how did people watch movies at home before VHS? was reel to reel

You watched it in the theater and hoped to catch it on TV someday.

Betamax

Oldest I can remember was an old VCR from like the early 80s

This thing was as big as a computer tower and all I did was play tapes

>>81810659

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>>81810689
>>81810638
Before tapes (mid 70s) you either watched it on tv (most common) or you'd get re-releases in theaters.
you could buy reels of older films but they'd be silent or cropped down

heres some OC for you. My dad bough one of the first vcrs in the late 70s. 50lbs unit and the tapes were $40 for 60 MINUTES. We still have it but its been broken for 20 years but I'm gonna fix for him someday.

>>81810670
This. I still have over 50 betamax tapes somewhere.

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>>81810893
tape size compared to a VHS

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thats where the term home video came from

>>81810893
>>81810929
v. vintage. Thanks for sharing.

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U-matic