Okay, we are recording all right.

i'm monique lillard.

half as part of the University of Idaho library, we are doing an oral History project about the video rental store in Moscow Idaho.

It is Friday may 7 2021 I am sitting here with two people a mother and son, and we are going to talk about their memories of the video store so first of all, let me turn the video to them and.

I will be off camera, and I will be asking the questions okay yeah there you go.

Okay.

Monique Lillard: JESSICA come on into your own way and.

Then we're going to lose this.

There we go all right good good good good.

i'm you sign the waiver release very good.

And that's the camera if you want to look right into it, and if you don't it's not the end of the world, so.

Okay i'm gonna ask you each to state your name your full names and eli and ask you to state your age JESSICA will not ask you to state your go ahead doesn't know my name is Elijah Tang.

Yes.

Monique Lillard: Very good, and how old, are you I am 13 very good so.

eli what were your earliest memories of the video rental store, we probably when our favorite show as a family, I still watch the show called psych.

It was taken off netflix so very sad time and the only way we could get it was going to the video store and renting out the like series, so there are multiple different seasons, so it going into one season and the next and we just going to do this, do we finished it and then just restart.

Or you can watching it over and over.

that's good many, many times, I mean like something we take a break in between like we watched it pretty often didn't me what else did your mother i'm a lot of children's movies from like the fiction section like a watch Disney movies, like the.

old ones, trying to think of all of them.

I can't take any right at the moment.

Oh yeah all the avatars to is to get all of those those are the best evidence like since like.

When you think of the video rental store, do you think of the one on Main Street, is that the building that you think of that last building Do you remember the building before that.

I remember Howard Hughes on, I do not, I can't think of the other one okay there's another one all right okay remembers yeah.

And did I ask you how often do you go to the video store i'd say.

We get multiple movies, at a time so i'd say we didn't go there, like super often but at least like once every two weeks, I think, because we get like.

One whole series so that take us a little while to watch and then a bunch of other just like little movies, with it, but sometimes inflate we got a whole lot more if we wanted to watch something specific.

So it was probably around like once a week or once every two weeks mm hmm okay JESSICA, what are your first memories of video Rentals in Moscow and maybe you have memories from before you move to Moscow so tell us about your video rental history oh.

I do remember renting at multiple other places.

The bigger places I lived.

I rented from chain places, and so the Howard Hughes is the first place that was that type of.

small town video rental store and earliest memories i'm embarrassed to say that I can't recall the first.

or others, other than Main Street when did it switch anyway.

Well, it was across from what's now the Co op for a long time it was that bigger place i'm not sure you would remember it he lived, but it was that.

was part of Howard Hughes appliance and it was still Howard Hughes video, but it was just in a different building yeah I guess a vein mm hmm OK, but so when you think of it you're thinking of that brick building yes yeah yeah and I was, I thought you respond with every couple weeks.

Where we were.

And, but as far as yeah it was fun, the time spent in there was always fun the negotiations, remember, we used always asked, like the children was asked for drinks, because they had like this almost like mini fridge thing we can work so cooler and little snacks.

Yes, all of us, I think it was mainly me rose and LUCAS don't ask a whole lot yeah actually not muted you.

had been more was a lot older.

And would you watch the videos as a family or did each person get a video go watch by themselves, we would mainly get them as a family.

Like if one person wants to watch it and then everyone would come in and watch it necessarily, but I think mainly there we're all family movies, that we got.

And what was the process like didn't take place outside the store or in the aisles I think for the kids we go into like the children section, we always got this like one so that was kind of a yeah.

Always one of the five for five saves the day when you got into the choosing, yes, yes, then that was everyone could get their own and then negotiating about like one.

Family, I think, for the kids a lot of the time we have to vote on specific movies, that we wanted them yeah, especially for the new one, so like yeah we don't want to like the fiction section all the little the kids movies, are and we.

Like try to vote on one, so we look through all of them, even though we kind of already knew what they all were when I searched around and looking at a new one getting nightstand now.

I remember multiple times like new movies, and just coming out and we hadn't watched him yet so we always get those ones first and sometimes we get like a really old one.

knee and Lucas, though, what specifically get a lot of the pokemon movies, a lot of them weren't accessible on like netflix so we buy like the deaths of all the pokemon movies, we got so many events.

Remember those.

yeah.

What is the store look like inside.

