🎙️ EPISODE 2 — Be Kind, Rewind: The Lost Art of VHS Labels
We dive into one of the most overlooked but deeply personal relics of the past: VHS spine labels. Those handwritten titles. Those neon genre stickers. Those bossy “Be Kind, Rewind” decals.
Let's travel back to the 80s and 90s, when organizing your shelf of recorded TV shows, taped-off-HBO movies, or rental-store treasures felt like constructing your own personal library. From Blockbuster’s iconic cases to the wild sticker ecosystem of mom-and-pop video shops, to the cult-favorite “Melt Sticker,” this episode celebrates the forgotten ephemera that defined the VHS age.
If you ever labeled a tape with a Sharpie, hated when rental stickers covered up the box art, or created your own insane cataloging system, this one’s going to light up your nostalgia center.
Topics covered:
• Why spine labels mattered, and why our generation cared so much
• The personal rituals of organizing VHS tapes
• Genre stickers and color-coded video store design
• Blockbuster vs. Hollywood Video spine aesthetics
• “Be Kind, Rewind” etiquette & rewind-shaming
• Tamper-proof labels, Melt Stickers, and other forgotten rental store tech
• Why collectors today love (or hate) old video store stickers
• The visual language of VHS: fonts, shells, colors, and the lost art of the chunky spine
👇 More Nostalgia + New Episodes
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