Um, no. They used the polarized glasses. At least the theatrical releases did.Also, comparing 80s 3D to current 3D is an automatically broken argument. 80s 3D looked just plain aweful due to having to use the red/cyan glasses.
There was a very brief experiment in the early 80s with 3D television. Some local stations would show old 3D movies where you did have to wear the colored glasses. Picked them up from the daily paper or at nearby mini-marts. Not all that successful.