I have seen jam on toast inserted into a home VCR (stand up Hannah and be applauded - she was only 4 at the time but then should have known batter than many office workers I suppose).
I upgraded to a home-brewed set-top box (san disk slot). It took the missus about 4 months to ask where the video cassettes went in though which I took as a complement (and promptly scurried down to digitise said mechanical thing before trouble ensued)