The Death of VHS Tape Marks the End of an Era

by Jon Azpiri | December 22, 2008 at 11:13 am

2077 views | 20 Recommendations | 10 comments

The last supplier of VHS tapes says they will no longer distribute the old videotapes that were a staple among videophiles in the 80s and early 90s.

On a crisp Friday morning in October, the final truckload of VHS tapes rolled out of a Palm Harbor, Fla., warehouse run by Ryan J. Kugler, the last major supplier of the tapes.

"It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt," said Kugler, 34, a Burbank businessman. "I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I'm done. Anything left in warehouse we'll just give away or throw away."

Kugler runs Distribution Video Audio Inc., a company that buys old discarded pieces of pop culture, including countless video tapes. Kugler made money by buying old tapes from retailers and then reselling them through bargain retailers and dollar stores. He estimates that he sold about 4 million VHS videotapes over the last two years. The last Hollywood film to be released on VHS was "A History of Violence" in 2006.

Of course, just because that new tapes are no longer being made, that doesn't mean that all the old tapes will disappear. An estimated 2 million tapes are still sitting on shelves. You can still buy VHS tapes on Amazon, including a copy of Terminator 2 for $15.

For the most part though, the VHS has been relegated to the dustbin of history, alongside its former rival Betamax, as well as the 8-track, and audio cassette. Of course, the VHS may soon have company.

But Kugler, with a sly smile, offered a warning to consumers thinking of putting up shelving to handle their burgeoning libraries.

"The DVD will be obsolete in three or four years, no doubt about it. Everything will be Blu-ray," Kugler said, anticipating the next resident at his pop culture retirement home. "The days of the DVD are numbered. And that is good news for me."

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Jarrett Martineau

at 11:31 on December 22nd, 2008

Ok, that's it. First Polaroid and now videotape? It's a sad day for analog reels of magnetic tape. As of today, I'm officially initiating a VHS resurgence! *And* making all of friends real cassette mixtapes for Christmas. Lo-fi or perish!

Fairbanks

at 11:39 on December 22nd, 2008

Go to vinyl. Tell the salesclerk what a turntable is, they have some in the back room.

Jarrett Martineau

at 16:51 on December 22nd, 2008

Ha - exactly!

purplemenu

at 16:44 on December 22nd, 2008

I was cleaning out an estate and this was one of the items to go. The people who lived here kept all the original boxes, which made it easy to sell items as complete packages: box, item, controllers, manuals, and, in some cases, the original receipt. No, those were shredded, but it was interesting to see what prices were back in the day.

purplemenu has contributed a photo to this story.

aventura615

at 17:57 on December 22nd, 2008

Gracias por querer utilizar mi fotografía en sus historias; esto me hace sentir muy bien.

Gracias, muchas gracias!!!!

aventura615 has contributed a photo to this story.

dunkelberg

at 18:56 on December 22nd, 2008

Guess who bought a nice international format converter right before the bottom fell out of the market?

Also, anyone want to buy a reel-to-reel recorder?

Chuckle

No, I don't have any wax rolls.

Uwe Paschen

at 19:00 on December 22nd, 2008

What no more VHS?

lefty_liberated

at 00:52 on December 23rd, 2008

"Goodbye benediction
Goodbye gasoline
Goodbye paranoia
Goodbye sleeze...."

"Goodbye Hari Krishna...It's been the best...." - "Lets talk about cars (lassie parlez les voitures) Butthole Surfers

Paul Conneally

at 07:28 on December 23rd, 2008

Tape both audio and video may actually last longer than digitally stored material - and its not as open to corruption of files as is digital.

In a few hundred years we may be back on the Vitrola....

malsonus

at 10:40 on December 23rd, 2008

This is my girlfriend SQ in front of a portion of the VHS collection of the artist known as Heatherface. This photo was taken by Jonathan Canady in Seattle, WA in the Summer of 2008.

malsonus has contributed a photo to this story.