Video recorder

A VCR, short for videocassette recorder, is a device that records programming aired on a television in a cassette format and can also play back such tapes, as well as ones released commercially. Dudley Dursley received one of these for his birthday on 29 June, 1991.

Behind the scenes

 * VCRs were in common use in 1991 and at the time of publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone but have since largely been supplanted by devices capable of recording in the DVD format and digital video recorder devices. Some recent readers may be entirely unfamiliar with VCR devices, though they remain in abundant supply secondhand, generally at bargain prices.