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My parents owned a mom/pop video store during my childhood. It's still crazy to look back at how in-demand VHS tapes were. We lived in a super small town so the

My parents owned a mom/pop video store during my childhood. It's still crazy to look back at how in-demand VHS tapes were. We lived in a super small town so there was zero competition. Cable was not common in every home yet. "Be kind, rewind" cost a buck if forgotten. Rewinding to the beginning of VHS tapes was honestly so long that nobody really forgot. The store was eventually acquired by some regional chain, and almost like magic the future started taking its form. So cool to see this.

NotCamelCase 2y ago
So, you needed to rewind the tape to the beginning if you wanted to return it after having partially watched it i.e. at 40%? Now I wonder, did the store owners check each tape on return for this? I hope it was a quick process.. > Rewinding to the beginning of VHS tapes was honestly so long that nobody really forgot. Hmm, if it took so long, wouldn't it have caused the reverse effect? That people would ignore it out of laziness? Maybe I'm too spoiled! :D
- _m_p 2y ago
  Interestingly, in the very first iteration of home video cassette rentals, the tapes could not be rewound at home: > These rental cassettes were red, approximately 7 inches (180 mm) high by 6.5 inches (170 mm) wide by 1.5 inches (38 mm) deep (however used the same videotape used today) and could not be rewound by a home Cartrivision recorder. Rather, they were rewound by a special machine upon their return to the retailer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartrivision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartrivision
- 8organicbits 2y ago
  I recall them having a transparent window so you could see where the tape was. I think the process would have been: slide the VHS out of the sleeve and glance at where the tape was positioned. Should take just a second.
- LocalH 2y ago
  I mean, you could look at most VHS tapes and tell if they're rewound or not. Don't even need to insert them into a VCR.
- eszed 2y ago
  Further wrinkle: it only took a long time in your VCR, which (we all believed) was also bad for your VCR (I mean, maybe? But avoiding stressing the VCR's mechanism was why it took a long time). So, gadget catalogs sold standalone high-speed VCR rewinders, which just about anyone who watched a lot of movies owned. They took less than a minute to rewind a cassette.
  - voidfunc 2y ago
    Yep had one of these. For some reason I really liked the sound it made as a kid.
    - dwighttk 2y ago
      My friends parents had one… looked like a sports car
      - hluska 2y ago
        Wow, a bright red sports car. We had one of those in I’d like to say 1988 or 1989. What a memory. Thanks for that!
        dwighttk 2y ago
        You’re welcome!
- asveikau 2y ago
  What I remember is that it was a cultural part of movie watching to rewind when the credits hit. You'd use that time to discuss what you saw with whoever you were viewing with. That's how I did it.
- dwighttk 2y ago
  Quick process? Just look at it… every rewound tape has all the tape on the same side.
- cronix 2y ago
  It took about 3 seconds to check. Pop open the case the tapes came in and look at the plastic window and you can easily see both reels. If the tape was all on the left reel, it was rewound. Just about all rental places did this when you returned the tape. Audio cassette tapes were the same way. The VHS cassette was basically just a larger version of an audio cassette with wider and longer tape. Pic of rewound VHS: https://www.becomingminimalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/vhstape.jpg https://www.becomingminimalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/0...
  - mathgeek 2y ago
    > Audio cassette tapes were the same way. Ah the days of audio books on tape. For a moment I was thinking "renting audio tapes?" but then the memories hit me.
- qingcharles 2y ago
  If you left the tape running after the end of the movie, the VCR would usually rewind it automatically when it hit the end of the spool.
- ponco 2y ago
  Our family VCR had the "EZ Rewind" setting which would automatically rewind it to the beginning once the movie ended. Saved a lot of hassle.
- garfieldnate 2y ago
  You can tell by looking at a VHS tape if it's been rewound or not; there are two little windows that let you see the tape reels, and all of the black stuff should be in the left window.
  - garfieldnate 2y ago
    Also, I feel really old explaining that.
osigurdson 2y ago
Lucky that your parent's shop got acquired. It was amazing to see - Blockbuster shops popping up here and there, all the while it seemed that virtually everyone could see the tsunami coming (except Blockbuster).
mentos 2y ago
Curious what revenue the store was generating without any competition in your small town?