Okay, so there, I remember there's two different entrances and like there's like the staircase so there's the one entrance that's like right next to the kenworthy.

You can walk them through there and it's like the two big windows, you can kind of see a bunch of movies, you can see, I think there's.

Three aisles so and there's like the.

shelves in between that he will be stuck to them, so there was like.

Five total I can't remember now five total shelves, full of movies i'm pretty sure.

You walk in and then it kind of closes off and opens it into two different sections so like adults and young adult and then kids.

And you kind of you get the ones the one from there and then kind of like the two walls from us and you could walk through there.

And then there's the desk with the person that you buy the movies from.

Because you like show them the movie that you wanted.

But I think there's actually a disk inside so then he take it, and he would go get the actual desk and give it to you.

And so, and then there's there's ourselves like left behind in front of the.

front of the counter like behind us if you were like talking to him behind you there'd be more shells movies.

Though the mini fridge.

yeah those were the size, I was there was like a mini fridge or you could buy food from wasn't ready.

Now.

Monique Lillard: What machine and the machine up and no I don't think it was extra candy on the camera yeah our slack channel on the counter and there is always the thing for the humane society oh yeah was it like a jar box your dog.

Your oh yeah the dog container in it was like one of those months that always look really sad, we have, like the Jubilee years I remember the candy every time the best thing.

To.

Do is movies playing oh yeah and so then like it's kind of like a candidate for like this, so you walk around your friends usually, when you need to go out the other door.

there's a door right next to the counter you walk up these like what their steps over just looking it's just like a slanted thing.

To thing you go up there and turn left because that's where the door was, but there are also like staircase leading up to the building never been up there, and those up there, we go out the door down the alley in the back to our car.

Unless we parked in the alley and going through that insurance and then now.

we're going on is the Co op you know the colo it's The co op and then Howard Hughes that door, you can adjust from to for sure, well, I guess you park at the park in the co op place right next to the island, yes, and then you'd leave through the entrance and go.

yeah yes yeah Do you remember when the name changed from Howard Hughes to Main Street video co op I always call the Howard Hughes, I mean.

Like vaguely remember it being called that at one point in time, but I never call it that I don't think any of us ever did.

call the Howard Hughes, can we go down to how hard it is to get a movie yeah yeah whenever we go to the Co op to sometimes we were dropping seeds or any new movies yeah.

Now, what did you think about the collection, so that that view, but that also you, because you could have gone to other stores to so go ahead first.

They had all of the children's movies, I wanted, which can sort of like the Disney movies Avatar and then all kind of like the new movies that recently came out.

over again what a lot of the pokey on these are really old so we couldn't get them on netflix I know that's what that's what will happen.

yeah so all pokemon movie.

um and then I remember, there are a few times when I go over to the adult sections with you guys just to pick up a site.

Sometimes me and my guess would argue, which, like psyches and we wanted to get because somehow we were watching an order, but other times we go from season to season seven going back to season three.

Just kind of whatever we wanted, we had like Lucas has all the episodes memorize.

I have a lot of the episodes memorized so it kind of just try to remember what episodes were in each one and watch those specific episodes so sometimes we give me.

We watch those a lot.

So yeah yeah wonderful.

Oh, and I was thinking about all the all the SCI fi staff and all the super hero movies and.

What is it.

The comic.

know just all the comics marvel movies, all of those we read tons of those are the comics no emptying the movie store like Superman and Batman.

yeah we did all of those repeatedly over the years, again, I never watched them in order to.

start working wars are digital natives.

No a much we rented Now I want to start a war.

i'm trying to think what else Harry Potter Harry Potter movie marathon that like once, though, because we had all the books.

about problems, an old comedy Section I, yes I.

Did yes, yes, that was always my vote with some dumb comedy yeah What was your favorite section, so that one that one hour sessions, right here yeah that's okay.

Did you ever watch old musicals sometimes that your suggestion I all like the only one, I can remember, close to the musical will be August rush most likely they're going to be recognized on a lot me and yes please love that one.

um we might have rented Annie a few times we really like musicals actually.

yeah so then we were wanting some of the newer ones definitely.

I guess new backlinks Bruce Lee I love mamma MIA i'll say yeah I know I think those ones are older, oh right right my newer as i'm thinking ever like.

Like.

hairspray high zero sprays really good okay know what so i'm thinking of it okay there's pitch perfect I don't know if that counts as a musical there was one of the Dome comedies but we bought.

