The American flag patch on the right sleeve of Joe's uniform is backwards. The blue square with the stars always faces forward when anyone of service wears it (police, fire, military, etc).
Wine and liquor can only be purchased in Pennsylvania from state- owned "Wine and Spirit" stores. In 1980 they were called "State Stores". Wine and Spirit stores do not sell grocery-type items, such as the banana cupcake that Rebecca purchased. It wasn't until 2016 that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board allowed wine to be sold in some grocery stores.
Dr. K asks his kids what the movie Ordinary People is about after talking about suggestions for what movie to see. The time line of this takes place on August 31 1980. The movie they are discussing won't be released in theaters until late September 1980.
Dr. Katowski, in his kitchen in 1980, handles a box of cereal. The cereal box contains a "Nutrition Facts Label", which was mandated for most food products under the provisions of the 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA), and was not mandatory until 1994, more than a decade after the year in which the episode was set.
Rebecca, 9 months pregnant in 1980, walks to a store and buys a cupcake, twinkies, and a Pittsburgh Steelers "Terrible Towel". The items were placed in a plastic shopping bag of the type (a simple one-piece bag created by folding, welding and die-cutting a flat tube of plastic) that first appeared at Krogers Supermarket in 1982, two years after the year in which the episode was set.
In 1980, foster care systems were well in place across the US with 24 hr on-call social workers and foster parents who would be ready to take in a baby day or night. Firemen, especially those in urban and suburban areas, would have had the number to call (it would also be prominently listed in phone books) should they find an abandoned baby or should one be discovered during a fire. It was the responsibility of the local children's protective service to then take the baby to the hospital.