A black and white computer reading a book above a black IBM logo and a semi-circle of white text beneath on a bright orange background.

DOBIS (Dortmunder Bibliotheks Informations System) was an online catalog system used in libraries. Marketed worldwide by IBM in 1985, the DOBIS system was promoted to run as a smaller, more accessible program that shared the resources of larger computer installations and not as a stand alone program. It was designed to facilitate librarians without data processing skills to create and maintain the catalog system.

A lightening bolt shoots across the button beneath a giant number one with sticker of the company name on an off-center gray circle and blue background, semi-circular black text at bottom.

The Taito Corporation was a Japanese publisher of video games that began operation in 1953. Some of Taito’s most well known productions were the arcade games Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble. The Taito Trading Company was founded by Michael Kogan, a Russian Jewish businessman, who initially distributed vending machines and jukeboxes. In 1973, Taito introduced their first video arcade game and renamed the company the Taito Corporation. It wasn't until 1978 that an arcade game called Space Invaders was introduced and the company became extremely successful. The company continued to produce through the 1990s, eventually creating a CD-ROM based console in 1992, which allowed users to play some of the arcade games and download games from a satellite transmission. The console, named WOWOW, was never released. In 2005, the Taito Corporation was purchased by Square Equinox who, in October of 2008, liquidated the company. 

A blue and gold number one ribbon down the left side and gray-filled black text above and black text beneath down the right side on a white background.

On August 26th, 1985, the Yugo was available to purchase for the first time to the American public. On its first day, 1,050 units were sold, quickly putting the Yugoslavian-made car on track to becoming the fastest-selling first-year European import in history. Named one of the "Outstanding Products of 1985" by Fortune and nominated by Motor Trend for its "Import Car of the Year" award, the Yugo claimed success in America. Things turned quickly sour, however, once people actually began to drive the car.

A series of scathing reviews, one by Consumer Reviews, in particular, lambasted the Yugo it tested as a "sorry sample" that had nearly a dozen defects, "attributable to sloppy assembly or incomplete dealer preparation." Plenty of other reviews echoed the same sentiment and sales responded by spiraling downward. Even the senior vice-president of the Yugo's production and engineering in the US, Toney Ciminera, nearly died twice while test driving several of the proto-types in New Jersey. 

To this day the Yugo remains one of the most notorious consumer product failures of the 1980s. The last Yugo in production didn't come off the Yugoslavian assembly line until late 2008.

White caveman font on an orange background.

In 1984, Ed Debevic’s opened in Chicago.  It is modeled after a 1950’s diner with unique servers who are known for snappy remarks and choreographed dance numbers on the soda counters.

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The One Minute Manager is a book written by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. The book centered around using one minute goal setting, one minute praising, and one minute reprimands as management techniques. When the book was published in 1982, it quickly became a bestseller. It was listed as number eleven on the New York Times Bestseller list and nearly ten million copies were sold between 1982 and 2001. For some businesses, it became required reading in the late 1990s. 

In the early 2000s, controversy arose when it was realized most of the book had been plagiarized. About forty percent of the book’s contents closely resembled an article published by business professor Arthur Elliott Carlisle. Carlisle’s article was titled "MacGregor" and was published in the journal Organizational Dynamics. At first, accusations of plagiarism were denied, but eventually it was acknowledged that the content in question was taken from Carlisle’s work.

White company name and larger, yellow product name in a rising text ribbon on a black background.

Jack Daniel's Lynchburg Lemonade is named after Lynchburg, Tennessee, the home of the famous whiskey distillery. The drink is one part Jack Daniels, one part tripel sec, one part sour mix, and one part lemon-lime soda. It is normally served over ice and garnished with either a cherry or lemon. 

The drink was originally created, however, by an Alabama restaurant and lounge owner in 1980 by the name of Tony Mason. Mason claimed that a Jack Daniel's sales representative came into his restaurant, tried the drink, and learned the recipe. A year later, the distillery launched a nation-wide campaign promoting the drink. Mason subsequently filed a lawsuit—Mason v. Jack Daniel Distillery. Although the final disposition of the case is unknown, the case went all the way to the Alabama civil appellate court. 

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GE logo at top left above a thin, red line that traverses five-eighths of the button to underline "GE" and stops beneath the white, right-aligned text, all above a red, diagonally ascending handwriting text at mid-bottom center on a black background.

The Hotline was a mobile phone manufactured by GE Cellular in the mid-1980s. Following GE Cellular’s merger with Ericsson Radio Systems in 1989, Ericsson continued to produce the Hotline and the phone evolved from a corded car phone to the Hotline Pocket, which was the one of the first truly mobile phones as it was entirely portable.

Bold, blue font above a blue silhouette of the Jaguar, red font beneath, on an ivory background.

Jaguar’s 1960s advertising campaign promoted the E-type XKE.  The campaign was a play on the “Keep America Beautiful” slogan and organization founded in 1953, which promotes beautification by preventing litter and reducing waste while promoting recycling.  The Series 1 E-type XKE was produced from 1961-1968, exclusively for export, and the XKE 2+2 Coupe was introduced in 1966.

Illustration of a black and white unicyclist juggling three balls on a white background. 

The International Jugglers’ Association was founded in 1947 in the United States and is currently the largest and oldest nonprofit circus organization in the world. The association, although dedicated to juggling, also supports other disciplines within the circus world. The association holds conventions, video contests, festivals, and publishes an online magazine. In 2013 the International Jugglers Association held a conference at the Bowling Green State University.