We definitely bought those ones, so we own them no really we only have the first one never about the second and the third one, we just want to see this goodness.

So, what are you doing now, with the stores closed, how do you see all these things well there's the new TV Disney plus which has all of the Disney kids movies, and are you subscribe.

she's not has well actually that doesn't need it, we take it from tiana and then.

Other ones Well now, you have like redbox we don't we don't have one last komatsu to stream now yeah we just kind of stream them from video prime.

or just video yeah if we can't find it on netflix or do Amazon prime and then we definitely want a lot fewer shows now it kind of just consist of bob's burgers psych.

99 and and all the kid shows we want from netflix and then crunchy roll that she doesn't yes it's an anime site that all the children use.

But that's just for us kind of.

So you think that that store was important to Moscow and just as a town in my opinion, is because we I don't know the rest of time used it really.

I know we use that a lot quite a lot, so I was very invested in that, so I like that place I can't I don't know about anybody else really i'm from yeah but for me personally, or I guess us personally, it was pretty important for us, since we go there to get all of our movies.

And I think are.

The.

Word variety of movies only watch now and shows up definitely short.

yeah.

yeah we, I think.

Though those places and things that support good family time are important and.

That was one that's what it did for us spent a lot of time, you know will yeah, all in all, a lot of time planning shopping watching debating yeah talking about movies later so they're definitely going to finish, so if you compare it to.

So I have an account, I know you scroll through to pick the movie I don't even know what you do with prime, how do you do it, you put in the name of the movie or it's kind of the same as netflix you can search it, it has like no Hana wrote here kid.

We basically has what you.

Keep watching a watch again.

recommended and then kind of like what everyone else is watching so kind of like worldwide is what everyone else likes to watch the like.

I didn't even know.

I mean we only watch, I know I know.

I can have on the watch something conservative, we only watch the movies watch kind of Illinois new episodes coming out in like a lot of the shows that we watch.

So, usually we just keep watching the show So what do you want from now it's like.

sacred, so I been watching that movie and show.

With sin sky and then my oldest 25 and 22.

Since they they were the ones that kind of started and then so it trickled down to my younger kids and.

Pretty universally funny we want in the past, like since the beginning of the school year so like October September.

We have watched like finished it all the way through all eight seasons, I am not included in.

Washington seven or eight different time wow just because we playing games or doing homework, or something and we just have it playing in the background, so we have like kind of most of the words at all if it's like a cop show most.

likely details memorize what we kind of just washing the backup anyway.

and launch like an episode every night bob's burgers has been a lot of entertainment.

Those ones are still coming out yeah that's cool yeah brooklyn.

brooklyn nine nine we are watching for a while, because they took or they took psycho yeah So if I try to find another detective show wonder brooklyn nine nine and then kind of transferred over to bob's burgers but, since both keep having new episodes we kind of just went between them.

So, but how is the experience different on the netflix or the Amazon, as opposed to going into the movie store it's a lot different I think going into the new stores, a lot more.

what's the word.

I want to say, like interaction, but like and interactive interactive I guess that would be.

yeah um yeah we kind of go around on looking at the looking around and be like our whole family, instead of just like me, I guess, just putting on an episode.

We were all debate pick like multiple different movies have specific nights for me watch the movies and we'd all crowd down as a family together and, like the basement with the big TV was couches, which was a lot of fun with those movies.

Since I say they have some really good ones which a lot of the police are a lot of the sites that TV doesn't have anyone.

yeah I if I had to choose, I think I probably still would have preferred the power of us.

I would probably spend a lot more money on the psychs then since I kept thinking man, and now we just own them you really should have just bought it yeah I should.

Go.

store personnel that people work there.

Over the years, yeah yeah and.

They have long term in place and.

Louise a great I over all these you know 27 years never was always a wonderful experience.

And you see you know all the townies so it was just almost always kind of a fun thing.

And when did you learn that the store was closing and how did you feel about it.

I guess found a closed and was like.

Only notice, I think I got like a forewarning but I never really paid attention to it just because i've had it since i've been born there.

I didn't really think twice thought I was going to be like it's not going to happen, but it did, and we are video prime but even then like they didn't have all the good stuff that that please had.

So disappoint me thinking we probably watch more shows and movies, without Howard Hughes.

yeah because you know somehow we just don't ever kind of like a late all agree on a movie and land on one yeah a lot of the time to for video prime used to watch.

