You could spot that Laura Ashley Home vibe at a glance – those patterns (often florals) with a warm and cozy English country feel. And in the 80s and 90s, Americans loved them. See dozens of vintage LAH styles here.
Vintage advertisements
Here, remember a few of the vintage colored paper towels that almost every home in America had hanging in their kitchen, in a wide range of now-rare colors & patterns!
By using baking mix and sweetened condensed milk, you don’t need sugar, egg, butter or flour… in fact, everything you need to make easy peanut blossoms cookies might be in your cupboard right now.
This delicious classic jumbles cookie recipe comes from m&ms, who published it in the 1990s. Candy jumbles are chock-full of chocolate, raisins and nuts – with just enough dough to hold them all together!
Some hardware stores in the 70s used to stock tons of great toys and Christmas gifts for kids – like dolls and trucks, bikes and ride-on horses, car sets and craft kits. Take a look!
What is the secret of this rich, moist, delicious cake? Here’s a hint: It’s known as chocolate mayonnaise cake. Get this surprisingly tasty recipe from 1985!
Along with some great vintage hairstyle photos below, you will also get real-life beauty advice from newspapers published in the 40s and 50s, which offered readers tips on how to get perfect pin curls every time.
This easy and delicious recipe for a cool, rich and creamy double chocolate cream pie comes to you direct from 1982, and has that amazing old-fashioned flavor you might remember.
Made with peanut m&ms chocolate candies, these adorable peanut sitting-pretties thumbprint cookies look like little birds’ nests!
These wonderfully rich and indulgent caramel apple oat squares don’t take long to make, and these dessert bars are doubly delicious when served with ice cream on top.
Toast the season’s riches with this snappy pinecone-shaped cheeseball! Formed in a nutshell of crisp, crunchy almonds, its flavor is so scrumptious, your guests will go simply nutty.
Here’s a tasty retro chocolate fudge recipe from 1984 for Fudge Krispies — essentially chocolate-covered Rice Krispies Treats! Get the easy how-to here.
This retro cranberry pumpkin bread recipe makes for a breakfast or dessert filled with warm flavor from just the right blend of fall spices, plus a little bit of a tart kick from the popular autumn fruit, cranberries.
Back in the 1920s, footwear manufacturers and merchants decided that X-ray shoe fittings could bring in lots of customers – people who would be thrilled to let a recent scientific advance help them find the perfect shoe. There was just a little problem…
As great an actor and director as Orson Welles was, it would be remiss of us if we did not touch on some of his later, slightly less epic works… like his classic ads for Paul Masson wines.
Check out what 10 of Ford’s luxurious classic Lincoln Continental cars looked like back in the sixties!
‘Just add water and you’ve got instant life!’ they said. ‘Over 150 amazing Sea-Monkeys born ALIVE before YOUR eyes!’ But, oh, the disappointment when the critters didn’t look anything like the pictures on the package.
Here’s the easy way to make deliciously moist ‘n crispy Rice Krispies crunchy chicken, with a crust so crisp, it crunches.
Toll House Marble Squares have the same old-fashioned flavor of Toll House Cookies, but the whole batch is baked at one time in a baking pan instead of on cookie sheets.
Anyone who lived through the great videotape format war of the late 1970s to early 1980s will never forget the big question: VHS or Beta? Here’s the Betamax side – the player that ultimately lost.
Take a look back at dozens of the most popular cereals from the 1980s, along with some really random varieties that didn’t last long.
Here’s a retro recipe for little chocolate crackle cookies – delicious treats with a cracked powdered sugar texture on the outside.
Here’s a classic recipe from the late 1940s for Grandma’s peanut butter molasses cookies, which are sweetened with sugar and dark molasses, and topped with peanut halves.
While chocolate milk will always be the rock star of milky mixed drinks, strawberry drink mix has a charm all its own. Here’s a look back at the debut of Nestle’s Strawberry Quik back in the sixties!
