The VCR actually dates to the 1970's, however it wasn't until around the early 80's that they really began catching on.  Winning the war against Betamax, the VHS VCR became the de facto standard, still found in may homes to this day.  The example above is of a very early  model.  Check out all the stuff below you remember from your childhood.  Scroll down to catch a couple of vintage VCR commercials.