FIRST FRIDAYS ARTS MAP

By DOUG and Kayla Nunn

There was a time when it looked like VHS (Video Home System) tapes would become another piece of dead media, an obsolete form of entertainment right next to the Betamax, VideoCD, Laser Disc, or CED. I do believe we are past that point now and collecting VHS tapes is making a comeback and has become yet another obsession for a lot of people. But it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows, there was a time when there was a rush to push the next form of media and VHS was being taken out fast by a new form of media. The DVD, released in 1996 - it would take only 7 years for DVD rentals to surpass VHS rentals and only another 5 years to completely replace the VHS as the superior form of media. But to understand the VHS story completely we have to go back to the beginning, to where it all started, in 1976, when the first home based VHS and VCR was released. The VHS and VCR were mainly introduced to record shows at home. Because of this, the VHS tape was made capable of recording up to and eventually over 2 hours on just one tape, making it finally possible to record full movies and sports programs. VHS was already gaining more attention than Beta- max which was released only one year earlier. The Betamax had a similar tape design but with only one viewport around the left reel making it impossible to see where the tape actually was, it also had a shorter tape length and it was more expensive. With the release of the VHS this pushed Betamax, which was owned by Sony, to start upgrading their VCRs and increasing their Beta tape length - creating what is known as the Videotape Format War. The war was an intense and expensive battle lasting 12 years, involving multiple formats and two of the biggest companies ever - Sony and JVC. After only 4 years on the market the VHS took Betamax sales down to only 25%. The war ended in 1988 when Videofax magazine declared that Betamax had lost after Sony agreed to start adding VHS tapes to their VCR lineup. Sony at the time was mainly Betamax so this was huge. The last major movie released on Betamax was Mission Impossible in 1996 and the last major movie released on VHS was A History of Violence in 2005 almost 10 years after. To put it in perspective, the last Betamax unit sold was in 2002 yet the last VHS/DVD combo unit was sold in 2016, so yeah you could say the VHS won and Sony made a smart decision, probably helping them become the pioneer they are now.

Technically VHS didn’t just beat Betamax, they beat out everything that came before like, 8mm film, not to mention 8mm film’s forgotten sibling, 9.5mm film, the CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc) and the short running yet still highly collectible Laserdiscs. Like VHS, the Laserdisc is still a fun piece of history and a great collectible item that can easily be displayed on any wall as a decoration. The laserdisc was released in 1978 and the last movie released in North America was Bringing Out The Dead in 2000, so a good 22 year lifespan.

Ok so we got all the numbers out of the way and we learned some history so I can close my Wikipidia tab and get to the good shit. Some people say VHS won only because of the amount of pornography available on the format, I wouldn’t know anything about that, its not like I’m a kid from the 90s… ok it definitely helped. In my opinion there are many other reasons VHS tapes won the war and are making a comeback. The sound and picture quality are amazing! OK not so much - maybe if you hooked up a HD VCR up to a nice CRT you might get a good picture but if you haven’t seen a VHS it’s definitely not comparable to anything today. But I’m not watching them for the quality I’m watching them for the experience, to be transported back to the time the movie released…if you want 1980s quality watch an 80s movie. If you want something with with a bit more graphics watch the 2 tape extended cut widescreen edition of Lord of The Rings released in 2002. You don’t even have to watch them to really enjoy them either, the box art is amazing and they display great on any shelf. Or you can think outside the box and make a VHS lamp consisting of your favorite movies or cartoons or you can make a light up wall decoration of that orange Rugrats VHS. One of my favorite things about the VHS though is unlike most streaming movies these days that get multiple edits and or fixes after there release, the VHS tape is a physical media that has not been manipulated. They are the original movies as they were originally seen plus they’re fucking rad.

Doug and Kayla Nunn are owners and operators of The Time Capsule, a retro media hub that celebrates all things nostalgic and pop culture related.

Find them: @retromediaman |

23 Orondo Avenue, Wenatchee and at timecapsulecollectibles.com C