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Writer's pictureMichael Woodruff

The List: The 80's in Miami, Oklahoma

Updated: Feb 28, 2023

The 1980s offered an explosion of technology, fashion, music, and more. With photos taken from old Miami High School yearbooks, we hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane.

, 1. "Reach Out and Touch Someone.."

Imagine a world where only the uber rich had a mobile phone in their Bentleys. For the rest of us, putting a quarter in a public payphone to call someone who cares. For the germaphobes remember to wipe the handset on your shirt there is no hand sanitizer..






2. “Prepare to Qualify..”

Whether it's racing in the 8 bit world of Pole Position or helping Pacman avoid ghosts. You'll quickly swear "@!#@!" like Q-bert when you use your last quarter. Luckily for the victors with top scores the sweet naughty sensation of putting your initials, Anthony Samuel Smith or Fred Ulysses Kennedy..


3. "Be Kind Rewind.."

With VHS, or even Beta tapes, everynight can be movie night. Your local video rental store has hundreds of titles to choose from. So get a bag of microwave popcorn, sit back, relax and enjoy Mannequin!





4. "Fashion starts here.."

From The Cars to Madonna, that MTV style can be seen even in the hallways of Miami High School. Don't forget to get yourself a pair of cheap sunglasses.








5. "Shall We Play a Game.."

While the capabilities of the computer were initially exaggerated in science fiction films. The future arrived in 1984 with the first Apple Macintosh Personal Computer. Films like "Wargames" and "Weird Science" definitely fueled a desire to "Boot Up".



6. "Look for the Golden Arches.."

As you ate your Big Mac in 1985, McDonald's opened a record 597 restaurants, giving the world's largest fast-food chain a new store every 15 hours. The nearly 9,000 McDonald's restaurants in 41 countries had record sales of $1.3 million per restaurant for the year. Yeah we went a little geeky here..


7. "Voted Car of the Year by the Experts."

When you just got your driver's license you didn't care about safety features much less gas milage. Cruising Main Street and waving at people passing by was the name of the game on a Friday and Saturday night.



8. "Video Killed the Radio Star.."

Live disc jockeys bantering about whatever, playing music you requested, and hitting "record" on your tape recorder so you could create the mixtape that would even impress Duckie. While radio stations are now automated and nobody takes your requests and dedications, you can now post and tag that special someone, a Youtube video from their favorite artist. It isn't the same..


9. "Makin' it great!.."

Sitting at Pizza Hut bantering with friends over Cokes and pizza until minutes before your curfew. Don't forget to save a piece of pizza for old Dad as he waits at home on his La-Z-Boy watching Johnny...



10. "Ooo Harvey!"

Upon graduating high school, you get a job at B.F. Goodrich, buy a ring from Harvey Claus, and ask your high school sweetheart to marry you.








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