From the Rubik's Cube, to Boom Boxes, to Cabbage Patch Kids, to those annoying "Baby on Board" signs, we're covering all the fads and trends of the year 1983.

The Rubik's Cube - Erno Rubik was an Architecture Professor at the Budapest School of Commercial Art in Hungary - the world, however, knows him as the father of the cube - Rubik's Cube. Originally, Professor Rubik designed the small puzzle as a way of teaching his students about three dimensional objects, but after securing a patent for it in 1975, he began marketing it throughout Hungary, Europe and the United States. When the toy manufacturer Ideal Toys contracted with him to produce it in the United States, the cubes sales and popularity skyrocketed. It's 42 quintillion (!) combinations kept us guessing - until we figured out how to take them apart.

Hacky Sack - Mike Marshall created the Hacky Sack in 1972. He was recovering from knee surgery at the time and developed the toy as a way to increase the flexibility of his still-healing knee. Basically, this toy was a small, bean-filled bag and the game it was used in was just as simple: keep the bag from hitting the ground using anything except your hands. This game, which he called "Hack the Sack," attracted the interest of John Stalberger. The two began playing the game and, realizing it could be a hit, began selling the tiny beanbags under the brand name Hacky Sacks. Marshall died in 1975 but his friend Stalberger kept the Hacky Sack concept alive by forming a National Sack Association to promote the game. He sold the license for the Hacky Sack to Wham-O in 1983, and this is when the Hacky Sack truly began to spread its wings as a phenomenon. The boost that the Hacky Sack got from the kid-friendly name of Wham-O made it a must-have toy for kids. By the 1980's, it was a familiar sight on playgrounds and in school halls as kids ended their between-class boredom with a quick round of Hacky Sack.

And who can forget the Boom Box? Did you ever want to let the rest of the neighborhood share in the sure enjoyment of the latest Police album? Get a Boom Box and a crate full of batteries and blast away! Remember seeing kids walking down the street with a Boom Box sitting on their shoulder and music blaring from the speakers? Man, those were the days!

Cabbage Patch Dolls - The poverty level was at it's highest in 18 years in 1983, and the yuppies needed something to take their minds off other peoples problems. Behold: The Cabbage Patch Doll. Abandoned children of a house of prostituting cabbages wormed their way into the hearts of kids and adults alike in the early 80's. For just $40 you too could adopt a Cabbage Patch Child. If you could find one. these little dolls who all had "Xavier" stamped on their bottoms were harder to get a hold of then Elmos during the disasterous Tickle Me Elmo riots.

Remember when we were supposed to avoid hitting the cars with the "Baby on Board" signs on them? In 1983 those "Baby on Board" signs were all the rave. Well guess what? It's open season on them now!!

Breakfast Food You Were Eating In 1983:
General Mills Pac-Man Cereal

Post Smurf-Berry Crunch
Picture from commercial
Ralston Donkey Kong Junior Cereal

Something you might not know is that in 1983 Ocean Spray introduced the very first "juice box" to America. Now we see them in all the grocery stores.

1983 Popular Baby Names
Male	Female
1.Michael	1. Jennifer
2. Christopher	2. Jessica
3. Matthew	3. Ashley
4. David	4. Amanda
5. Daniel	5. Sarah
6. Jason	6. Melissa
7. James	7. Nicole
8. Robert	8. Elizabeth
9. Joshua	9. Stephanie
10. Joseph	10. Heather

1983 Hair Fashion For Both Men & Women
Feathered Hair	Stick-Up Bangs
Multicolored Hair	Crimped Hair
Side Ponytails	Ultra-Teased
Platinum Blonde	Glitter/Rainbow
Mohawks	Long & Layered
Slightly Teased	Long Frizzy w/Bangs
Curly	Short Pat Benatar Look

1983 Makeup Fashion For Women
Face Vivid Makeup	Light Pink Lips
Glitter Colored Mascara	Blue Eyeshadow
Beauty Moles	Punk Piercings
Ray-Bans Glasses

ELECTRONICS

Camcorders are introduced

The CD is introduced to the general public This will eventually spawn a huge nostalgia market for all types of music

The FCC authorizes Motorola to begin testing cellular phone service in Chicago. The Grandson of Alexander Graham Bell answered the first commerical mobile phone call

The Apple Lisa (the prototype of the Macintosh) was released as well as the Apple IIe

Atari replaces the 400/800/1200XL line of home computers with the 600XL and the 800XL

Atari posts losses of $536 million. Rumors of daily losses pf up to $2 million are reported

Nintendo started selling the home video game console "family Computer" employing a custom CPU (Custom Processing Unit) and PPU (Picture Processing Unit)

Texas Instruments released the Compact Computer 40[tm] (CC40) A BASIC-language notebook computer that measured 9.5 by 5.75 by 1.00 inch, weighed just 22 ounces and operated from four AA batteries or an optional AC adapter. It had a typewriter-style keyboard, 31 character LCD and a wide range of optional peripherals -- four color printer/plotter, serial interface, wafertape[tm] digital tape drive, modem and external monitor interface. Fully programmable; optional applications available in Solid State Software and tape cartidges

Statistics For 1983

US President	Ronald Reagan
US Vice President	George Bush
US Population	234,721,000
World Population	4,690,570,217
Life Expectancy	Both Genders: 74.6
Life Expectancy	Male: 71
Life Expectancy	Female: 78.1
Average Income	$12,133.00
Gross Domestic Product	In Billions 3,534.9
Unemployment Rate	9.6
Marriage Rates	Per 1,000 Population: 10.5
Marriage Rates	Per 1,000 Unmarried Females: 59.9
Divorce Rates	Per 1,000 Population: 4.9
Divorce Rates	Per 1,000 Married Females: 21.3
Price House	One Story 2-Bedroom: $36,000
Price House	Two Story 4-Bedroom: $85,000
Price Car	Ford Escort: $6,900
Price Car	Buick Skylark: $9,350
Price Milk	Gallon: $1.89
Price Gas	Per Gallon: $1.29
Price Bread	$.66
Price Postage Stamp	$.20