VCR Day to Celebrate Video Cassette Recorders
About VCR Day
When is VCR Day? This holiday is always celebrated on June 7
Back in the 1980s and 1990’s, video cassette recorders were “the” home recording and playback format. The VCR cassette contained magnetic tape, which you could record on and erase over and over again. Just about everyone had a VCR player. You could tape TV shows and movies for playback later. The marketplace offered VCR cassettes with recent movies. VCR Day, a June 7 holiday, celebrates the VCR tape cassette players.
While VCR usage peaked in the 1980s and 1990s, the very first VCR available for commercial sale was released in 1956, by Ampex Corporation in the United States. It did not come into widespread use until the late 1970s. For a short period, the VCR format competed against the Betamax (Beta) tape format. Near the turn of the century, compact discs and DVDs arrived with better quality and longer storage. They quickly replaced VCRs in the marketplace.
During its heyday, VCR cassettes also were used in recording movies in home video cameras. They largely replaced long popular 8mm and Super 8mm movie films, for the average amateur user.
If you are a younger reader, ask Mom and Dad, or Grandpa and Grandma about VCRs. Chances are they have a VCR recorder, and some cassette tapes buried somewhere in their basement. You may even find that you are on some of those cassettes, recording a childhood birthday, dance recital, or graduation.
Like so many other formats, it became outdated as new, better formats are invented. As time goes by, fewer and fewer people are celebrating Video Cassette Day, as this outdated technology fades from memory. Kids growing up today, have no idea what it is. For at least a few more years, those of us old enough to remember the popular VCR will continue to celebrate this day.
How to Celebrate VCR Day
Food holidays are among the best holidays of the year. Here’s how to celebrate VCR Day:
- Search your basement for those old video cassette recorders and tapes.
- Watch movies on your VCR.
- Find old tapes of your favorite 1980s television shows and movies on Ebay.
Today's Quote
“Music evokes so many feelings in us, memories, nostalgia, things that are connected to our past.” – – Olga Kurylenko
History and Origin of VCR Day
Our research did not find the creator or the origin of this day. It appears to have been celebrated since around the turn of the century. Ironically, by hen video cassette recorders and players were already outdated.
Some websites refer to this holiday as National VCR Day. There is no evidence to suggest that this is truly a “National” day, which requires an act of Congress. We found no congressional records or presidential proclamation about this special day.
Definition of “National” Days – and why it is important to distinguish true National days.
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