When I worked in a video store back in the 90’s, I never thought that experience would eventually transfer itself into the creation of a comic strip. I certainly never could of imagined that that strip would still exist online 18 years later!
On this day, back in 2004, Please Rewind’s first strip was posted online and kicked off a long running adventure that celebrated a very special time in my life. While most of it was obviously based on highly exaggerated tales or outright invented scenarios (I’ve never been abducted by aliens), at it’s heart it was based on a very real love of pop culture and a video store that actually existed.
To this day, I have yet to find an experience similar to those warm summer nights working at the video store. The neon, the crowds of people, the smell of popcorn and VHS cassettes as far as the eye could see. It was a really amazing experience that I fear has been lost to time.
So I welcome you all to this new website and ask you to join me in celebrating…the video store. Whether you had the pleasure of actually visiting one back in the day or are just curious about them, I hope Please Rewind continues to give you a window back into that phenomenon of retail that turned the simple act of borrowing a movie for the weekend into an event for the whole family.