Chicken Marengo, one of the great French classics, was invented on the battlefield at Marengo for Napoleon by his master chef, Dunand. Here’s an easy version made with soup!
Here is a Hungarian-inspired chicken paprika recipe, simplified by using tomato soup for the base. Serve it with noodles and alongside a green salad.
Take a look back at some of the classic 60s Ford pickup trucks that were on – and off! – the roads during that decade, and see what features they offered drivers back then.
This retro holiday spinach rice recipe makes 12 servings of a delicious and festive-looking side dish, which includes spinach, cheese and green onions – plus sliced almonds for crunch.
No longer just a throwback costume accessory, old-school go-go boots and other mod-style boots are back in style – no doubt facilitated by the resurgence
Look back at dozens of flavors of vintage Shasta sodas – including root beer, sparking lemonade, strawberry, cream soda, pineapple cola and more from the 60s, 70s and 80s!
Here, get two classic recipes that combine two sweet flavors in one treat: chocolate cherry brownies. Try them both ways and figure out which is your favorite!
If you wanted to see typical retro family cars, check out some huge classic ’50s station wagons that had fins & had rear-facing seats – including cars from Ford, Pontiac, Studebaker and Plymouth.
Originally called Choco-Scotch clusters when they came out in the 60s, these easy no-bake chocolate-butterscotch rice krispies treats have delicious chocolate, butterscotch and peanut butter flavors.
What made this tasty classic country apple pie recipe from the 70s so special? Well, there were two big differences to traditional apple pies. Find out what they were here!
On the way to today’s super-simple, pregnancy test sticks that give results in minutes, women had to use these chemistry set-style vintage home pregnancy test kits, then wait hours for a result.
Old pregnancy test sticks like these were a huge step forward, and meant that millions of women finally had a way to find out they were pregnant without going to the doctor, and without having to do a more complicated liquid chemistry test.
A recipe for the moist, fudgy taste of a brownie in a cookie. This chewy, fudgy, chocolaty, rich, gooey and oh-so-delicious brownie in a cookie bakes up high and moist.
This warmly-spiced glazed pork chops retro recipe from the sixties simmers the meat in a slightly sweet sauce, flavored with cinnamon, cloves, apple and orange.
1960s Mercury Cougar cars came equipped with V-8 engines, deep-foam bucket seats, carpet, concealed headlamps, sequential rear turn signals among other luxury features. Check ’em out!
Here’s a hearty 90-minute beer bread that’s ready to enjoy in just an hour and a half. It combines the rich, full flavor of beer with the taste of rye.
You couldn’t tell a 50s housewife that pastel pink washers and dryers weren’t practical, or that they wouldn’t still be fashionable in a decade. The appliances were stylish and pretty right then and there, at least to millions of women at the time.
The Life Savers candy brand has been around for more than a century! Here’s a look back at how the little sweets with a hole became so popular, and the many flavors they have made over the years.
These classic spiced crackle cookies from the 80s – rolled in powdered sugar before baking – deliver a sweet dessert with rich flavor and a little warm and spicy tang.
This almond legend cake has one whole almond baked inside, and the lucky person who receives the slice with the hidden almond is said to enjoy good fortune all year! Here’s the classic recipe from the 1970s!
Do you remember these flower-shaped bathtub stickers? It seems like all the parents in the late 60s & early 70s had some of these popular colorful non-slip Rubbermaid appliques on their tub.
The Kodak Disc camera was was lightweight, foolproof (with auto-exposure and built-in flash), affordable, and used a brand new kind of film cartridge… but it was only sold for six years.
When small appliance manufacturers started selling vintage automatic coffeemakers, they were taking the popular (but cumbersome) drip method of coffee making and making t so much easier.
Here’s a version of Grandma’s homemade prune cake. This recipe makes two desserts: a two-layer cake with a lemon filling, and prune cake bars.
Love those old Caddys? Take a look back at some classic 1970s Cadillac cars, including the Sedan deVille, Fleetwood Sixty Special Brougham, Eldorado Coupe, Eldorado Convertible, Seville and more!