It all seems like thought like there's no with our with our main ah, then yeah so anyway, we should be able to get like multiple different.

keep going i'm going to make sure that.

Like multiple different types of movies that sometimes the parents will watch specifically and then, when we all watch together and then ones that like one of the parents would monitor and sitting with us for like the cancer mainly just be interacting.

i'm.

thinking.

Monique Lillard: Why do you think the store closed.

Well okay right co but i'll say i'll say think it's something where but let's hear what your mom says first and then yeah.

Oh, I think that it.

difficult for many of those.

types of stores to stay open with with digitalization oh yeah same thing with all the new technology and like Disney plus came out and, like all the other places, that you can watch stuff all the different types of screens.

People stephanie stop renting stuff let more.

Or we didn't even like we want just like we went to the store constantly to work outside but that's about it and even towards.

Towards the end I do think, at least for us.

Personally, after a close, we definitely we want yeah like you said we started watching a lot less movies, what kind of just watched the same shows.

When you said different kinds of screens because you're talking to the future here, you know who knows what can you describe what all those screens are.

I mean a bunch of the new devices came out so there's like the handheld switch now, which is kind of like a portable it as like there's no, you can download a bunch of different watching shows like hulu and netflix on it, as long as you sign in you can watch on all those.

phones, I remember towards the beginning when it first opened first November like even Lucas even had like a flip phone sky definitely had those recently about it.

They weren't like they weren't like the or enough, there were they were iPods so they're more like the phones that we have now like iphones and Samsung galaxy all of those.

ones that have a lot more accessibility to all those things like I can download netflix and hulu and all the different Washington my phone when you can't do that on like the old phones that they used to have.

or computers now even have a lot more like storage so yeah and you know what it just dawns on me, I mean because, as I said, I just think it's kind of fun I don't know who's gonna lose when.

But, so this is, I guess, an old iPhone people are telling me it looks so small and stuff I mean two or three years ago we were in Europe and they couldn't believe how small our phones were.

But see oh good you've got one so look at that much bigger it is and that's the smallest one isn't it right.

I don't know, but this isn't the case so it looks like.

Oh that's true too yeah I can't get my case off of it right and then louie by my son who's 23 I guess you know, we should have said from the beginning that and Jessica has six children total and so they're all different.

agents, obviously, so my son and.

JESSICA second oldest son eli's brother.

Are 23 and they have a phone the even bigger than this now, and part of the reason is that they've watched them Oh, does he okay louie Okay, the phone that's like if this is my phone honestly.

yeah i've seen some minor if I go this pig right now and it's like, why do you have I can't even fit in your pocket yeah yeah yeah.

Okay what's your.

Memories of the store just something funny something weird something.

And memorable in any way, so they had like the very like inappropriate like comedy movies, they had all the adult movies, and I remember going to the comedy section.

And just looking around and then I wasn't supposed to and grabbing on a movie.

That at the time I probably shouldn't have brought out and like read about they have almost like the description on the back and I remember you came over and was like eli toby that good little reader like dad was like.

And then kind of took it from being put it back.

Like I didn't even think twice about it, it was like i'm trying to remember the I think it was some sort of like cowboy movie.

i'm thinking of like the specific time of it was like because now it was pretty funny.

um I think that was one of the funniest times i've been late or actually.

I think all me, we are only I think it was one time or a few times, we will make we're allowed to rent out like a children's movie since there's only like.

One of US coming so it'd be like me and you or maybe like you guess came or rose came and we'd argue for like 15 minutes just trying to pick out a movie that both of us wanted to watch.

Neither, otherwise the same is really the test so stephanie i'd be like to get one line, sometimes we will be there to me, I guess, would be like okay mine and rose will be like.

One from.

That one for no one frozen livers came out which receiver and it was on one more Ryan at that one yeah online car ride, we went to.

wasn't Montana know like missoula for hockey tournament Maybe it was a call we watched it like three times in one drives just like.

i'm not gonna lie that's.

Usually like two really good ones like she likes the good ones.

and frozen riah that's a really good and to go wrong in the year 2021, which is when we're taking this is how 910 year.

High School and like four months now okay wow okay yeah.

It isn't good more memories stories.

Oh, more memories your stories if that's that that's like my memory is always been scared of the SCI fi section yeah.

