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What Items Would You Place in a Time Capsule for Future Generations?

By Caroline Crosson Gilpin

Jan. 24, 2017

Have you ever discovered anything hidden away in an old house or apartment? Have you ever stashed away something so you — or others — could recover it years later?

What stories have you heard about the discovereries of old things in buildings left behind in secret places?

In “ The History Hidden in the Walls ,” Caitlin Kelly writes:

“The practice of burying or concealing items in the structure of a house is called immurement,” said Joseph Heathcott, an architectural historian and urbanist who teaches at the New School in New York. “It is actually an ancient practice that cuts across many cultures and civilizations,” Dr. Heathcott added. The most famous examples are artifacts entombed with Egyptian pharaohs in the pyramids, but he said that ritual objects have often been found in the walls of Roman villas and ordinary houses during archaeological excavations. “The history of Freemasonry traces its origins to the rituals of concealment by masons, sealing up secrets in their buildings,” he said. Objects were often hidden away as a way to bring good luck to inhabitants. This was the case in Ireland , he said, “where it was common when building a home to bury a horse skull in the floor or under the hearth, a Celtic practice that dates back centuries. Sometimes it would be the entire skull, other times just the front section or the top without the lower jaw.” In England and Ireland , it was also customary in many regions to bury dead cats in the walls or under floors of houses to ward off malicious spirits, Dr. Heathcott added.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

— What can everyday objects from the past tell us about life long ago? What have people learned from uncovering items left behind, either intentionally or accidentally, in homes and buildings?

— If you uncovered an item stashed away long ago, would you feel a connection to the person who left it behind? How curious would you feel about the item you found and the person who used it? Would you want research to find out more? Why or why not?

—What items would you put in a timecapsule for future generations, and why?

For practical tips on making a timecapsule, see this Times magazine article.

Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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The Paradox of Time Capsules

A form of futurism, and a way of bottling up context in its purest form: temporal treasures, an Object Lesson

Few consumer experiences deliver a pleasure as pure as breaking a freshness seal. From instant coffee to children’s vitamins, there’s something quasi-mystical about being the first encounter a vacuum. A similar fascination fuels romantic notions of archaeology in the popular imagination. The embalmed Ramses II was always more alive to me than the pasty explorer standing in his way. As a kid, poring over photos of the excavation, I remember feeling that time had not merely stood still, but reversed.

An entirely different sort of imaginary communion takes place when we speculate about the future. If our entertainment reveals a startling lack of imagination in this regard, it isn’t hard to see why: The genre demands that authors craft a believable future from the narrow perspective of the present. As a result, people tend to rehash what’s come before or—worse—allegorize what’s happening now by simply adding some gadgets and changing the date.

Time capsules provide one of the best means to address the collective need for belonging, past and future. Whether in the form of a shoebox buried in the yard or a satellite programmed to return to Earth thousands of years from now, the paradoxical goal is the representative objectification of daily living. They seek the purity of context itself. As a result, the message they send is equal parts altruism and egocentrism, hope and despair, all underwritten by persistent anxieties over individual mortality and the end of the world.

Time capsules are vehicles for self-commemoration, a means to ensure that future anthropologists, scientists, and historians include us in the stories they tell. Other forms of art share this same lofty goal, as when Walt Whitman declares in the opening of “Song of Myself” (1855):

I CELEBRATE myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

But time capsules go a step further by insisting upon the actual atoms rather than just the words used to describe them. They celebrate the talismanic quality of their objects, packaged to deliver the vicarious experience of having occupied a particular cultural moment: the belief that these time-bound materials of timelessness speak for themselves.

The Crypt of Civilization, sealed in the bedrock underneath Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven, Georgia, effectively launched the modern time capsule movement in 1936. Thornwell Jacobs, inspired by the Egyptian tomb openings in the 1920s, argued that because 6,177 years had passed since the establishment of the Egyptian calendar, his own Crypt should be opened 6,177 years in the future. Jacobs’s rationale suggests the importance of narrative in our handling of deep time, specifically our need to impose a quantifiable beginning, middle, and end. It becomes a story with ourselves perpetually at its center.