If you love the flavor of almonds and sherry, try them together in a fabulous cake! You make this almond sherry cake with cream sherry, sliced almonds and cake mix.
As charmingly retro as they seem, small striped outdoor tents (also called palmetto or lawn tents) were nothing new in the 1960s and 1970s — in fact, they have been used for centuries.
The flavor of this easy (no cooking), fast (5 minutes), classic Hershey’s recipe can be adjusted up or down, based on the chocolate intensity level you prefer. Get the delicious details here!
These old-school Ford Ranchero pickup trucks weren’t styled like all the other pickups, because they were meant to combine passenger-car comfort with driving ease.
These fab retro 60s ice cream flavors may surprise you! You’re about to see a lot of vintage ice cream flavor (and color!) combinations you used to be able to get at the store, but don’t see much today. Take a look!
Look back at these 1950s vintage portable electric hand mixers, with the kind of removable beaters that kids loved to lick to sample delicious cake batter and cookie dough.
For many Americans, a big, sweet part of our past involves chocolate – *especially* chocolate in cake and cupcakes. Check out these 7 heavenly Hershey’s chocolate cake recipes from the 70s!
For one of the most lemony lemon cakes you can make, try baking a pudding lemonade cake! This dessert delivers deliciously tart and sweet flavors by combining lemon cake mix, lemon pudding mix, and even lemonade drink mix or concentrate.
What was the retro pastel eye makeup look all about? Making the eyes look big and soft by creating a natural look with pale eyeshadow shades. See it here!
The first of the 1970s Ford Mavericks was introduced as tough, reliable compact car available in 2-door or 4-door family sedans. Simple to operate. Simple to service. By 1976, more than 1.6 million had been built.
If the best colognes for men in the middle of the last century were the most popular and heavily advertised, well, we’ve found a few of them for you here!
This retro pie recipe is a quickie – no oven needed! Just some easy-to-find ingredients combined in a saucepan and mixed in bowls, and you can have a fluffy and light lemon no-bake pie tonight.
The classic 1970s Ford Galaxie 500s were big cars by today’s standards, but not huge for the time. In their vintage ads, Ford played up the value of the cars, and highlighted their quality features and extras.
These Raisin Bran cookies are a delish (and wholesome) option for anyone looking to add some variety to their holiday cookie tray! Get the classic cookie recipe from Kellogg’s here – plus a similar recipe from the 70s.
Peek back into the life of young Ronald Reagan in the 40s & 50s – way before he was president back when acting paid the bills, and his wife was Jane Wyman.
The people now best known as the juice and jelly people used to make popular vintage Welch’s candies like Junior Mints, Nut Fudge, Cordialed Cherries and Sugar Daddies. See them here!
With seasonings like ginger, garlic and red pepper, this easy walnut chicken with broccoli recipe from the ’80s makes a delicious dinner with a little Asian flair.
Why stop the party to mix drinks, when you could have the perfect booze blend ready to go? That was the theory behind the retro ready-made canned cocktails and bottled mixes that were popular in the 60s and 70s.
The Saturn car company was launched by GM, and the very first Saturn rolled off the line in the summer of 1990. Here’s a look back at some of these popular cars!
The Tootsie Roll has a sweet legacy that started way back at the end of the 1800s, and continues to this day. From the early days, the unique chocolaty chewy candy was a huge favorite with kids. Find out more about them here!
This easy pudding tortoni recipe uses coconut cream cook & serve pudding mix, toasted coconut and a few other ingredients to make a simple but delicious version of the classic Italian dessert.
Take a look back at some savory jello salad recipes from the 1950s – including jellied potato salad, cabbage relish and peach & cheese salad – and see how the famous gelatin wasn’t only something for dessert.
These Ford Elite cars from the 1970s were based on the Torino, but meant to be a less-expensive alternative to the Thunderbird. The short-lived nameplate only lasted three model years – 1974, 1975 and 1976.