There was some scary stuff in there Oh, I remember, I always asked her rent out at just because it's my initials allies retain the movie.

Say was my favorite and i'd be like can we get this movie you guys always told me know because I honestly like it's a really good movie but, at the time I didn't even like it, that much.

I liked it because it had my initial thought I was so special because you have the time or that like nobody has the same names, especially in the school, I was so small, so the kids and the name eli that's like the same special chillin.

um.

yeah, but a lot of like the SCI fi shows really scared man like we're looking at the covers and covers yeah I remember when it first came out.

I would not go up to the place and look through them, I will send.

You over again, I was not happy with it i'm.

Trying to think of anything else, my memories are either.

been negotiations and.

yeah it was fun.

that's good.

Monique Lillard: What else right whatever I forgotten to ask you what else do you want to say what's the future know about this.

I think at the moment I think it's a much more enjoyable experience, then going up to like a machine.

That you put and drape over your head so it's not shining light in your eyes and you're going to screen the of the tablet five times to get it to work.

haha yes has many struggles with those things the redbox ones, especially going after this definitely not as fun, as we go into a store with my family and picking out some around town.

arguing over sharing the drink, so we all got.

All the movies um.

He went to the library, the public library, I mean and i'm asking about renting movies from the library actually never mentioned division library, but I didn't.

hear you can you could recreate that experience, except, you have to keep it quiet because it's a library great I love that even more.

Remember, like yelling at each other in the store and you and I have a really.

Nice to go there with other people, all together, like it.

We used to watch the movies on the lawn, and so we get we have they tell about that Okay, so we have this like a big net sort of thing.

And we put this white grape over it on and then kind of clip it to the net to make it stand big separate yeah so then we get those like little table and put a projector on it.

So it'd be projecting on it so, then we have the computer hook, the computer up.

And we'd slide the disc into the computer so used to like we used to bring friends over would go down to like the dollar store or something and get snacks for everyone.

We all go down, and then we go down to Howard Hughes a PIC and movie and then we invite people over and we'd ask them if they wanted to watch the movie with us and we watched that movie on the line altogether.

That was a lot of fun, we used to do like the things like the the dog make it it's like.

The duck the duck the duck duck so like the little hands figures like hand puppets Austrians yeah put them over the projector yeah he's have like shadow fights almost on the projector.

Like it was if you go really close to like the projector aren't even really far away and you'd have like your shadow showing on it.

and whatever instead of hitting each other physically we attack each other the shadows, while the movie is flying and I know everyone i'd be like study and if you're sitting reading for another potential to we'd have with the blankets and you lift your head up they'd be like.

yellow here in the middle of the movie yeah um.

I remember one time we got like this dinosaur one I think you were there for that one of the times Kim came over.

And we will watch this dinosaur movie.

Jurassic Park, I got super scared now, as I asked her to come, and so I ended up going to sleep with her, because I don't want to watch the movie it was scary not really very suspenseful garage which really freaky.

i'm trying to think of anything.

or the other.

If we hook up a computer to it, we can we can't come get a disconnect though now the computers Now you can get a disk in them.

So used to have to just connect the computer of man likes like the projector with all the wires and then press play.

But yeah.

Good good.

Can you give me.

My cat was just jumping up and laughing their parents flying all around from the CAP so.

yeah my nose a little stuffy you know allergies are the best yeah there you go yeah okay any other memories.

We can think of anything else okay Okay, then I want to thank you and i'm going to stop the recording and then we'll talk for a second okay all right let's.

Do it right.

To be positive for for stock that well, we can pause it will start with positive.

Okay hold on one second it does something no it's Okay, I actually do I remember one time, I tried to sneak behind the counter and you guys were yelling at me I was.

tiny, tiny now so i'm like the size of the counter I can really reach over it's like crawl back behind it and try to act like the cashier when you guys are having movies, when the person.

The person was back there with the movies getting one for us and I kind of just sit there, and you guys were all telling me to get out of there and I was like what's wrong I was very confused and I think Ben Ben maybe maybe there's even dead lifted me over the counter.

me up.

yeah.

Anything else that might have, and you can always add to this, we can you can come over, we can do this again so.

yeah yeah what what's happening, a lot of people think about it, then APP that sort of stirs up memories and then I wish I had said that and then that is absolutely no problem.

yeah.

Monique Lillard: Alright, so we end up for now I can you see my day i'm going to pause it for.