The Crypt, along with the 1939 World’s Fair Westinghouse capsule originally termed a “time bomb,” are the two best known capsules of the pre-war era. Both contain articles selected by the then National Bureau of Standards. Among those found in the Crypt are seed samples, dental floss, a fake bird, six Artie Shaw recordings, a Lionel model train, and a doll. The Westinghouse capsule further divides its items into five categories: small articles of common use, textiles and materials, miscellaneous, essays on microfilm, and RKO newsreels—all chosen to represent 20th century American life. To single out these items is also to assume they will expire. Otherwise, what’s the point?

If all encapsulated objects are memento mori, then what about the technologies used to experience them? Won’t they, too, disappear? With this in mind, the Westinghouse capsule includes instructions on how to build a microfilm viewer and a motion picture projector. Even better is the Crypt’s “language integrator,” a hand-powered device designed to teach 1,500 words of Basic English using the “Nickelodeon principle.” (How it actually works is something of a mystery now that the papers detailing its operation have been lost to time.) When objects become disassociated from their attending technologies we lose entire worlds.

One of the defining characteristics of a time capsule is that its date of reopening is set in advance. Otherwise, how would one know what to put inside? Let’s say you’re choosing a single item to be placed in a capsule opened 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000 years from now: The object should be different in each case, and that difference will have everything to do with what you imagine life to be like in each of those futures. Time capsules are about futurity, about our sincere belief that we author our own present by providing the future with the means to author its past.

How Capitalism Broke Young Adulthood

The Four-Letter Code to Selling Just About Anything

Time capsules are a form of self-invention, then, but one that can quickly morph into self-caricature. Particularly in times of distress, humans are susceptible to a certain utopian impulse that distills who they wish to be from who they really are. This is where the shoebox-in-the-backyard variety of time capsule tends to reveal its underlying motive: Vindicate my unpopularity according to some imagined future standard! Prove that my quirks are ahead of their time! Let history bear out the value of my life! The central paradox of all time capsule projects: Their deepest truths come from our failure to accurately represent our own current reality. And the overabundance we commemorate is a symptom of the missing things that go unacknowledged.

“Try to have a mix of items from the sublime to the trivial,” recommends the International Time Capsule Society in their guidelines for constructing the ideal cache. I can already imagine the culture wars. The triviality of leaves of grass versus the sublimity of Leaves of Grass . Or is it the other way around? It’s hard to tell, since no object in and of itself is ordinary or extraordinary—it’s the context that matters. This is precisely what slips away the moment the capsule is sealed.

If manufactured time capsules tell one type of story about us, accidental capsules tell another. (Think of the Titanic sealed at the bottom of the sea.) Sudden, unpredictable and catastrophic conditions capture moments in time and the difference in the stories they tell demonstrates that historical objectivity is more easily achieved through destruction than creation. Different from either traditional time capsules or stockpiles like the Pharaohs’ tombs (the unsealing of which is a desecration), accidental time capsules afford the possibility of retrieving context alongside content—objects in their proper place, but no longer in the appropriate time. Because disasters come about with little or no warning, people have no opportunity to muck up the reality of their daily living through selectivity, distortion, and suppression. Catastrophe best reveals who we are.

Pompeii, with its plaster-cast victims, is a classic example of how people and objects can together reveal context. One cannot underestimate the uncanny feeling at seeing a villa frozen in the midst of its use, or a man and woman spooning in their final moments, thinking not of us but of themselves. But if accidental capsules eliminate one kind of tampering with reality, Pompeii’s rediscovery by Domenico Fontana in 1599 suggests another. Fontana reburied a number of murals and other objects in keeping with obscenity standards (the fertility god Priapus’s enormous phallus was especially unsettling). That this portion of Pompeii wasn’t made available for public viewing until 2000 reminds us how the present always shapes the past by determining our access to it.

