A new tourist destination
in Auburn Hills, Michigan,
is showing visitors,
the difficulties life held
for Americans in the past.
Blockbuster video
aims to transport visitors
to a time before the internet.
It's an historically authentic
recreation of a video store,
a specialty shop where customers
exchanged money for the short-term
use of videos in an archaic
system called renting.
The tour is amazing,
it's like stepping
into a time machine.
It's hard to believe
that people lived this way.
-A historical research team
spent 3 years making sure
every last detail was accurate,
from the signs used,
to promote the store's merchandise
to the costumes worn
by the store's employees.
Historical performers who
make history come alive
for tour groups, twice an hour.
-My character is based on
an actual Blockbuster employee
named Jerome, who worked there
from May of 1999
to June 2
My main responsibilities
are to man the cash register,
and to put the movies
from the return slot,
back on to the shelves.
I am a Blockbuster customer
named Cathy. Two times a week,
I travel 6 miles
to rent and return videos.
Oh look, we're in the
comedy section.
What's so poignant
about this time,
is the uncertainty.
When you get to the Blockbuster,
are they gonna have
your video?
Did someone else rent it?
Is there gonna be a line?
Are the alarms gonna sound
when you walk out the front door?
It was very difficult for the people
that lived during this era.
Actors say, their job,
is to create a historically
authentic experience.
-Yes we have it,
but our only copy
is currently checked out.
After the organized tour,
visitors are allowed to
move around, the store, exploring
the so-called, living museum.
It's really amazing that people
had to go through so much
just to get a movie.
-Blockbuster joins
a growing number of
historical tourism sites,
including Buffalo New York's
recreation of
Virgin Records Music Store,
and Iowa City's
Borders Bookstore Museum.
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