Decade nostalgia

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Decade nostalgia, the feeling of nostalgia for certain aspects of a past decade, is common in contemporary popular culture. This article mainly considers the phenomenon in modern US culture, where it is largely focused on the period from the 1950s to 1980s, a time of relative peace and prosperity and hence a likely source for nostalgia. There has of course been similar nostalgia for previous times (for instance, for the "Roaring 20's" or the "Rockin' 90's" or the folk revival of the 1960's).

It is notable that in Great Britain the popular "nostalgic" view of the 1950s is that of post-war Americana, rather than (for example) the austerity and then recovery of 1950s Britain. In contrast, there is a widespread nostalgia in France for the "trente glorieuses", the 30 years of prosperity and progress in France that followed the war.

It is not yet clear whether decade nostalgia for the 21st Century or even the 1990s will emerge (although there is a nostalgia toward Nickelodeon cartoons among teens), and if so, what form it will take.

1950s Nostalgia

The Fifties remain a popular nostalgia decade even as of the 2000s and are often seen in America in simplified terms by both proponents and detractors.

Diners, jukeboxes, doo-wop music, and low budget sci-fi movies are considered staples of 1950s nostalgia, and the decade is seen by many as an idealistic, calm time. The '50s were not without their share of turbulance in the US, as the civil rights movement was underway and the Cold War weighed on the public conscience.

The Fifties have been considered nostalgic since the mid-1970s.

Examples of 1950s nostalgia include:

• Back to the Future
• Happy Days
• Grease

1960s Nostalgia

The Sixties are considered by many, especially baby boomers, the greatest decade of the 20th Century.

Interestingly, what is thought of today as the "Sixties" actually took place from about the end of 1963 to as late as 1974; much of the decade was actually similar to the Fifties.

Staples of Sixties nostalgia include Hippie culture, rock and roll, The Beatles, and Woodstock.

The Sixties are often called the "Swingin' Sixties" for the great cultural changes during that decade, and also for the popularity of swinging.

The Sixties have been an object of nostalgia since the 1980s.

Examples of 1960s nostalgia include:

• Austin Powers
• The Wonder Years
• American Graffiti

1970s Nostalgia

In the US, the Seventies, in a nostalgic sense, do not so much mean 1970 to 1979 but more so the latter half of that decade as the first half of the Seventies was very much blended in with the late 1960s. Thus, the Seventies are often called the "Disco Era" as that type of music was very popular during much of the decade.

In the UK, the nostalgic view of "the Seventies" covers the decade somewhat more evenly. Punk rock and disco (the latter not as all-encompassing as it was in the US) were most closely associated with the second half of the 1970s. However, it is the image of glam rock (which peaked during the first half of the decade) that is arguably most strongly associated with the "Seventies" stereotype in Britain.

Things considered "Seventies" include smiley faces, disco music, funk, and Afros.

Examples of 1970s nostalgia include:

• I Love the 70s
• Jay and Silent Bob movies
• Austin Powers
• Boogie Nights
• That '70s Show
• Dazed and Confused (movie)

1980s Nostalgia

The Eighties were widely ridiculed during most of the Nineties, although began to be seen as nostalgic as early as 1997 because of how radically different the Eighties were from the Seventies and the Nineties.

Things considered "Eighties" include New Wave music, hair metal, old school video games, Rubix Cubes, Cold War tensions, and synthesizers.

The period that is nostalgized as "The Eighties" more or less coincides with the 1980s decade, but is often considered to have started with the fall of Disco in 1979 and have ended with the advent of Grunge in 1991 in a pop-cultural aspect.

The Eighties are often called the "Decade of Excess" because of the obsession with getting rich during the decade and the rise of huge companies such as Wal-Mart.

Examples of 1980s nostalgia include:

The cd The Fury of The Aquabats! by The Aquabats which contains a song called "Playdoh" in which The MC Bat Commander longs for his chldhood (which seems to be sometime in the late 70s/early 80s)