More recently, the 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl has produced perhaps the largest and most complete of these accidental capsules. The Exclusion Zone or Zone of Alienation, a 30-kilometer radius around the reactor’s core, has effectively preserved some 2,600 square kilometers as they were when the evacuations were first ordered. Moreover, this region, once home to some 350,000 people, may not be suitable for human habitation for another 20,000 years. Can you imagine what this region will say to the rest of the world? Of course not. But perhaps you want to. And that’s the point.

Fascination for this post-disaster landscape has generated at least two types of consumers. The first are the tourists who embark on day trips from Kiev to witness firsthand the power plant and surrounding environs, already overgrown with wildlife unchecked by man. (Along the way they may run into one or more of the samosely, the local name for illegal residents who have refused evacuation and continue to live in the otherwise-abandoned townships.) The second are those who risk no exposure whatsoever by vicariously experiencing the area through such video games as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare , the former of which imagines the Zone to imbue its samosely with special powers like ESP and a hive mentality. What the latter group enjoys is context in the absence of objects themselves—pure simulation.

Catastrophe’s direct access to the past is counterbalanced by the impulse it engenders to ensure for our collective future. This humanist urge is reflected in some of the more compelling contemporary time-capsule projects. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, for example, houses some 2 billion seeds in an effort to provide insurance against some future global crisis. Similarly, the Frozen Ark project serves as a DNA database for endangered animals. And the Rosetta Project aims to preserve some 1,500 languages in the face of their imminent disappearance by cross-referencing them on a nickel disc, the magnification of which provides the clarity and readability of a print book. Along with beauty these projects together demonstrate that death is the mother of archive.

One of the more outlandish and Ozymandian contemporary capsule projects is the one proposed by The Long Now Foundation, an organization dedicated to fostering responsible long-term thinking framed within a context of deep time. To promote this shift they’ve developed the Clock of the Long Now, a self-sustaining 10,000 year clock and a capsule for time itself. The clock is intended to serve as “a mechanism and a myth” to counterbalance civilization’s “pathologically short attention span.” The goal of long-term thinking, we can assume, is no less than the elimination of the very need for time capsules at all. Instead, we have past, present, and future reimagined as one all-inclusive now, in which a single context stretches across time.

This long-term thinking will, one hopes, lead to more responsible global consumerism. Without it, the time capsule will lose more than its charm. Nuclear waste, greenhouse gases, an island of trash in the middle of the Pacific: Hard as we might try to leave behind a legacy of materials worthy of our collective struggle to exceed our nature, these efforts will likely be overshadowed by the accumulation of debris that is only meant to be its byproduct.

About the Author

Essay: Time Capsule: A Letter to the Year 2086

Dear America,

How are you? We are fine, except for a White House mess of the moment (you | don’t want to know about it), and a grinning Wall Street thief who was fined $100 million (real money these days), and a touch of the flu. Have you heard of the flu? In late December 1986 the nation half skips, half drags itself toward Christmas. We trust that your Christmases are the same. Or have you licked the season too? Have you solved everything? This letter will be propped up in a capsule at the Statue of Liberty, to be opened on the statue’s bicentennial. Go ahead. Undo the lock. I see your sharp, bright faces as you hoist us into your life, superior as cats to your primitive elders. Quaint, are we not? Beware of superior feelings. The message in this bottle may turn out to be as much a warning as an artifact. We are not as dead as we seem.

What would you like to know first? A preliminary sketch? On these low-slung mornings, your long-gone countrymen are attacked in their sleep by emphatic music played on clocks and radios that are yoked together. They run a mile or two to ward off heart disease, chomp high-fiber cereals to ward off cancer, and dress in the fashions of the times, which may seem starchy to you but in fact have never been looser. They proceed then to offices populated with machines designed to give them back the free time they have nearly forgotten how to use. En route they pass some people with telephones in their cars, dealing with those they cannot reach because of traffic jams. Some others they pass make homes out of shopping carts, speak the language of the mad, and stare at their own loneliness with disbelief.

