@tlm550 said:

There were no backpacks like those in the 80s... There were no backpacks of any kind available all through the time I graduated in 1990 except the camping backpacks with a bulky frame... first canvas and then nylon... Yeah, it was in the 80s when they first starting making nylon tents instead of them all being made of heavy canvas... and the same for those backpacks... they were nylon but still had the horrible frame. It wasn't until the 90s before those soft backpacks were available.

Here is a picture of the exact Jansport backpack I had in the fifth grade, back in 1984, followed by a picture of Max's backpack from the show (the ones worn by the boys are similar).

My Backpack

Max's Backpack

So ... what exactly did they get wrong?

@chrisjdel said:

@tlm550 said:

There were no backpacks like those in the 80s... There were no backpacks of any kind available all through the time I graduated in 1990 except the camping backpacks with a bulky frame... first canvas and then nylon... Yeah, it was in the 80s when they first starting making nylon tents instead of them all being made of heavy canvas... and the same for those backpacks... they were nylon but still had the horrible frame. It wasn't until the 90s before those soft backpacks were available.

Here is a picture of the exact Jansport backpack I had in the fifth grade, back in 1984, followed by a picture of Max's backpack from the show (the ones worn by the boys are similar).

My Backpack

Max's Backpack

So ... what exactly did they get wrong?

I graduated in 1988 and I also never saw anything like that during my school years. But, obviously, the OP was off by just a few years.

@JoeZ47 said:

I graduated in 1988 and I also never saw anything like that during my school years. But, obviously, the OP was off by just a few years.

I think it depends on where in the country you lived. Marketing is less regional now, but products were often widely available on the west coast and the northeast yet remained hard to find elsewhere for years. Seems like a real failure of advertising to me. They had TV after all, why not run a few nationwide commercials in prime time?

Yeah, the OP is completely wrong. We had backpacks like that in the 80's. I graduated High school in 1985.

@chrisjdel said:

@tlm550 said:

There were no backpacks like those in the 80s... There were no backpacks of any kind available all through the time I graduated in 1990 except the camping backpacks with a bulky frame... first canvas and then nylon... Yeah, it was in the 80s when they first starting making nylon tents instead of them all being made of heavy canvas... and the same for those backpacks... they were nylon but still had the horrible frame. It wasn't until the 90s before those soft backpacks were available.

Here is a picture of the exact Jansport backpack I had in the fifth grade, back in 1984, followed by a picture of Max's backpack from the show (the ones worn by the boys are similar).

My Backpack

Max's Backpack

So ... what exactly did they get wrong?

yeah I agree with chrisjdel those backpacks were pretty much what everyone had in the 1980's not sure what the OP is complaining about OP is probably from some real countryside or something.

@MrCharmingMan said:

@chrisjdel said:

@tlm550 said:

There were no backpacks like those in the 80s... There were no backpacks of any kind available all through the time I graduated in 1990 except the camping backpacks with a bulky frame... first canvas and then nylon... Yeah, it was in the 80s when they first starting making nylon tents instead of them all being made of heavy canvas... and the same for those backpacks... they were nylon but still had the horrible frame. It wasn't until the 90s before those soft backpacks were available.

Here is a picture of the exact Jansport backpack I had in the fifth grade, back in 1984, followed by a picture of Max's backpack from the show (the ones worn by the boys are similar).

My Backpack

Max's Backpack

So ... what exactly did they get wrong?

yeah I agree with chrisjdel those backpacks were pretty much what everyone had in the 1980's not sure what the OP is complaining about OP is probably from some real countryside or something.

I don't think it was a complaint, just an observation. I graduated high school in 1988. There was no such thing as those available in my area either at any time while I was in school. I'm sure it was a regional thing, as I grew up in the Midwest and those didn't "exist" there -not at all, not until after I was out of school. My youngest brother did get one though and they were "the new thing".

@MrCharmingMan said:

@chrisjdel said:

@tlm550 said:

There were no backpacks like those in the 80s... There were no backpacks of any kind available all through the time I graduated in 1990 except the camping backpacks with a bulky frame... first canvas and then nylon... Yeah, it was in the 80s when they first starting making nylon tents instead of them all being made of heavy canvas... and the same for those backpacks... they were nylon but still had the horrible frame. It wasn't until the 90s before those soft backpacks were available.

Here is a picture of the exact Jansport backpack I had in the fifth grade, back in 1984, followed by a picture of Max's backpack from the show (the ones worn by the boys are similar).

