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I tend to think of the the 80's as the anti-government/ pro-free market era. In that case one could argue it has yet to end, or alternately that it ended in the 2008 election (I woud argue the former)......
Pop culture notwithstanding, I would say they have yet to end. You can draw a straight line from the beginning to the Reagan administration right to where we are now. And I believe that the American adjustment to its changing place in the world will be essentially reactionary and nationalistic, with much harking back to that imaginary event when Reagan made the Berlin Wall fall down like Jacob at Jericho.
God, I hate to be the one to bring washed up threads back to life, but this was an interesting topic to me.
The mindset of the 80's began to end in 1991, when the recession began to hit and the idea of the "Reagan/Bush" boom became stale. The policies of Reagan and Bush defined the 80's, as trickle down economics was controversial at first but them became popular among the majority of Americans, which explains the 3 consecutive GOP landslides. While this economic plan didn't completely fall out of favor by the early 90s, the recession created a hunger for change in Washington.
Clinton's election was a noticeable realignment that differed from the politics of the 80's. We had a Democrat in the White House and a Republican controlled congress, which hadn't happened since the the Truman era. It also began a trend, that we still see today, where Democrats dominate in the NE, upper midwest, and the west Coast. Before 1992, California and Vermont were staunchly GOP. So from a political standpoint, the 90's began in 1992.
I'd also say that the 90s began in 1992 musically as well. 1990 and 1991 were an extension of late 80's pop, complete with frothy lyrics and booming synths. Artists like Paula Abdul, Phil Collins, Amy Grant and New Kids on the Block were really popular. But by 1992, their sound began to be replaced by hip hop soul, ushered in by Boyz II men, Mary J Blige and Mariah Carey (who truly came into her own when she changed her sound to a more R&B influenced one). So in 1992, 80's pop was replaced by 90s R&B and Hip Hop.
Big hair was also very popular in the early 90s as well, but it began to deflate by 1992 and by 1994, short cropped styles like the Rachel had completely replaced the glamorous big hair of the 80s.
The bright, loud colors of the 80's and early 90s were also replaced beginning in 92 as well. People began to favor grungy fabrics like flannel and more subdued styles, for instance shoulder pads fell out of favor around that time as well.
It's really fun to look back at pics of my early childhood. I was born in 1989, and in pictures from my infancy, my mom clearly favors big hair, shoulder pads, big sequined shirts, stirrup pants, and bold makeup. By the time I hit 3 and 4, my mom has cut her hair off in a short crop, her makeup is more subdued, her outfits become earth toned, and she wears less jewelry. Come to think of it, a lot of that may have been because by then she had two young kids she had to keep up with!
I can't speak much for technology. I don't remember getting the internet installed at my house until around 1997, which was probably kind of late. But I remember getting car phones installed when I was 4 or 5.
Agreed with the above poster. The 80s ended in 1992. In 1990 and 1991, we knew it wasn't the 80s, but we were casting around looking for what we were... it wasn't until Clinton, Nirvana, acoustic music, the re-emergence of bell bottoms (except smaller and now cooler) that we found our groove and realized what the 90s were going to be about.
Around 1993. Judging from pictures I've seen of the early 1990s, there were still a lot of the 80s look going around. 1993 was also the year Bill Clinton was sworn into office and the economy began to pick up a bit.
If we were to ask when the 1990s ended, I would pin-point it with the 9/11 attack. With the exception of the 2001-2002 recession, the economy was still zooming along but the country became more jaded and jittery after the attack.
We entered a new stage of history with the 2008 stock market crash. That day and year marked a massive and sudden mood shift that has stuck with us nearly 4 years later. Just like how there was an abrupt and sudden mood shift after the 1929 stock market crash. It brought an end to the over-inflated and carefree Roaring 20s and after a few years of Depression, people realized we weren't ever going to be going back to those prosperous times.
The things that occur and our reactions towards them tend to cycle itself every 80 years. So far the 2010s appear to be following a similar path of the 1930s. Then the 2020s may be a time of war and rationing just like the 1940s and the 2030s may be a time of economic prosperity just like the 1950s. The 1990s were alike the 1920s with economic expansion but also a time of widening income class inequality as well as rapid technological advances. The 2000s were similar to the 1910s with the wars as well as the pandemic at the end of each decade.
I still think it's the 90s actually. I mean, aside from the fact some 80s fashions have come back, you could dress like the cast of Friends from the first season in 1994-95 and people wouldn't even think it looked weird.
Awesome topic! Without reading pages 2-5 of this thread, I'll give this one a shot. Keep in mind I'm a child of the 80's and 90's.
1950's- Lasted from 1946 to 1962. Post WW2 era, new hope, cold war, conservative values, etc. It ended when men stopped wearing those glasses with huge black frames.
1960's- Lasted from 1963 to 1974. Began when the Beatles, Beach Boys, and other "oldies" music hit its stride. The era was defined by the hippie movement, Vietnam, and civil rights. Once the Vietnam War died, the 60's died.
1970's- Lasted from 1975 to 1983. A largely uneventful decade characterized by pessimism, a bad economy, long scraggly hair, bellbottoms, psychadelic drugs and music, and lots of ugly color-combos like orange, brown, tan, beige, dark green, etc. Disco defined the 70's, but the early 80's music that replaced it was worse.
1980's- Lasted from 1984 to 1991. A feel-good decade where things were perceived to be getting better. The 80's began when people ripped down their ugly bold colored 70's wallpaper and replaced it with lighter pastel colors. The 80's were defined by Flock of Seagulls "I ran", Phil Collins "In the Air", Duran Duran, The Police, Journey, and Bryan Adams. The 80's fizzled out in the early 90's when women chopped off those large hairdews and stopped wearing short bangs.
1990's- Lasted from 1992-2000. Began when Nirvana, alternative rock, and gangsta rap's The Chronic jump-started the music industry which was on life support by '91. Teenage boys traded their daisy-dukes for sagging shorts that went past their knees. The 90's was a very peaceful, innocent decade defined by a good economy.
2000's- Lasted from 2001 to present. Began on September 11, 2001. This event changed America for the worse. We were given a wake-up call that we were no longer safe. Wars began. The economy suffered. That great 90's music fizzled out. Rap music went from gangsta rap to hip-hop club-music. Alternative rock was killed off by pop music's dominance of the radio airwaves largely due to industry CEO's.
The first decade of the 2000's has not really ended yet. The music has not changed. It remains to be scene when we enter into the next decade.
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