Unforgettable 80s News Stories (According to an 80s Kid) Part TWO
The people and events making news in the 80s in the eyes of adults, didn’t always translate to kids.
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Link to Part One
https://youtu.be/2NAxmSp-iH8?si=Lt6yDLIkMvFib7fy
@LoriNomey
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I worked at Coleco towards the end of the Cabbage Patch Craze and they gifted us all a Cabbage Patch Kid due to a surplus / tax write off scenario . At the time I didn’t think of it as a collectors item so I gave it to my friend who was having a baby .
@kpanyc
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
My mom, famous for doing her Christmas shopping really early, came across the Cabbage Patch Kids, thought they were cute, bought me one, and literally a week later the mania started. Yet it's only today that I learned Xavier Roberts was a real person or that the names came from real birth certificates.
@kyralaird3234
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
The Ryan White CARE Act (now known as the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program) is the largest federal program in the U.S. providing HIV/AIDS care, offering crucial treatment, drugs, and support services for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured people with HIV/AIDS, operating as a payer of last resort to ensure access to essential care and reduce stigma. Administered by HRSA, it funds various services like medical care, case management, mental health, and housing, helping individuals manage their condition and improve health outcomes
@p_nutmama0724
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I still have my original Cabbage Patch Kid doll named Julie Beth. She was a gift before 1 of 7 heart surgeries I had by the time I was 2.5 years old. My 1 cardiologist even gave her a "scar"(she drew a line on Julie Beth's chest to match my scar that I've had to redraw over the years as it started to fade from time.) to match mine from my total correction open heart surgery. She's been very special to me for over 40 years now. She's been through it through the years & definitely shows her age; her arms have been sewn back on multiple times, has a stain on her face that I've never been able to remove, & her yarn hair looks rough but I love her & will never willingly part with her. At 1 point in time I thought she'd been misplaced & I was heartbroken. I was in my 20s at the time. The day I found her was a very happy day. She now sits in a place of honor in my bedroom. She was 1 of 2 gifts that meant the world to me during my time in hospitals. Unfortunately she's the only 1 I still have. The other, a life size stuffed baby elephant the picu nurses lovingly named Dr. Sadsack, went missing years ago & I have no clue what happened to him. There's a long story behind him that I won't get into here in this already rather lengthy comment.
P.S.- I just recently found your channel & am loving your content. Keep up the amazing work!
@Beth_Alice_Kaplan
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
Alas, for the Hands Across America event, I was from a “snubbed” region. I can’t for the life of me figure out why they decided not to ask so many northern and plains states to take part. Oh well.
Reagan and his never-ceasing insistence that poverty was a character flaw wore on my last nerve, directly through the Bush Sr. administration. 😒
@SonarPoop
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
There used to be a guy named Geraldo Rivera who did podcasts where he pleasured himself. He does ones now where he's fully clothed but they're not as good
@RonnettNorfleet
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I had a gabbage patch doll . It’s had the same birthday as my grandmother. Sept 1 . My crazy 80s childhood. Lol
@OzymandiasWasRight
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
It's so nice to find something that nails what YouTube is meant to be.
@mrsrobophile
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
Looks like it went through my area, but nobody I know participated in Hands Across America. I am pretty sure my family would have seen it as hippie nonsense. 😅 But all of them gave a metric ton of money to every televangelist.
@heartsstillbeating1110
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
Was Rock Hudson apparently gay? I honestly cant remember.
@ASeventhSign
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
The Hoffs lighted leather jacket is so epic, I'm gonna try and bring that back. Wish me luck!
@Cheyenne_Hayden
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I only learned about Ryan White when I was learning about Hydeia Broadbent (who sadly died of AIDS last year after a lifelong career of advocasy) after seeing her on the Jerry Springer show meeting wrestler Razor Ramon and goddamn, I understand that nobody knew how AIDS spread and the stigmatization of those who had AIDS, but he was just a kid. The way he was treated by his own peers and their parents was horrible.
@Bernie3000
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I was 10 when Capone’s vaults were opened. I had to BEG my mum to stay up to watch. Bottles. That’s all I remember, a couple of bottles. Still worth it though.
