The First Video Store

It was around August 1977, Elvis had just died and Mom was keen on getting his last concert on this new video cassette tape process.

The franchise went for $12,500 and we got a 3/4" JVC player recorder and Sony 1/2 inch recorders and boxes of movies, G rated through X rated and public domain.
From the 3/4 inch masters we made copies on 1/2 inch Sony Beta cassettes and put them on the shelves for rent at $20 per night.
Also, during this very earliest of video store stages, few renters had video machines so we rented those at $100 per night.

Lot's of bachelor parties!

Maxine Mae's profile

Maxine and Elvis on Yout ube

Rental: The Sony SL-7200

Rental: SL-3000 portable

All during this epochal movie revolution, the real driving force for us was Elvis and his philosophy of Taking Care Of Business in a Flash.

Maxine, my mom, who was a knock-out with a one-of-a- kind wit had had an affair with Elvis Presley fifteen years earlier.
Master Recorder: JVC CP-5000U

When she heard about George Atkinson and his new franchise of renting video cassette movies she also saw it as an opportunity to have a video recorder for the Elvis TV concert on CBS in October.

And wouldn't you know it, George Atkinson was a big Elvis fan!

So we met Mr. Atkinson at the Shakey's Pizza on Blackstone Ave. in the Aug.-Sept.

He showed us how the movies in the Pizza Parlor could be put on the Beta tapes and rented. I think I remember him saying that he was the person responsible for the movies in the Shakey's Pizza chain.

Mom had her recorder for the telecast on October 3, 1977.

Dubbing Station: The Sony SL-7200

Maxine Hall went on to have the biggest Elvis Presley fan club in the Central California - right from inside the video store!

Early titles were:
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)
The Blue Max (1966)
Laurel & Hardy
Rocky
Superman
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
MASH (1970)
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1976)
Emanuelle nera (1975)
The African Queen (1951)
Hello, Dolly! , M*A*S*H, Patton, The French Connection, The King And I, The Sound Of Music
The Italian Stallion
Deep Throat
Mary, Mary
Amber Lynn
Behind the Green Door
Debbie Does Dallas
John Holmes
Sex World
A bunch more...
12 O'clock High...

Wikipedia has it wrong claiming George Atkinson's first franchise was the "VIDEO STATION".

They in fact were called exactly what he advertised them as, and what we had on the front of our store for four years, "VIDEO CASSETTE RENTALS." (See ad above)

It remained VCR until 1980 when George changed the franchise to "VIDEO STATION".