The summer of ’82 — what was life like the last time inflation was this high?

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that inflation rose by 6.9 percent in the year to November. This is the fastest annual rate of increase since June 1982. You’d have to be nearly 50 to remember inflation like this.

The last time the inflation rate was this high, the Twins under Bily Gardner were playing their first season at the Metrodome, and were on their way to losing more than 100 games for the first time since moving to Minnesota in 1961:

The last time the inflation rate was this high, the Minnesota North Stars drafted Brian Bellows:

The last time the inflation rate was this high, the Ford Escort was the best-selling car in the United States, with 337,667 units sold:

The last time the inflation rate was this high, kids were snapping up Glo-Worms:

The last time the inflation rate was this high, Americans were wearing “statement patterns, exaggerated sleeves, broad power shoulders, vibrant colors, and oversized costume jewelry”:

The last time the inflation rate was this high, Americans were reading The Parsifal Mosaic by Robert Ludlum (no, me neither):

The last time the inflation rate was this high, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial replaced the vastly superior Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan as the top movie at the box office:

The last time the inflation rate was this high, America was holding its breath to see whether Cliff Barnes — a character on the top rated TV show, Dallas — would survive his suicide attempt:

The last time the inflation rate was this high, Johnny Carson was the king of late night, which was a politics-free zone:

The last time the inflation rate was this high, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder were top of the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Ebony and Ivory’ (they were there for seven weeks):

Indeed, the last time the inflation rate was this high, Saturday Night Live was actually funny:

“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” — L.P. Hartley in The Go-Between.