In every suburban den 1983-1989

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1. a child stares blankly at heavily pixelized boxers on the TV screen

― baaderonixx, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:12 (nineteen years ago)

2. leftover wood paneling

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:14 (nineteen years ago)

3. "mod" recliner

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:14 (nineteen years ago)

4. plastic needlepoint tissue covers

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:15 (nineteen years ago)

5. Aging turntable with cassettes stacked on top of it.

― Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:30 (nineteen years ago)

6. jambox with dual cassette decks for making mixes.

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:31 (nineteen years ago)

7 Seriously out of date Encyclopedias

― brownie, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:39 (nineteen years ago)

-Stuffed/ceramic ducks on the wall

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:43 (nineteen years ago)

7a. World Book

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude ‫茄蕃‪, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:44 (nineteen years ago)

i was always both jealous and vaguely suspicious of anyone who had a room they called a "den", it sounded somewhat satanic

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:44 (nineteen years ago)

i mean, surely it's just a living room?

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:45 (nineteen years ago)

we have a living room in the front of the house where very little living goes in. In the back of the house we have a den, with less attractive furniture and a huge TV.

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:46 (nineteen years ago)

i prefer 'rumpus room'

― blueski, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:47 (nineteen years ago)

Some houses had it separate rooms, where the living/family room was the big tv, hi-fi, shag carpet, and atari/NES.

The den was where the dad had his desk, bookshelves full of playboys, and materiel for assembling fishing lures.

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:47 (nineteen years ago)

"shenanigans nook"

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:50 (nineteen years ago)

fortunately G and I each have our own rooms for our indvidual shenanigans. In the future a child my force one of us out to the den, I guess.

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:51 (nineteen years ago)

Hah, like Tracer, I was always jealous of kids who had dens, which always looked like these worn-out paradises of teenage fun. When my parents eventually got one, I found it pretty boring.

Wood panelling and knee-high carpets are U&K

― baaderonixx, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:53 (nineteen years ago)

In those years our TV/living room had a piano and an antique rocking chair that my mother re-caned (but no sofa or armchairs) and old, mouldering woolen rugs from maybe the '30s? with giant, faded cabbage roses all over them. We were kind of weird.

― Laurel, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:53 (nineteen years ago)

I should add: an upright grand player piano. A big, heavy one.

― Laurel, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:55 (nineteen years ago)

-historical family knick-knacks on the wall

(in our case, it was great-grandpa's infantry sabre and doughboy helmet. I wonder what my folks did with them when they sold the house)

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:55 (nineteen years ago)

a text-only adventure-puzzle game on the Apple II, like Zork for example.

― sleeve, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:57 (nineteen years ago)

drop ceilings

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:01 (nineteen years ago)

Uno deck

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:03 (nineteen years ago)

Guinness Book of World Records

― brownie, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:05 (nineteen years ago)

15) A wadded plastic baggie, despite the warning that "deliberate concentration and inhalation of vapors may be harmful or fatal."

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:08 (nineteen years ago)

16) A stained, ratty couch (plaid pattern? nubbly?) that neatly encapsulates the fact that certain people do not ever allow other people to have anything nice.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

15) A sticker depicting C-3P0.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

err make that 17)

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

18) A brown beanbag chair from which small white "beans" periodically emerge.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

17) VCR and VHS tapes

― o. nate, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

19) A moonboot.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:10 (nineteen years ago)

16. Some WWF action figures, lying abandonned in a corner.

― baaderonixx, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:10 (nineteen years ago)

20) Pitfall cartridge.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:10 (nineteen years ago)

Damn, nu-ILX = death to numbered lists.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:11 (nineteen years ago)

21) Dust-encrusted cobwebs in the ceiling corner, which, if you stare into them for long enough, become vast alien landscapes built around terrible geometeries that you think you might someday understand but wow ... just wow.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:14 (nineteen years ago)

22) Place on gross couch that is magical due to recent inhabitation by girl you will never actually see naked.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:15 (nineteen years ago)

23) Pringles can (not visible) directly under magical spot on couch.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:16 (nineteen years ago)

incorporating VCR/VHS and WWF dudes:

26) Burnt-orange macrame basket hanging from ceiling hook, decorated with large brown wooded beads, containing a white plastic pot with spider plant.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:19 (nineteen years ago)

27) Crayon-embellished copy of Where The Wild Things Are.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:20 (nineteen years ago)

23: Christmas tree

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:25 (nineteen years ago)

29) stack of tupperware boxes filled with mom's arts & crafts supplies (pipe cleaners, glitter)
30) a neon bar sign that 'my dad's gonna fix up'
31) water heater
32) christmas decorations
33a) a drinking glass half-filled with tepid fruit punch
33b) a crate of ecto-cooler juice boxes purchased in bulk at Sam's Club
34) a sidewise cable-spool used as a coffee table

― remy bean, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:03 (nineteen years ago)

35) a hutch

― remy bean, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:03 (nineteen years ago)

I was still drinking Ecto-Coolers in 1996.

― Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:17 (nineteen years ago)

They still make it, don't they? They only changed the name.

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:20 (nineteen years ago)

copies of ranger rick magazine

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:20 (nineteen years ago)

a short magazine tray with as many old Vogues, Better Homes and Gardens, and Westways as it could carry without toppling over.

― tremendoid, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:23 (nineteen years ago)

various star wars/g.i. joe weapons embedded in shag carpet

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:27 (nineteen years ago)

confusing post-cube Rubik's puzzle.

― .stet., Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:29 (nineteen years ago)

Pocket-sized "Three Musketeers" chocolate bars, left over from last year's Halloween bounty.

― baaderonixx, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:33 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2006/09/nes_power_pad-thumb.jpg

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude ‫茄蕃‪, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:38 (nineteen years ago)

Skipping 98 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Georgia O'Keefe vagina flower

― rip van wanko, Monday, 8 October 2018 14:10 (eight years ago)

Good lord almighty this thread makes me feel olde

― F# A# (∞), Monday, 8 October 2018 16:03 (eight years ago)

Specifically old TV Guides turned to half-finished crosswords.

― maura, Monday, 8 October 2018 16:17 (eight years ago)

A crocheted throw

― maura, Monday, 8 October 2018 16:17 (eight years ago)

A well-chewed dog toy wedged under the couch.

― nickn, Monday, 8 October 2018 16:26 (eight years ago)

Something as-seen-on-TV and barely used since it initially arrived (sorry, no C.O.D.s), like Flexi Blocks or those whatsits for making Princess Leia hairdos and applying poofy flower things to clothes (might be imagining both of these or conflating multiple products), or an incomplete set of cassettes from a themed Time-Life or K-Tel volume.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wbIIYUVgxTY/S8bqkac5L5I/AAAAAAAACYY/a5AdyIE_hz4/s400/hifi.jpg

― omar little, Monday, 8 October 2018 17:18 (eight years ago)

^^^ a true thing of beauty

i can smell the SMELL of these dens

― marcos, Monday, 8 October 2018 17:50 (eight years ago)

How long before we try to identify the LPs and cassettes in that cabinet?

― nickn, Monday, 8 October 2018 17:51 (eight years ago)

At least one of those cassettes will be an Andy Williams album.

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Monday, 8 October 2018 17:51 (eight years ago)

A stain

― calstars, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:14 (eight years ago)

That floral furniture

― F# A# (∞), Monday, 8 October 2018 18:19 (eight years ago)

Large mirror

― rb (soda), Monday, 8 October 2018 18:25 (eight years ago)

http://laurelleaffarm.com/item-photos/vintage-amber-glass-tumblers-stacked-ring-base-spiral-optic-pattern-Libbey-drinking-glasses-Laurel-Leaf-Farm-item-no-z71347-1.jpg

― rb (soda), Monday, 8 October 2018 18:26 (eight years ago)

^^^

― marcos, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:29 (eight years ago)

Hidden crawlspace behind a bookshelf

― calstars, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:35 (eight years ago)

The shaggy den life painted in this thread feels mighty appealing right now

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx),

read this as "appalling"

― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 8 October 2018 18:37 (eight years ago)

