Life in 1980s Delaware Captured in Historic Images

The 1980s were a defin­ing decade for Delaware, filled with cul­tur­al shifts, eco­nom­ic changes, and a unique sense of com­mu­ni­ty spir­it. From the rise of local busi­ness­es and fam­i­ly-owned din­ers to the fash­ions and music that col­ored every­day life, the decade left a last­ing imprint on the First State. These his­toric images cap­ture moments both ordi­nary and extra­or­di­nary — kids play­ing in neigh­bor­hoods, fam­i­lies gath­er­ing at local events, down­town streets bustling with activ­i­ty, and the small-town charm that con­tin­ues to define Delaware.

Look­ing back at these pho­tographs is more than just a nos­tal­gic jour­ney; it’s a reminder of how much the state has grown while still hold­ing on to its tra­di­tions. Whether you lived through the 1980s in Delaware or are dis­cov­er­ing this chap­ter of his­to­ry for the first time, these images offer a win­dow into the past, show­ing us not only how peo­ple dressed and lived, but also the strong sense of com­mu­ni­ty that car­ried through the decade.

Shop­pers vis­it The Gap store at the Con­cord Mall in this pho­to tak­en on April 27, 1982

Ash­ley Lock­er­man, 2, enjoys a vanil­la cone at the Ice Cream Fes­ti­val at Rock­wood Muse­um in this pho­to tak­en on July 16, 1983. Her dad, Robert, helps her out by hold­ing the cone.

Micro Prod­ucts, a com­put­er store on Philadel­phia Pike, has com­put­ers and video games avail­able for cus­tomers to try in this pho­to tak­en in 1982

A six-piece wardrobe from Hit or Miss includ­ed cream jack­et and pants, green sweater and skirt, print jack­et and peach shell in this pho­to pub­lished on April 2, 1989.

Jen­nifer Hottes, 7, cools off Lynette Stear­rett, 5, with her water pis­tol in Kosciuszko Park in Wilm­ing­ton in this pho­to tak­en on July 10, 1988

Vis­i­tors play arcade games, like Frog­ger, at Space Port at the Con­cord Mall in this pho­to tak­en on June 23, 1982.

Ele­men­tary school stu­dents from Austin D. Baltz Ele­men­tary School board the school bus in full cos­tume on Octo­ber 29, 1981

Film­ing for the movie “Dead Poets Soci­ety” out­side the old Everett The­atre in Mid­dle­town. The Spe­cial Effects crew need­ed to make the loca­tion loom like it had snowed so they lined the street with crushed lime­stone and crushed mar­ble and sprayed the side­walks and trees with soap. 12/8/88

Jason Schroed­er plays with a Ghost­busters toy in this pho­to tak­en on Sep­tem­ber, 20, 1988.

Martha Phipps, of Cen­ter­ville, finds a friend­ly pil­low – one of her Hol­stein cows – on the last day of the Delaware State Fair in this pho­to pub­lished on July 31, 1988