@ladyg9830
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
so many unforgettable stories here
@FeralForAllTime
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I was born and raised in Indiana, and Ryan White was an even bigger story here than nationwide… or worldwide. When I was in middle school, I was part of a youth choir that went to the United Nations and performed in front of a lot of notable people… and Ryan's mother was one of them. It was one of the most solemnly moving moments of my life. Ryan's story started my lifelong theory that every single time Indiana is in a national news story, it's for something bad… like how backwardly ignorant so many people in this state were… and sadly still are.
@cstone3178
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
A great video series!!! Just two corrections so far. One has to do with the Tylenol scare. The perpetrators were never caught because the failure was indeed in J&J‘s manufacturing. This came out decades later (obvious corporate malfeasance) when it was discovered that the part of the of factory that dealt with the injection of pills into the packaging was close to another facility that dealt with potassium cyanide.
The other correction has to do with Hasselhof. I live in Germany and his role and popularity is greatly exaggerated. He was/is mostly seen as a joke. Only the people who can stomach „Schlager“ music like him. But, I don‘t want these corrections to be an indication of how interesting and amusing this series is! As an older Gen Xer, I remember all of these events and it is SUCH A TREAT to relive them. Many many thanks!
@elizabethsmith3374
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
seeing places I have seen IRL or know of in the Hands Across America segment made me shout like I saw my team make the gaming winning goal and I was 10 years away from being born when that happened XD
@highlander723
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
30:36 My dad actually dragged me from my room sat me down in the living room to watch this.
@ChrisBakerauthor
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I certainly remember all the hype and fear mongering about AIDS. It prepared me for all the insanity which happened in 2020.
@heathercampbell9496
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
i saw a video and read article that cabbage patch dolls were stolen from another gal's idea and design
@thecraigbyrne
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I did Hands Across America! And in a very "8 years old in 1986" sort of story, I was especially excited, thinking that down the chain across the country was my crush Punky Brewster. lol.
@blondangel79
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I was born in 1978 and the news story I remember most from the 80s was baby Jessica down the well. I remember first learning about the Berlin Wall in my weekly Reader. I definitely remember watching Ryan's funeral at school too.
@jennifer_m.8613
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
From David Hasselhoff and the wall to Ryan White's terminal battle – I just went from tears of gratitude to tears of grief
@eddierascalhaskell4954
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
Speaking of Hasselhoff and the Wall.
Anybody remember the Alvin and the Chipmunks episode where they went to perform at the Wall and basically caused the revolution for the people to tear it down?
@eddierascalhaskell4954
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
My mom refused to get a Cabbage Patch Kid. I was fine with that because I really had no desire to have one.
I was more of a Care Bears kid anyway.
I did have stacks of Garbage Pail Kids cards tho.
@batzxo
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
Another great retrospective. Thank you! By the way since you have interest in retro television specials, just a little before your time, but the mad magazine TV special from 1974 is free to watch on YouTube. Have a great day, and thank you for all you do ❤
@Skye_Writer
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
Just imagine the REAL good that could have been done if everyone who took part in Hands Across America donated $5 and a bag canned goods — the REAL stuff, not the beets or spinach or whatever other canned good in the pantry that they rejected because no one would eat it — and did something USEFUL, like, oh idk, volunteered for a food bank or meals on wheels. The organizers didn't do a good job of keeping the costs down so that the pledges would cover everything and still have money left over. And the pledging system obviously wasn't a good way to go as we see by the fact that people didn't keep their pledges.
As someone who lived in a food insecure household at that time, I had to roll my eyes at all the HAA hype because in the end it didn't help put food on our table. Yeah, it was sweet and heart-warming and whatever, but it never made a difference.
@juniorjames7076
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
This was fantastic! Will you tackle the Space Shuttle Challenger launch in Part 3?
@KreativeKerri
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
We could/would benefit from another Hands across America. So much easier and cheaper these days to coordinate with the internet.
@failing_safely
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I never had Cabbage Patch Kid but I loved collecting Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. Wish I still had them.
@supersirenia
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
This is such a great series! I was born in 1978 so I actually remember a lot of these
@Marigen1971
March 3, 2026 at 7:55 pm
I remember the Al Capone vault program, my whole family were very invested in it. Didn't care that only a few glass bottles were found. Maybe I was too old (12) for a cabbage patch kids doll but I found them ugly. During the middle 2000's my dad bought my daughter a cabbage patch. She didn't want her anymore recently so I'm keeping her in honor of my dad. RIP Ryan.
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