NotCamelCase 2y ago

So, you needed to rewind the tape to the beginning if you wanted to return it after having partially watched it i.e. at 40%? Now I wonder, did the store owners check each tape on return for this? I hope it was a quick process.. > Rewinding to the beginning of VHS tapes was honestly so long that nobody really forgot. Hmm, if it took so long, wouldn't it have caused the reverse effect? That people would ignore it out of laziness? Maybe I'm too spoiled! :D

_m_p 2y ago
Interestingly, in the very first iteration of home video cassette rentals, the tapes could not be rewound at home: > These rental cassettes were red, approximately 7 inches (180 mm) high by 6.5 inches (170 mm) wide by 1.5 inches (38 mm) deep (however used the same videotape used today) and could not be rewound by a home Cartrivision recorder. Rather, they were rewound by a special machine upon their return to the retailer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartrivision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartrivision
8organicbits 2y ago
I recall them having a transparent window so you could see where the tape was. I think the process would have been: slide the VHS out of the sleeve and glance at where the tape was positioned. Should take just a second.
LocalH 2y ago
I mean, you could look at most VHS tapes and tell if they're rewound or not. Don't even need to insert them into a VCR.
eszed 2y ago
Further wrinkle: it only took a long time in your VCR, which (we all believed) was also bad for your VCR (I mean, maybe? But avoiding stressing the VCR's mechanism was why it took a long time). So, gadget catalogs sold standalone high-speed VCR rewinders, which just about anyone who watched a lot of movies owned. They took less than a minute to rewind a cassette.
- voidfunc 2y ago
  Yep had one of these. For some reason I really liked the sound it made as a kid.
  - dwighttk 2y ago
    My friends parents had one… looked like a sports car
    - hluska 2y ago
      Wow, a bright red sports car. We had one of those in I’d like to say 1988 or 1989. What a memory. Thanks for that!
      - dwighttk 2y ago
        You’re welcome!
asveikau 2y ago
What I remember is that it was a cultural part of movie watching to rewind when the credits hit. You'd use that time to discuss what you saw with whoever you were viewing with. That's how I did it.
dwighttk 2y ago
Quick process? Just look at it… every rewound tape has all the tape on the same side.
cronix 2y ago
It took about 3 seconds to check. Pop open the case the tapes came in and look at the plastic window and you can easily see both reels. If the tape was all on the left reel, it was rewound. Just about all rental places did this when you returned the tape. Audio cassette tapes were the same way. The VHS cassette was basically just a larger version of an audio cassette with wider and longer tape. Pic of rewound VHS: https://www.becomingminimalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/vhstape.jpg https://www.becomingminimalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/0...
- mathgeek 2y ago
  > Audio cassette tapes were the same way. Ah the days of audio books on tape. For a moment I was thinking "renting audio tapes?" but then the memories hit me.
qingcharles 2y ago
If you left the tape running after the end of the movie, the VCR would usually rewind it automatically when it hit the end of the spool.
ponco 2y ago
Our family VCR had the "EZ Rewind" setting which would automatically rewind it to the beginning once the movie ended. Saved a lot of hassle.
garfieldnate 2y ago
You can tell by looking at a VHS tape if it's been rewound or not; there are two little windows that let you see the tape reels, and all of the black stuff should be in the left window.
- garfieldnate 2y ago
  Also, I feel really old explaining that.

osigurdson 2y ago

Lucky that your parent's shop got acquired. It was amazing to see - Blockbuster shops popping up here and there, all the while it seemed that virtually everyone could see the tsunami coming (except Blockbuster).

mentos 2y ago

Curious what revenue the store was generating without any competition in your small town?