Before movies and TV shows streaming service, before the internet was a commodity in many families’ household, before Blu-Ray or even DVD format existed for movies, there was the video tape VHS format.
For much of the 80s and 90s, VHS was the main format for movies and the “VCR” was what you needed to play VHS movies and TV Shows in your home and classrooms. How many of you remember or had those “CRT Television and VCR” carts that the teachers in elementary school would share when it came to using it for a classroom lesson or a classroom potluck party? Some of us had to move our chair and seating location just to get a decent view of the screen. Thank goodness the digital projector came around to many classrooms and probably what’s most common today. But still, the “TV and VCR on a cart” was quite an awesome experience to have in the classroom.
We did have a VCR projector in the auditorium when my elementary school did a “good citizen” movie once a month; this is where the school would show a movie to kids that didn’t get in any trouble during that month as a reward. Definitely one of the highlights of my otherwise humble childhood. That was as close to a “movie theater” experience as I got until I was 20! Even ended up working at a movie theater for 2.5 years, but I’m getting off-topic here.
When it came to video rentals, companies like “Blockbuster Video” and “Hollywood Video” was the go-to spots for renting home movies and even video games. Many mom-and-pop places were also setup in a similar fashion. The experience of walking into a rental store and browsing what VHS movies was available and talking to the employees there for assistance or recommendation as far as what movie selection to consider.
The example I have above is of the TV Show anime ( or movie?) Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. It was my first introduction to the Gundam series after seeing it on “Toonami” on Cartoon Network around 1999 or 2000. The style and format was pretty much the norm for most movies: a black VHS tape with a white sticker label, enclosed inside a card-stock paper sleeve. Blank VHS were also available with a similar package, although I remember brands like Kodak has their signature bright #2 pencil yellow as the dominant color in the sleeve. These record-able VHS were used in camcorders for recording events such as family vacation, wedding videos, or graduations, or making copies of such type of videos to share with your family and friends. This was how recorded events were shared with people before social media and YouTube was a thing.
VHS were also available in plastic clam shells; if you ever encountered a Sega Genesis cartridge case, pretty much that same size and shape as it was influenced by VHS tape case format. It’s kind of like if you buy a physical copy of a video game for PS4 or Xbox One today. The size and shape is inspired by the Blu-Ray disc case format.
The one that I remember very well was the white clam shell that many VHS Disney home video movies came out the 1990s. Wish I had an example to show here, but I think many of these example can be found at the local thrift store today, maybe for just $1 if you desire to buy one.
VHS was a format that beat out the Beta tape format in the 80s, but by around the year 2000, DVD was slowing gaining popularity. The digital picture quality was in the range of at least same to much better compared to VHS. It was easier to use and navigate the DVD menu to get to where you want to start viewing the movie as oppose to randomly forwarding or rewinding the VHS tape and hoping you get to where you left off in the movie. DVD took up less physical shelf space compared to VHS and it can hold more data; what’s this means is that you can have TV Shows available in seasons or even an entire series in a convenient small physical format. VHS tapes can hold maybe three episodes if you’re lucky; to own a whole season or even a complete series of a TV Show or movie series would require a huge shelf space.
VHS is a media video format that is pretty much in the left in the past, but for many years it was the way many people and their families enjoyed entertainment viewing together that was outside the movie theater (or if there wasn’t a special movie presentation on TV). It was format that many of our favorite movies came. It was during a time when families gathered together in the living room, shared some popcorn, and spent time together. It was how special moments in people’s lives was recorded. That family vacation. That wedding day. Baby’s first steps. Kids soccer or basketball game.
Will VHS make a comeback like vinyl records? I kind of doubt it, but hey, who knows? Who would have thought that stores like Target and Walmart would phase out CDs to make room for Vinyls Records that are being manufactured today!
I unfortunately do not own a VCR to view the VHS tape I have pictured above, but maybe one of these days I encounter a TV/VCR combo in a thrift store for a low price and have space for one. Even if I don’t, it still kind of cool to own this VHS tape as it’s a souvenir of one of my favorite decades, the 90s. 🙂