17 Things We Found Stuck Inside VHS Tapes
Other than tape itself - we didn't include it because we thought it was obvious. If you disagree, consider this a list of 18 items.
One of the great joys (and occasional horrors) of working in the Notstalgia Archives is opening up a VHS tape to find that time has not been kind to its internal components.
Over the years, we’ve discovered an alarming number of objects wedged, crammed, or mysteriously fused inside the plastic casings.
Below is a selection of the most interesting:
A Love Letter (Addressed to ‘The Woman on Channel 6, Wednesdays at 8 PM’) – It was never sent, but we hope she somehow knows.
An Expired Pizza Hut Coupon – From 1994. The fine print says it was only valid at a single location, which no longer exists.
A Small Piece of What Might Be Cursed Jewellery – The intern who found it reported ‘feeling weird’ for the rest of the day. It has since been stored in a drawer that no one is allowed to open.
A Burnt-Out Birthday Candle – Embedded directly into the tape reel. Was someone celebrating while watching America’s Funniest Home Videos? The mystery endures.
Unidentified Fur – Not attached to anything. Not the kind of thing you want to discover inside a plastic VHS casing. We are choosing to believe it belonged to a pet and not… something else.
A Grocery List – Written in tiny, shaky handwriting on a piece of torn notebook paper. Includes ‘beef, 1 onion, soap, more soap.’ The priorities are unclear.
A Single Playing Card (Ace of Spades) – The card was severely bent and smelled faintly of cigarette smoke. This feels like it should mean something.
A Dried-Up Dead Spider – We do not wish to discuss this further.
A Polaroid of a Man Looking Extremely Suspicious – We don’t know who he is, why he’s making that face, or what he was doing. But he knows what he did.
A Handwritten Note Reading ‘Don’t.’ – Just ‘Don’t.’ No context. No explanation. We have chosen to respect its wishes.
A Movie Ticket Stub from 1987 – The movie title is too faded to read, but someone clearly held onto it for a long time before deciding a VHS tape was the best place to store it.
A Tiny Vial of Glitter – No label, no explanation. Was this part of a forgotten magical ritual, or just a failed craft project?
A Key with No Lock – Rusty, small, and seemingly useless—except to whoever put it there in the first place.
A Half-Eaten Gummy Bear – Found suspiciously well-preserved. This raises more questions than it answers.
A Raffle Ticket for ‘Big Jim’s Meat Bonanza’ – No idea if the raffle was ever won, but someone was clearly excited about the possibility of discounted meats.
A Scratched-Up Mix CD Titled ‘For Emergencies Only’ – The tracklist was unreadable. We are still debating what qualifies as an ‘emergency.’
A Broken Watch Stuck at 3:17 – Why that exact time? We don’t know. Still correct more than once, but less than three times, a day.