So I was just curious if anyone happens to know what was the very first magic teaching VHS tape or tape set that officially hit the magic market?

Some older ones that I know of are the Tony Hassini tapes on beginner's magic, The Stars of Magic series, Paul Harris's videos, David Roth, Tom Mullica, A1 Multi-Media, L&L, etc.

VCRs hit the mass market in 1975, so probably nothing older than that.

I would also imagine that it would be impossible to decipher what the very first DVD was, as by the time DVD became the popular format I'm sure by then there were hundreds of VHSs, which were all probably converted to DVD around the same time, in addition to any new videos which started just flooding the market & going straight to DVD.

I would imagine they'red be a lot of other magicians/collectors who would like to also know what some of the oldest tapes are to add to there collections.

Videonics out of Newfoundland was certainly one of the early pioneers in Video magic Instruction... from Magicpedia...

Videonics was a company formed by Hans Zahn in Newfoundland, Canada (circa 1979) to produce and distribute instructional video tapes for magicians, a first in North America. Shot with broadcast-quality equipment in a professional studio, the Videonics line was at the forefront of the video age, and boasted a roster of some of magic's top innovators, including Dai Vernon, Michael Ammar, Martin Nash, Flip, Ken Krenzel, Bobby Bernard, and Fr. Cyprian. Upon their initial release, each video sold for upwards of $80 U.S. In the 1990s, L&L Publishing purchased the entire Videonics line and has since redited and reissued selected programs on DVD.

https://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php?title=Videonics

Ahh, so THAT'S where the Dai Vernon Revelations L&L DVD set came from, I completely forgot about those, as they do look super old!! Thanks JM!

Dear Michael J Moore,

the first magic teaching Blue-Ray is "10" by Dr. Knut Knackstedt, released by Sic! Verlag https://www.sic-verlag.de/dr-knut-knacks......c28fc7cd .

Fred Kaps made teaching films long, long ago, probably 16mm. He was quite young at the time they were made, but I don't know offhand the dates. They were silent, but had caption cards where necessary. I have a copy on tape and DVD.

A bit off topic, but following Michael's comment, remember U.F.Grant was the first to send his lectures on reel-to-reel tapes with accompanying instructions/notes to magic clubs around the country. (This was back in the stone ages when sponge balls was performed with granite pellets...)

Julie

Greetings;
My old brain gets slower all the time, so this may or may not be what you are looking for.
I remember old 16mm films from Harry Stanley in England. There were films that were just a
performance, and then there were films that actually taught with printed cards as there was no
sound to the films back then.

The tricks were very simple, I used to have the torn and restored napkin, the ring on wand,
and the vanishing card box, each were a separate film about 15 minutes long, and Ken Brooke was
actually the person in the film performing and explaining, with a young woman moving the cards
so you could read them in between. There were also films of Fred Kaps as Michael had mentioned.

I only bought those 3 back then, and then got the others with Lewis Ganson, Ken Brooke and
others, These were just performance films, not like the earlier ones.

It was film projector teaching which may have been the earliest. But the first video taped
were indeed Videonics and they were very expensive compared to today's prices for DVD's. Hell for
that matter, I remember buying my first Betamax back then and it was over $500.

I wish I still had those old silents, but that is the past. The magicians of today do not
realize how good they have it. The DVD's on the market are clear, detailed, professionally shot,
and at the current prices are a bargain.

When VHS came out, I bought many tapes and a VHS machine. Later when the DVD players hit the
market, I went and bought one of those as well. My children gave me a DVD recorder about 8 years
ago and I have been slowly transfering the old Beta to DVD so I would have them. I also have been
doing the same with the older VHS tapes. It is surprising to me, the Beta machine is still running
like a charm, and most of the tapes are in perfect shape.

On the other hand, while the old VHS machine is running well, the old VHS tapes are hit or miss
as to condition. They certainly did not hold up well to age like the Beta tapes did.

I am happy that I have been able to save some of these old tapes as many have never come back
out in DVD form, and will eventually vanish. There were some great teachings back then.

I am just sitting back thinking, I hope there is not another format coming out, I'm getting to
*** old to transfer all of those again. lol

Thanks to all for bringing this back up, I think I'll spend this winter going back through all
of those old tapes and take a trip down memory lane.

All the Best
Marty

in 1971 Ralph Edwards Productions put out a series of how to videos.
They chose Dai Vernon to do a teaching video on magic.
It was titled "Secrets of Magic".