The Case for Impeachment of Richard M. Nixon - Now; [Broadsheet with old video cassette in plastic case]

AFL-CIO

Published by American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations 1973 (& 1974), Washington, D.C., 1973

About this Item

4to; 1 pages; Broadsheet -- 45 x 28 cm, folded twice to make a small quarto gathering: (folded size: 23 x 14 cm.) The "Title page" in this folded format has the printed notation, underlined, at the top: "First in a Series." The last page of the folded format has the running title: "A Full and Fair Hearing." The nine-paragraph text begins: "The AFL-CIO believes that President Nixon should be impeached. Last week we published the 19-point bill of particulars that led to that conclusion. This week we begin a series documenting those charges." Signed (in facsimile) at the bottom "George Meany" with the printed note at the bottom: "Reprinted from the AFL-CIO News, Nov. 17, 1973." With both folds open, the verso of the sheet forms a single broadside in double columns. The text contains a detailed timeline of the AFL-CIO points in favor of its call for impeachment. Printed at the bottom is the name and Washington DC address of the labor organization. This broadsheet is described in a single OCLC Number, with only one location reported [see OCLC Number 68129481 -- NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIV. This is for the broadsheet only; no mention of a video component in the description] Our copy is tucked into a large plastic clamshell box. The molded plastic box contains an old video cassette. There are two typed paper labels attached to the clear plastic "window" at the top side of this ancient Sony cassette. One reads: "INAUGERATION [sic] OF PRES. FORD. 8/9/74 / TAPE 1." This label has an additional notation handwritten in ink: "acceptance speech." The lower label has the typed text: "PRESIDENT' NIXON'S ABDICATION. / Tape 1" The Surplus-Duplicate stamp of the Library of Congress has been stamped vertically accross the pair of labels. Even for those of us old enough to remember (and still own) the once-ubiquitous VHS format video cassette tapes, this object is unfamiliar. It is larger, thicker, and heavier than the VHS tapes (or the smaller Sony Betamax tapes which preceded the VHS tapes to the graveyard of technical formats). This is a Sony U-matic analog recording videocassette format -- introduced to the market in September 1971. The tape is 3/4" (1.9 cm - as opposed to the familiar consumer formats which both measured 1/2"). It was among the first video formats to employ a cassette, rather than the reel-to-reel tapes (2" and 1") which had been used before, mostly by broadcast television stations. Another unusual feature, considering all that came later: the supply and take-up reels in the cassette turn in opposite directions during playback, fast-forward, and rewind: one reel would run clockwise while the other would run counter-clockwise. As a potential consumer format, the U-Matic system was a failure. The tapes were expensive (particularly the largest capacity model like this example, which held up to a hour's worth of video). The play-back equipment was VERY expensive. However, the format was very successful for such applications as business communication. Film companies also used U-Matic widely for daily rushes. But the largest group of users constituted broadcast television; local TV stations and national TV networks adopted the Sony U-Matic format when its first portable model, the Sony VO-3800, was released in 1974. "Electronic News Gathering" as the system came to be called, may have been expensive, but so was the 16-mm film camera and related ancillary equipment formerly used out on location. And, crucially, U-Matic video was so much faster. While we cannot prove that this 40-year old video cassette was issued by the AFL-CIO -- the Library of Congress would have had no reason to tuck their "Case for Impeachment." broadside in the case before making the choice not to accession this object. It is most likely that this case and contents were sent to the LC in hopes of registering a Copyright. In support of this assumption, the metal guard across the tape access window of the cassette body has the stamped letters: "Copyrighted Program" at.

Seller Inventory # 41585

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Case for Impeachment of Richard M. Nixon - Now; [Broadsheet with old video cassette in plastic case]
• Publisher: American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations 1973 (& 1974), Washington, D.C.
• Publication Date: 1973
• Binding: VHS Tape
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Law and Legal History
  • Americana and American History
  • Political Science