80′s Babies ONLY: Speak & Spell

In hopes that one day you’d make something of yourself, back int he 80′s parents brought their young Speak & Spells…

Speak & Spell was created by Texas Instuments’ Paul Breedlove in the late 70′s and introduced to American markets in 1978. It went through several redesigns, but the basic idea remained the same: in a British-ish accent, the toy would ask you how to spell a word. You’d type it in, and the toy would tell you if you were correct or wrong.

Minigames, such as Mystery Word and Secret Code, were included in the original console.

A spelling game? What kind of fun was that?

The fun was in the interactive ability of the toy, it talked to you, and it was an 80′s exotic way of tricking kids into learning. It worked though, I can attribute my vast vocabulary to my speak and spell, and the deterioration of it to texting.

This was an awesome toy. E.T. even used it to phone home in 1982….

Check out this retro commercial with Bill Cosby for Speak and Spell:

Here’s another Speak & Spell Commercial

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