Friday night, a wall of big plastic cases, and the film you actually wanted already out.
Independent video shops came first (often a corner of a newsagent) before Blockbuster and Ritz standardised the experience. Membership required proof of address and a signature.
The late fee was a genuine household expense. So was the rewind charge, which is the single most aggressive piece of retail policy in British history.
Cost back then
£1.50 overnight
Goes for now
Ex-rental big box VHS £10–£100+
Keep going
The freezer centre was a whole shop of frozen food, and going there meant a chest freezer in the garage.
Sony's superior video format lost the war to VHS, leaving a small number of very smug and very stranded households.
A cassette player with headphones and no speaker, which sounded absurd until everybody had one.
Sinclair's £175 home computer put programming into British bedrooms and created an entire games industry.