VHS Memories

Where do you store your memories?

We all have those memories of our past that generally came from a picture or a home movie.  We have other memories that were not memorialized with a polaroid or Facebook memory, but the ones that we can go back to and almost relive are the ones on VHS.  I am an 80’s baby, so VHS is my go-to.  If you are younger perhaps it is an 8 mm or a mini DV.  Younger still it is merely on a cell phone uploaded to a cloud.  Regardless of the way you obtain these moving memories, they are there for you to replay.  During the 1980’s the VCR had a boom in sales.  Even though it was around since 1956, the amount of money it cost was around $1500 then and in the 80’s it had fallen to around $200, depending on which one you bought.  Further still the first VHS camcorder was out in the late 1970’s. 

My father, who had been a photographer in WW2, had a passion for any type of photography.  I think if he didn’t follow his father into construction, and was a dreamer like myself, he would have been a photographer.  When I was born, both the VCR and VHS camcorder became a daily use.  My mom was a stay-at-home mother and I think if you played back-to-back movies, you could see me grow up for the first 5 years.  Not only were holidays and birthdays recorded, but just mundane everyday occurrences.

Putting the movies together with photographs in the massive binders we have, my brother and I are practically a cartoon strip.  I feel that the novelty of these types of memories have worn off a bit.  I know we take a lot of pictures with our phones, and they are easily assessable and instant, but the home movie is becoming something of a dinosaur.  When my son was first born and the holidays and birthdays that came after, I recorded on our camcorder and now on my cell phone.  But that is really all I have.  The special occasions, not the videos of normal life and what it was like living with a baby, toddler, grade schooler and now teenager. 

When I go back to watch my home movies from when I was little, I do it more to hear my dad’s voice.  I want to see and remember what it was like to live in a home that I felt safe and secure in.  Sometimes when I think I can no longer remember how my dad was or how he sounded, I will pop in a video cassette.  I don’t take movies of myself with my son.  It is normally just focused on him and what he is doing.  Not the whole family.  I hate my picture being taken and more so a moving one.  So, I tend to be behind the camera.  Will my son be able to do what I do when I am gone?  Will he be able to recall his “VHS Memories”?  Something to ponder I suppose.

To help with organizing your memories, a plastic case that helps separate the photos.  I got this for our massive amount of photos.  Like I said we could be a cartoon strip with how many we had.  Check out the link!

If you enjoyed this post, please check out my others.  Do you like podcasts?  Do you like talking about nostalgic things?  Well check out my podcast here!  I will be uploading more soon and will be also posting them on Spotify shortly.  Thank you for checking out my site!

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