Mr LaPage’s VHS collection

― calstars, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:39 (eight years ago)

hidden crawlspace awesomely otm

omg soda what did you even google to get that

― rip van wanko, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:49 (eight years ago)

8th grade Ryan's gym socks that you definitely want to let him take care of

― rip van wanko, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:52 (eight years ago)

if the "den" is in the basement, a humming dehumidifier that does nothing to alter the cold, damp air

― marcos, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:57 (eight years ago)

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/XRAAAOSwT-FZAjin/s-l300.jpg

― omar little, Monday, 8 October 2018 20:45 (eight years ago)

https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/161045485100_/Space-1st-EdJames-A-Michener-Random-House.jpg

― omar little, Monday, 8 October 2018 20:45 (eight years ago)

I kind of want to crawl into one of these family rooms in the 80s now and play a big old stereo and read REaders Digests.

― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 05:32 (eight years ago)

Bliss

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 06:36 (eight years ago)

http://www.game-show-utopia.net/homegames/wof/WOF%20deluxe%20gameplay.jpg

― Ubering With The King (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 07:51 (eight years ago)

also Connect Four!

― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 13:24 (eight years ago)

Trivial Pursuit

― calstars, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 15:53 (eight years ago)

the reagan-ready GAME OF LIFE ftw. ahhh, the ratcheting sound of that spinner.

https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/323292971239_/Red-Storm-Rising-by-Tom-Clancy-1987-Paperback.jpg

https://www.simplyeighties.com/resources/Waddingtons%20Mastermind%20Game.jpg

1989, late at night. flip on the TV in the den:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4lkkYO3TXY

― omar little, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 16:22 (eight years ago)

Master Mind was hella fun

― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 16:24 (eight years ago)

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41B107Q4N7L._SX425_.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tZweJPy.jpg

― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 17:10 (eight years ago)

I have one of those hexagon end tables in my house. It used to belong to my girlfriend's grandmother. No idea how old it is.

― silverfish, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 17:20 (eight years ago)

Can't forget this one.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61ov9uJv78L._SX425_.jpg

― nickn, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:05 (eight years ago)

List games your family own but no longer play

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:14 (eight years ago)

https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/0614/26/complete-set-1969-readers-digest_1_2204248c5409f8e34658bf86a25d3fb0.jpg

― Plinka Trinka Banga Tink (Eliza D.), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:17 (eight years ago)

Chronically faded Book Club Associates editions, mostly unread and with the pages stuck together with mildew.

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:21 (eight years ago)

Ice bucket with lid that has never had ice in it. 1970s glassware that's never been used.

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:24 (eight years ago)

particularly...
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/British_dimpled_glass_pint_jug_with_ale.jpg/170px-British_dimpled_glass_pint_jug_with_ale.jpg

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:27 (eight years ago)

(even though no-one in the house drinks beer and when they do occasionally drink lager or cider it's from a straight glass)

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:28 (eight years ago)

some kinda big decorative glass jar with sand and shells from a special beach trip. bonus for whole sand dollar.

― andrew m., Tuesday, 9 October 2018 20:22 (eight years ago)

a piece of driftwood art

― andrew m., Tuesday, 9 October 2018 20:23 (eight years ago)

Pinkie and Blue Boy.

(whipeepo)

― andrew m., Tuesday, 9 October 2018 20:26 (eight years ago)

man labyrinth. what a frustrating game. if i could get it down one side and take a break in the corner i was doing good.

― andrew m., Tuesday, 9 October 2018 20:28 (eight years ago)

one year passes...

You've been to this house.

I've been to this house.

One night, you crashed in this room:

https://i.imgur.com/TxvV3Wm.jpg

But when you woke up, we were in this room:

https://i.imgur.com/slWgqL8.jpg

― pplains, Saturday, 11 April 2020 02:56 (six years ago)

I grew up a little earlier and dens weren’t my own personal experience, but the suburban dens from the 70s my friends’ parents had were small and cozy and they were much darker

― Dan S, Saturday, 11 April 2020 03:30 (six years ago)

Rec room life

― calstars, Saturday, 11 April 2020 11:35 (six years ago)

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