This retro recipe for the catsup-based Imperial salad dressing is a little more complicated than making a basic vinaigrette, but the results earned it a spot in many recipe collections over the years. Here’s how to make this kicky classic!
People were used to big records, but then the music industry wanted everyone to adopt a new format and a new size, and came out with 45 RPM record players and 7″ vinyl records with a big hole in the middle.
Find out how to make the Hershey’s classic – easy chewy chocolate cookies made with powdered cocoa – in this retro recipe from the 80s!
Though she was born famous, then grew her fame as an actress, Jane Fonda’s workout videos were one of her greatest successes. Here’s how it happened.
The secret to these precious brownie oatmeal gems lies in the cookie’s perfect combination of rich, smooth Baker’s chocolate, quick oats, walnuts and brown sugar.
Some car model names have been around for decades – like the Buick Skylark or the Ford Mustang. But not the Oldsmobile Delmont 88. It was produced for just two model years: 1967 and 1968.
During the height of milk glass popularity (it was a must-have in American homes from the 1920s through the 50s), 90 percent of Westmoreland’s production was the famous white glassware – and they made a lot of it.
Here’s a classic recipe for tiny and delicious butterscotch oaties cookies, just as published back in 1968.
See a dozen cute vintage play kitchens – toys for kids who wanted to pretend to cook, and have fun with mini appliances and plastic food.
Apparently stuck for a way to make toilet paper – particularly rolls of colored toilet tissue – more attractive to ’50s housewives, advertising executives turned to the world of glamour and fashion for an assist.
Make your own gelatin-based fruit-flavored treats with this vintage recipe for easy homemade pastel marshmallows from the 1970s!
In the beginning, The Gap was a completely different store – selling only Levi’s and music. Through dozens of pictures, see how vintage Gap evolved and came to be known for so many trendy styles!
Here are two different retro recipes for easy peanut butter cookies — in fact, they’re so simple, neither recipe uses butter or eggs! How do
Vintage 10-speed bikes like these were popular bicycles during the 60s, 70s and 80s. Although designed for speed and performance, they were popular with everyday folks who just wanted to get out and ride.
Can you imagine life before bubble gum? Here’s a brief history of vintage gum brands in the US!
A bouncy new baby is wonderful – but quite a burden, too! In the early 20th century, baby window cages like these were promoted as making babies more fun since they were easier to care for.
In the 70s, vintage Crock-Pot Slow Cookers became popular, because a meal could be cooked for pennies a serving, and cuts of meat could be easily tenderized. Who knew how famous the small appliances would become?!
The old VTech PreComputer 1000 from the 80s was a small 3-in-1 computer ‘teacher’ that helped kids learn touch typing and basic computer programming – plus had a 3500-word dictionary, and knew more than 1000 facts
Look back at adorable vintage 1950s nursery decor and furniture from the 50s, plus get advice from interior decorators about old-school baby bedrooms.
Baby Ruth candy bars – and even Baby Ruth gum – were among the most popular sweets back in the day. Right here, take a look at more than 50 years of the history of the brand.
Here’s a deliciously light springtime treat that’s easy to make — a no-bake lime chiffon dessert with marshmallows.
Here’s a wonderful cake to make for a special occasion. This almond-raspberry cream roll has a whipped cream filling flavored with raspberry.
Take a look back at these old La-Z-Boy recliners and vintage easy chairs from the ’70s – the decade of the velvet and plaid reclining chairs!
Chocolate milk has been loved by kids – and, yes, adults! – since at least the 1920s. Here’s a look back at some vintage chocolate milk brands that have hit supermarkets over the years – some of which you know, but many more than have been lost to time.
Below are a few photos of actor/assassin John Wilkes Booth, along with some theater advertisements that appeared in newspapers during the years leading up to President’s Lincoln’s murder.
The Dodge Brothers built a powerhouse car company that shaped American auto history — here’s how they rose to success and why their cars stood out.