Children squeal and flutter into schools where the poor are taught poorly and the rich look forward to careers in international banking. Men and women in nearly equal numbers take their stations at jobs that have less and less to do with making things and more with providing “services.” (A service manufactures happiness for the sedentary.) Messengers deliver messages, cleaners clean, lawyers bill. The pace is heady, overwhelming, if one does not include cities like Youngstown, Ohio, where the steel industry has been nailed shut for the past few years, and small farms in Kansas and South Carolina that lie as graveyards to unpaid mortgages. Everybody seems to know everything everywhere. The television news displays a riot in an overcrowded Tennessee prison, a newly discovered poem by Shakespeare, an earthquake in Mexico, a bombing in Libya, starvation in Africa, a dinosaur bone.

There is, nonetheless, a strange suddenness to our times. Days, months sweep by without a ripple, and then from nowhere the news leaps out and grabs one by the collar. (What is news? Do you people know nothing?) This year alone, a widowed housewife deposed a foxy tyrant, a stockholder took hold of a giant entertainment company, a space vehicle that was supposed to fly crashed to earth, a peace meeting between the world’s two leaders that was supposed to fly crashed to earth, a disease took on the look of a plague, a nuclear power plant exploded, a country that keeps blacks and whites apart started coming apart.

If such events shock us, they are also somehow expected, as if the world were at once in supreme command of itself and superstitious: “I knew that something like this would happen.” Perhaps the fact that we are relatively new to the prospect of nuclear war gives us both solid and shaky ground. That fear of annihilation must seem preposterous to you, who either have neutralized it or live with weapons that make our missiles seem like Gatling guns, or both. Congratulations.

A sketch of international politics would show America and the Soviet Union each seeking to hold half the world in thrall, or to fend off each other. These two countries are called superpowers, but the name is illusory, since the power they have to level the earth and each other is self-restraining. While the U.S. and the Soviets must posture about war, less muscle-bound nations, such as Nicaragua, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon, go at the real thing. So fierce are Lebanon’s internal wars, one wonders if the country that grew the timber for Solomon’s temple will exist in your time. Murderers pretending to be countries wage war continuously in tighter arenas, blowing the limbs off children in railway stations to make their cause appreciated. They are called terrorists, not superpowers, but the power they have, they use.

What powers America and the Soviets do have lie largely in influence, but that too is limited. The glorious clash of ideologies that characterized U.S.-Soviet relations in the 1950s, no matter how wistfully zealots recall it, has evolved into a prosaic contest on practical grounds: inventories of weapons, competitions for the hearts and minds of countries going broke. Yet our opposition to the Soviets remains serious and abiding. The Soviet view of the state and the people creates an institutionalized barbarism that Americans logically must oppose; and the Soviet leaders, if they are to hold on to what they’ve got, must oppose our opposition. Here we stand, then: two aging businessmen who have little sympathy for each other but who know each other too well, each learning to be content with day-to-day sales.

Of late the world’s most nerve-racking explosions have come from the Middle East, fueled by the 40-year-old antipathy of the Arab states toward Israel. Conventional wisdom holds that a third world war is most likely to begin in that region, but political touts say that Eastern Europe is the horse to watch. The Soviets simply do not have the resources to woo Latin American and African countries and at the same time keep their grip on Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and East Germany. Britain, whose imperial eye took in much of the world a hundred years ago, now struggles with a crippled economy — a chastening lesson here. Daunting to think that by the time you receive this, the geometry of wealth and power will have expanded to several planets. We have more than we can handle as it is.

