PSA: People keep erasing old VHS tapes like they're just empty space

I run a small digitizing side gig out of my basement and I keep getting tapes from people that are clearly recordings over old family videos from the 90s. Last week a lady dropped off a box of blank-labeled tapes and when I popped one in it showed her kid's birthday in 1995 for like 10 seconds before cutting to a 2006 episode of American Idol recorded off the air. She had no idea she taped over her own kid's party. It happens all the time because folks think VHS is just reusable junk and they hit record without checking what's already on there. I've got a stack of about 15 tapes right now that have partial home movies buried under bad TV shows. Anyone else deal with clients who accidentally erase their own history like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

eric_johnson3d ago

Are you sure this is always a bad thing though? In my experience, a lot of those old home videos are just shaky footage of the same kid opening presents for the 4th year in a row. People might have recorded over them on purpose because nobody was ever gonna watch that again anyway. I get that it stings to lose that birthday clip, but American Idol was a big cultural thing at the time, right? Maybe that episode means more to her now than watching a 10 second loop of her kid with a party hat on. Your mileage may vary, but I think sometimes we put too much weight on old tape just because it's old.

gracecarr2d ago

People really act like every erased VHS tape is a war crime lol.