In 1988, "Faith" topped the charts, Rain Man packed theaters, a stamp cost 25¢, the average home went for about $112,500.
🎵 Top songs of 1988
"Faith" — George Michael
"Need You Tonight" — INXS
"Got My Mind Set on You" — George Harrison
🎬 In theaters
Rain Man
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Coming to America
What things cost in 1988
$0.90
Gallon of gas
25¢
Postage stamp
$4.11
Movie ticket
$2.30
Gallon of milk
$112,500
Average home
$13,933
New car
$27,230
Household income
A $0.90 gallon of gas in 1988 has the buying power of roughly $2.40 in 2024 dollars. A 25¢ stamp is around 66¢ today, and a $4.11 movie ticket is about $10.90.
The biggest moments of 1988
The world watched two Olympics in one year: the Winter Games in Calgary and the Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea.
Bobby McFerrin's a cappella hit "Don't Worry, Be Happy" had everyone whistling along and later won the Grammy for Song of the Year.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit amazed moviegoers by mixing live actors with cartoon characters like never before.
The Jamaican bobsled team made its unlikely, crowd-pleasing debut at the Calgary Winter Games, inspiring the later movie Cool Runnings.
Wrigley Field finally got lights, and the Chicago Cubs played their first official night home game in August 1988 after 74 seasons of day baseball.
A Hollywood writers' strike stretched 22 weeks through the spring and summer, delaying the fall TV season and sending reruns into overdrive.
Toys, TV & trends of 1988
The Nintendo Entertainment System ruled living rooms, with kids trading tips on Super Mario Bros. 2 and The Legend of Zelda.
The squishy, stringy Koosh ball debuted in 1988 and quickly became a playground sensation.
The California Raisins were everywhere, from Saturday morning TV to lunchboxes, toys, and their own hit records.
Nintendo Power magazine launched in the summer of 1988, and its maps and secret tips became playground currency.
The Wonder Years premiered right after the Super Bowl in January, and Kevin Arnold's junior-high troubles felt instantly familiar.
Micro Machines were the tiny cars every kid wanted, hyped by motor-mouthed pitchman John Moschitta talking impossibly fast on TV.
The music scene
Pop radio in 1988 was a tug-of-war between eras: hair metal was at full roar, with Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine" hitting No. 1 and Def Leppard's Hysteria still spinning off hits a year after release. Meanwhile, hip-hop was breaking through to the mainstream — Yo! MTV Raps debuted in August and quickly became one of the network's most popular shows. Tracy Chapman's quiet, acoustic "Fast Car" cut through all the noise and proved a simple story-song could still stop everyone in their tracks.
At the movies
At the box office, Die Hard quietly invented the modern action-movie template, turning Bruce Willis from a TV comedy actor into a superstar. Big made Penny Marshall the first woman to direct a film that crossed $100 million, powered by Tom Hanks dancing on a giant piano. And when awards season arrived the following spring, Rain Man took home Best Picture and Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman.
Cartoons kids loved
DuckTales
The Real Ghostbusters
Garfield and Friends
By 1988 the weekday-afternoon syndication boom was in full swing, with studios discovering that kids home after school were a giant untapped audience. Disney's investment in genuinely well-made TV animation was raising the bar for everyone, and the wild success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit reminded Hollywood that animation could be big business — a spark that would soon light the Disney Renaissance.
The world in 1988
World population: about 5.1 billion
U.S. President: Ronald Reagan
The Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea brought 159 nations together, the largest Games yet at the time.
Iran and Iraq accepted a UN ceasefire in August 1988, ending a devastating eight-year war.
Benazir Bhutto was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to lead a modern Muslim-majority nation.
TAT-8, the first transatlantic fiber-optic cable, went into service, multiplying the phone calls that could cross the ocean at once.
1988 birthday questions
How old is someone born in 1988?
Someone born in 1988 turns 38 in 2026 (37 if their birthday has not come round yet).
What was the number one song in 1988?
"Faith" by George Michael was among the biggest hits of 1988.
What movie came out in 1988?
Rain Man was one of the films packing theaters in 1988.
How much did gas cost in 1988?
A gallon of gas ran about $0.90 in 1988, and a postage stamp cost 25¢.
How much did a house cost in 1988?
The average home went for roughly $112,500 in 1988, against a typical household income of about $27,230.