About

The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is constantly searching out vintage material on old videotapes saved in basements or attics, or sold at flea markets, garage sales, estate sales and everywhere in between. Some of it would be completely lost to history if it were not for our efforts. The local TV stations have, for the most part, regrettably done a poor job at preserving their history. Tapes were very expensive 25-30 years ago and there also was a lack of vision on the importance of preserving this material back then. If the material does not exist on a studio master tape, what is to be done? Do we simply disregard the thousands of off-air recordings that still exist holding precious "lost" material? We believe this would be a tragic mistake.

There are many examples of Chicago TV shows which, out of the decades of episodes (in some cases) that were produced, only a handful of them have survived in station's archives or in other museums. Therefore, in many cases, the last hope for finding additional material lies in the hands of collectors who search out and find homemade, off-air recordings. Any "lost" episodes of a show that may turn up over time often come from collectors and preservationists who specifically search for these things. There are many instances where found material was later donated to the Copyright holder in order for them to use it commercially. (The British program Doctor Who, for example) Therefore, a site such as this serves a very useful purpose in helping to promote, locate, and preserve rare historical material.

Please contact us with any questions or comments.

We have many hundreds of hours of vintage Chicago broadcasts, and get new additions every month. Still, there are many gaps of shows, certain years, and channels - so we are always looking for more. See below for how you can help in the fight to preserve Classic Chicago Television before it is lost forever...