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May 22, 2026
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The 70s 80s 90s Blog

Three Decades of History with TV historian Tony McMahon

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    1986 – 40 years ago in Britain

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    Iran on the eve of the 1979 revolution

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    1976 – 50 years ago in Britain

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    School summer holidays in the 1970s

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Culture

It's a Sin
  • Culture
  • Politics

It’s a Sin – LGBT in the Thatcher era

The 70s 80s 90s Blog5 years ago5 years ago011 mins

The Russell T Davies series It’s a Sin shows what it was like to be young and gay in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher and with AIDS

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  • 1980s
  • Culture

Mary Whitehouse versus Rambo hunks

The 70s 80s 90s Blog6 years ago3 years ago04 mins

Here is Mary Whitehouse in 1985 arguing against the movie director Michael Winner and a group of hunks dressed as the cinematic hero Rambo

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pocket calculator
  • Culture

Remember your first pocket calculator?

The 70s 80s 90s Blog8 years ago6 years ago03 mins

Most of us got our first pocket calculator in the 1970s but were then told by maths teachers that we were forbidden to use them in our exams

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1970s science fiction
  • Culture

Science fiction obsessed 1970s kids – like me!

The 70s 80s 90s Blog8 years ago5 years ago04 mins

1970s kids were obsessed with science fiction as we were influenced by the Apollo space missions and the Soviet cosmonaut program

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  • Culture

Kojak advertises Bacardi Rum in the 1980s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog9 years ago6 years ago01 mins

An advert from 1983 – the late Telly Savalas advertising Bacardi Rum. Best known for his starring role as the tough New York detective, Kojak. That police series was big in the 70s.

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1980s technology
  • Culture

The look of new technology in 1983!

The 70s 80s 90s Blog9 years ago6 years ago03 mins

New technology in 1983 involved TVs with text services, washing machines with computer chips and a new generation of microwave ovens

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  • Culture

Travelling back to 1980s Liverpool clubs

The 70s 80s 90s Blog9 years ago6 years ago14 mins

The 1980s Liverpool club scene was an amazingly vibrant and fun affair with clubs like Cagneys and the Mardi Gras as well as The Raz and The Caz

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  • 1981 riots
  • Culture
  • Politics

Misery of unemployment in the 1980s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog11 years ago6 years ago03 mins

As mass unemployment returns after Covid, Tony McMahon looks back at unemployment in the 1980s which scaled horrific heights

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Thatcher satire
  • Culture
  • Politics

Thatcher inspired satire in the 1980s

The 70s 80s 90s Blog13 years ago4 years ago14 mins

Margaret Thatcher was a rich source of satire in the 1980s from cartoonists to TV programme makers as Tony McMahon recalls

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  • Culture
  • Music

Prince Edward hot and Donny Osmond not – a view from 1981

The 70s 80s 90s Blog13 years ago4 years ago03 mins

Prince Edward hot and Donny Osmond not – a view from 1981

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Buy Original Rude Boy – biography of Neville Staple, The Specials

Boxing and racism in the 80s

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Tony McMahon – your blogger – circa 1982

TV historian Tony McMahon journeys through the politics, culture, and history of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s

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