VHS Memories
We had a decent VHS tape collection in my family when I was a kid. Some were store-bought. Some were recorded from TV, like episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation or Disney Sunday Movies.
Sometimes, when we were in the mood to watch a tape, one of us would stand or sit in front of the VHS shelves and read off titles until there was a consensus among everyone present on something to watch.
Every so often we'd go to a video rental store like Blockbuster or Hollywood Video and bring home a few movies to watch – that was always a treat.
For a while, we lived in a house with a neighbor who had the biggest VHS collection I've ever seen. They gladly lent out tapes to their neighbors – they even had a sign-out sheet and log to keep track of who had checked out which tapes.
I still have a VCR and a very small VHS collection which includes just a few of the tapes from my family's old collection. I even have a tape rewinder. Occasionally I'll bring home a tape from the thrift store to add to my collection.
The picture and sound quality of VHS tapes can't compare to DVDs, of course. But it's not about the quality, it's about the nostalgia. It's about the intentional experience of watching a movie on physical media. It's about the memories, the feelings of peace, comfort, and safety I had in my youth watching movies at home my family.
As convenient as it is today to watch video on-demand, I miss those days when we were limited to watching what being broadcast over the airwaves and what was in the collections of family and friends and video rental stores – and we were happy all the same.
#100DaysToOffload (No. 103) #nostalgia #TV #movies #retro