbit holes, and peak Gen X nostalgia across every category.