A sketch of our nation’s politics would show the minority conservative Republican Party taking most of the policy initiatives, and the liberal Democrats, also a minority but a more numerous one, trying to reclaim authority without imitating the Republicans. The President is Ronald Reagan, whose name may mean little more to you than that of Grover Cleveland, who was President in 1886, means to us. That is the sad fate of most of our national leaders. The Apache warrior Geronimo was captured in the years of Cleveland’s presidency. If there were any doubt as to who is the better remembered, no parachutist, as he jumps, ever yells “Cleveland!”

Our economic health is robust for the upper classes but is shadowed by a huge trade deficit and a colossal fiscal debt. Japan is turning America into its private shopping district. Taiwan is not far behind. This year South Korea drove up in a car that sells for half the price of American cars. The economy is shadowed more deeply by a pitiless discrepancy between rich and poor that has shrunk the middle class, historically the nation’s bedrock. That discrepancy widened in recent years because of an emphasis on private interest over public responsibility that too often took the form of a clogged bureaucracy. One is told that these impulses run in cycles. Should we believe it? Much of the rest of the world too is divided between those bloated by food and those bloated by hunger. One cannot imagine that this fissure will have continued to grow for a century without tearing the nation’s body and soul apart.

Our view of foreign governments and our relation to them remain roughly as they ever were: we seek to shape and free the world and at the same time to stay clear of it. Meanwhile, we continue to create a world within our borders. Our Hispanic population is increasing twice as fast as is our black population. Asians make up only 2% of the nation but more than 10% of our brightest college freshmen. We stir and shake. In 2086, you may be living in a wholly homogenized America, but perhaps too much stability would be bad for the system. Next year we will examine the Constitution on its 200th anniversary, and we will find it sturdy and wanting.

The American family, not 50 years ago the rock on which the country built its church, has fractured into atoms with separate orbits. The American woman, having shunned motherhood and housewifehood 15 years ago to establish herself in the labor market, now seeks to balance all three lives like dinner plates on sticks. The American man finds himself in new and scary territory and scrambles for adjustment. When the American man and woman part company, as half the newly married couples are expected to do these days, the American child is suddenly stranded, growing taller without a structure. Are we describing you?

Oddly, one reason that marriages disintegrate is a sign of health: people live longer. Effectively we live two lives, and have not yet learned to forge one long life of the two. We are keen on prolonging life, inventing artificial hearts, transplanting kidneys, livers, lungs. Perhaps you have got over that desire, judging death a proper stage of nature. Perhaps you’ve decided to live forever. Let us hope that you’re up to it.

A sketch of our cultural life would show things moving in and out so fast, it is impossible to tell who is worth what. Our late 20th century institutions reach back a hundred years and cherish Twain, Mahler and Van Gogh. Will the names Sondheim, Bellow and de Kooning mean anything to you? Should they? In painting, music and literature there are no dominant movements, no isms to force a sense of organized effort. Art imitating life is individually wrought, and individually judged, such as it is ever judged. So cozy is our artistic- academic axis (for they are one and the same), that all one needs to be hailed as important is several well-placed friends.

Never have more individuals been more prominently displayed; never have they been less productive. Last year high school students were polled to select America’s top heroes. They came up with Eddie Murphy, Clint Eastwood, Madonna (a person), Prince (another person), Sylvester Stallone and Debbie Allen. Those names mean anything to you? It makes one wonder who will be remembered and for what. It makes one wonder who will not be remembered but ought to be. Cary Grant died a few weeks back. Does that name mean something to you?

Journalism, which ought to be the most anonymous of cultural activities, being the least demanding, has become a Chaucerian House of Fame for reporters who mistake themselves for the news. Politicians make reputations by their appearances on television, as do doctors, opera singers, writers, dancers and others who seem to do nothing but appear on television. If I told you that a wildly popular television show is called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, on which a peppy middle-aged man with an alarmed cockney accent flatters people who have done nothing in the act of doing nothing on vacation, you would think I am kidding. Of course I’m kidding.

