Tidbit for November 29, 1999:
So You Want to Make a Time Capsule?
With the dawn of the much-anticipated Year 2000 only just about a month away, you may be thinking of ways to commemorate the millennium milestone so that you'll remember what you were up to and what life was like on this momentous occasion. The millennium edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac features an article titled "So You Want to Make a Time Capsule" that may just be the inspiration you need to stash away some special items for future unearthing!
Here's a quick look at some of the fun historic facts about time capsules and the tidbits on making your own that are featured in the Almanac:
"If you make a time capsule, don't
bury it," Paul Hudson of the International Time Capsule Society tells
article author Howard Mansfield. If cautionary words from the cofounder of an organization
that's all about time capsules don't convince you, the Almanac's list of "The Nine
Most-Wanted Time Capsules" should! Would you believe that the town of Corona,
California, has lost track of 17 different time capsules? And also making the list of nine
is a time capsule right here in New England, in Lyndon, Vermont. It was buried in
conjunction with the town's centennial celebration in 1891, and it was supposed to be
opened 100 years later, in 1991. "In 1991, citizens looked high and low but could not
find the box."
Bet you didn't know that the
world's first time capsule can't be opened for another 6,113 years... and it contains a
quart of Budweiser beer! In 1936, Dr. Thornwell Jacobs created the "Crypt of
Civilization" in a room that had housed an indoor swimming pool on the campus of
Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia. The door is welded shut and bears the
instruction, "Do not open until May 28, 8113." Along with the beer, those alive
in 8113 will find a Bible; the recorded voices of Hitler, FDR, and Popeye; a script from Gone
With the Wind; 640,000 pages of microfilmed material; and a machine to teach the
English language.
The first time capsule that was
actually called a time capsule was The Westinghouse Time Capsule
displayed at the 1939 World's Fair. It's now buried--not to be opened for 5,000 years.
It's contents? Some of the more unusual include rules for poker, bridge, golf, and
football; sheet music for Flat Foot Floogie; and a biography of company president
George Westinghouse.
The International Time Capsule
Society estimates that there are 15,000 time capsules worldwide, including about 5,000
created in the last few years as the world counts down to the millennium. Sadly, Society
cofounder Hudson estimates that more than 80 percent will never be found.
If you're making your own
time capsule, choose a container that will keep the contents cool, dark, and dry, the
Almanac advises. Don't include food or drink. Select a date on which to open the time
capsule--preferably within your lifetime. Keep a list and photos of the contents. And last
but not least, register your time capsule with the International Time Capsule Society by
writing to them at: International Time Capsule Society, Oglethorpe University, 4484
Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319-2797.
The
Old Farmer's Almanac has reserved 1,000 copies of the 2000 edition for non-profit
groups and schools that would like to include a copy in their time capsules. To request a
free copy, send a note describing your time capsule project to: Time Capsule Project, The
Old Farmer's Almanac, Main Street, Dublin, NH 03444.
Order your own copy of the Almanac for more fun facts and ideas about millennium time capsules.The official Almanac.com Web site also has some links that will provide you with more suggestions on creating a time capsule of your very own. (Include your biography... and maybe a copy of George Westinghouse's... just in case anybody needs it before 5,000 years are up!)
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Photograph of Farmer's Almanac 2000 by Kim Knox, copyright 1999.
