VCRs cost how much?!?

Apparently I'm not the only one in my family who's a pack-rat as I've recently realized that this is an inherited trait. On a recent trip back home, my dad and I pulled out a few boxes from the attic over the garage -- each box labeled with a specific year and full of receipts and paperwork from that particular year.

One of my favorite pieces of paper we came across was from the 1984 box -- a receipt for the first VCR my family owned.

Dated December 11, 1984, this VCR was purchased at a time when families were starting to cave into the technological pressure of owning such a machine. These days, I think it's next to impossible to buy a single VCR unit (one without a DVD player) but in recent years, I recall seeing them for sale for as little as $20-30. But as VCRs were first finding their ways into people's homes, take a look at what my parents paid...

Not only was I astonished that this VCR cost over $500, I was equally amazed that my money-conscious parents dropped that kind of money for a video recorder! On top of that, don't miss the original price which is crossed out near the top -- this thing was originally on the shelf for $900!

Just a year later, in the 1985 Sears Wishbook, the price of similar VCRs had dropped by a few hundred dollars at least.

 

December of 1984 would put me in third grade at the time. I still remember my dad picking me up from school that day in his red truck with the VCR was in the back. It may sound ridiculous, but there are sounds that VCR made that I can still hear today. To turn it on, you had to press "Power" as well as a "TV/VCR" button. When the power button was pressed, the VCR made a sound that I will never forget but is difficult to describe -- something like a combination between a very distant motor revving and a quiet zipper.

I've had a hard time finding a good picture of the actual VCR we had in our home. The best I've been able to come up with so far is the image below -- the corner of a larger picture with the VCR seen in the background sitting on top of the television.

I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised by the price of my family's first VCR. Look at what people shelled out for DVD players about ten years ago and flat screens and blu-ray players in more recent years. I can't begin to imagine what we'll all waste our money on next...