My Backpack

Max's Backpack

So ... what exactly did they get wrong?

yeah I agree with chrisjdel those backpacks were pretty much what everyone had in the 1980's not sure what the OP is complaining about OP is probably from some real countryside or something.

We moved around several times and I graduated in 88. Never saw any such thing at any school, not even when picking up or dropping off my little brother and sister. Obviously those were available only in select areas of the country.

@TLM17 said:

@MrCharmingMan said:

@chrisjdel said:

@tlm550 said:

There were no backpacks like those in the 80s... There were no backpacks of any kind available all through the time I graduated in 1990 except the camping backpacks with a bulky frame... first canvas and then nylon... Yeah, it was in the 80s when they first starting making nylon tents instead of them all being made of heavy canvas... and the same for those backpacks... they were nylon but still had the horrible frame. It wasn't until the 90s before those soft backpacks were available.

Here is a picture of the exact Jansport backpack I had in the fifth grade, back in 1984, followed by a picture of Max's backpack from the show (the ones worn by the boys are similar).

My Backpack

Max's Backpack

So ... what exactly did they get wrong?

yeah I agree with chrisjdel those backpacks were pretty much what everyone had in the 1980's not sure what the OP is complaining about OP is probably from some real countryside or something.

We moved around several times and I graduated in 88. Never saw any such thing at any school, not even when picking up or dropping off my little brother and sister. Obviously those were available only in select areas of the country.

So you aren't answering the question what States what towns exactly? I grew up in Chicago one of the biggest cities one of the 4 biggest in the USA. We had those backpacks. I'm sure California and New York did too. Indiana is not too far from Chicago so that would explain these kids having them?

I went to high school in the Seattle area (class of 1980), and we had backpacks exactly like that.

I grew up in the Midwest and those didn't "exist" there -not at all, not until after I was out of school. My youngest brother did get one though and they were "the new thing".

Sorry, but I'm from the Midwest and had one of those backpacks in the early 80's. maybe not where you were, but definitely where I was growing up.

@MrCharmingMan said:

@chrisjdel said:

@tlm550 said:

There were no backpacks like those in the 80s... There were no backpacks of any kind available all through the time I graduated in 1990 except the camping backpacks with a bulky frame... first canvas and then nylon... Yeah, it was in the 80s when they first starting making nylon tents instead of them all being made of heavy canvas... and the same for those backpacks... they were nylon but still had the horrible frame. It wasn't until the 90s before those soft backpacks were available.

Here is a picture of the exact Jansport backpack I had in the fifth grade, back in 1984, followed by a picture of Max's backpack from the show (the ones worn by the boys are similar).

My Backpack

Max's Backpack

So ... what exactly did they get wrong?

yeah I agree with chrisjdel those backpacks were pretty much what everyone had in the 1980's not sure what the OP is complaining about OP is probably from some real countryside or something.

I wasn't complaining... I was just starting a discussion. Apparently, just limited parts of the country had those available... I conducted a poll on Facebook, in a group, and nearly everyone said that they had no such thing available while they were in school during the 80s. The discussion was even started at my place of employment (NOT BY ME!) about this very thing and all agreed that there was nothing of the sort available... at least, not in our area. I went to school in Indianapolis.

I saw something in a 70's set show... backpacks. We did not have them. We carried book bags.

We had backpacks like that here in Scandinavia back in the 80's, mostly made of thick canvas, but the nylon ones were also starting to be common, and we also had nylon tents - me and my brother had one in the late 70's...

@Taylorfirst1 said:

Yeah, the OP is completely wrong. We had backpacks like that in the 80's. I graduated High school in 1985.

No, I'm not wrong... those (like another mentioned) must have been a west & east coast thing... but they definitely weren't available in the Midwest, especially small town Indiana. I grew up in Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana (sadly) and my older sister, older brother, and I never saw any such backpacks... At my last high school reunion, someone brought up this exact topic saying how we never had any such thing available to us... they also pointed out a lot of flaws about the bicycles used in season 1 -- wrong styles for the early/mid-80s... One friend owns and runs a bicycle shop in Indianapolis and they all talk about the mistakes in the show dealing with bicycles, cars, and the Indiana license plates.

Yeah, you are. I'm from Nebraska. We had those backpacks. They certainly didn't skip over Indiana from the East Coast to the Plains.