The vanagon list started in early April of 1994 hosted on the University of Minnesota’s lenti.med server. Gerry Skerbitz was our first admin. 

The list split happened a couple years later… Checking archives:

http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9607&L=vanagon&P=R21349

10 Jul 1996

So yeah, Almost 30 years ago.

Looks like my first post in June of 1995 was telling folks about a Syncro (misspelled) for sale in the next town over. Tom Forhan flew out from the east coast and bought it. Had it the rest of his life. (It was a good one and so was he.)

And that my friends, is why it’s good to have a record of where we’ve been.

Jim

> On Nov 23, 2023, at 7:23 AM, Mark McCulley <mark@MARKMCCULLEY.COM> wrote:
> 
> I remember. Was it really 30 years ago, wow!
> 
> When did the Vanagon list begin, was it around 30 years ago? I recall being on the Type 2 list prior to the Vanagon list, not sure when that transition happened.
> 
> Happy Thanksgiving all!
> 
> -Mark
> 
>> On Nov 22, 2023, at 5:04 PM, Eric Caron <ericcaron96@COMCAST.NET> wrote:
>> 
>> Hey,
>> 
>>       Does anyone besides me remember the early days of Busdepot online? 
>> 
>>       I think I remember very slow modems and the very simple graphic of a bus taking forever to show up on my computer VGA three color screen. 
>> 
>>       Most times I gave up and ordered on the phone, but I do remember doing successful orders Come to think of it our server is almost as old as the first Busdepot web site! 
>> 
>> And, back then I’m pretty sure Ron even answered the phone and guided me through some parts installs.
>> 
>> Happy Thanksgiving to Ron, Ken, Chris and any other of our venders on list.
>> 
>> Eric Caron 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Nov 22, 2023, at 4:42 PM, Ron Salmon <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM> wrote:
>>> 
>>> The Bus Depot is running our first Black Friday sale in 20 years - 10%
>>> off $200+ orders. The only exclusions are sale items (already reduced)
>>> and special-order/made-to-order items (all of which still count toward
>>> the $200 order min).  This is a rarity, as normally I just let my
>>> prices/quality speak for itself and refuse to play the "mark it up in
>>> and then put it on sale" game. (Worth noting that Vanagon List members
>>> also get 5% off $50+ orders ongoing, something I've offered to the
>>> List since I started the Depot. Email me for the code if you need it.
>>> No it can't be stacked with the BF offer, sorry.) The Referral Code is
>>> not public yet, but I'll release it here so list members can use it
>>> right away - it's THANKS . I suggest shopping early because some items
>>> will sell out. (I'll still give you the discount if they do, but
>>> you'll have to wait for delivery.)
>>> 
>>> Speaking of Thanksgiving, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the
>>> Vanagon List, where the Depot got its start almost 30 years ago. Some
>>> of you are still here from those early days, and remember when I took
>>> the big leap of faith with your encouragement and support. I would
>>> have never dreamed where it took me. I am incredibly lucky to be able
>>> to do something I love so much for a living, and I owe it all to you.
>>> 
>>> - Ron Salmon
>>> The Bus Depot
>>> BusDepot.com