Films are written with a young, or childish, audience in mind. A man named Spielberg is known for producing movies about creatures from the future. For your sakes, we hope he’s off the mark. Do you watch anything like films and go out to concerts and the theater, or are you able to conjure arts and entertainments in your heads? Can you read without books? With more people reading and writing on computers these days, there is some concern that the objects we call books will shortly disappear. There is more concern that the books we cherish from the past will be lost in the rush of things, that you will not know Dante, Milton, Proust.

How much of our popular music will swim upstream the next hundred years is up to you, who may find the Bee Gees indispensable and the Who old hat. If you do not understand that last sentence, not to worry. Not to worry: it is a phrase of the times, which serves as a reminder that our language may be incomprehensible to you, as it often is to us. Eighteen years ago, people were talking of policemen as pigs. More accommodating these days, we say “You got it” when we agree to something, or “No problem.” The latter usually means that the problem is insurmountable.

So much to get across. The face creams. The foot powders. The hair sprays. The hair growers. Have you learned to grow hair? Does such a thing matter? The height of us: an average of 5 ft. 3 1/2 in. for women, 5 ft. 9 in. for men. You must be taller now. Have you raised the height of the baskets? I mean in basketball. Do you play it still? And football, and baseball? You must be playing baseball; we call it the national pastime, if you do not count self- inspection. (A future without baseball?) Did I mention hibachis, Exercycles, capped teeth, diet drinks, sofa beds, Winnebagos, microwaves, VCRs, IBMs, electric pencil sharpeners, electric knives, electric chairs, Minute Rice, bullet trains, Dial-A-Prayer, Dial-A-Psychotherap ist, automatic windows, automatic doors, wash ‘n’ wear, Shake ‘n’ Bake, heat ‘n’ serve? Did I tell you the one about the traveling salesman, or the minister, the rabbi and the priest? The humor of our times would baffle you to distraction. A contemporary comedian brings down the house by relating situations in which he receives no respect.

Yet this is all still a sketch. If we were in your shoes, reading a communication from our antique past, we might be mildly interested in the geopolitical picture, the state of the Union, the family and store. But we would be a lot more curious about the life we could not see so readily, the secrets of an era that lie like pike beneath the news, and then, on their own peculiar impulse, rise to the surface in a later time, like ours, like yours. More than that, we would like to know what it felt like to be alive back then. That will be more difficult to convey, in part because we assume that to be human feels just about the same in any age. But we may be wrong about that as well. The terror and self-doubt we associate with being human you may have learned to cure with a shot or a pill. We will give you what we know. One secret of our age is that we are learning that democracy can kill democracy. For one thing, excessive freedoms have made it almost impossible for an ethical conscience to assert itself. People have been free to ignore social obligations, to abuse one another, to kill themselves.

For another thing, the very inventions that came into being to make democracy more democratic, in practice have delimited the nation’s most fundamental liberties. Instruments like television and high-speed printing presses have turned America into a village of common thought, which theoretically ought to enhance a people’s power to govern their own destinies. But the ability of other people, specialized people, to control those thoughts has grown with the inventions. Political campaigns are managed not by the candidates but by media experts, who indeed seem expert in determining how the majority thinks and votes. A huge business these days is called public relations, which in fact is concerned with the most private relations of well- trained people with information on social patterns. That enterprise has taken the expansiveness of democracy and honed it to a point from which a few manipulate the many.

If we were unaware of these encroachments, the country would be in a great deal of danger. But we recognize what is happening, which may be why beneath the village of common thought lie disagreements on practically everything. We are beginning to resist our manipulators. That is the secret. In the sweet and deadly mass marketing of thought, we are quietly reclaiming our individual lives.

The result is a second secret of our age: the re-emergence of faith and religion. In its extreme manifestations, this is no secret whatever. Iran is run by a spiritual leader who governs ruthlessly according to God’s revelations. Our own country is filling up with people of political ambitions who claim to have God’s ear. Some spread the gospel of Fundamentalism. Others preach intolerance and hate to giddy television audiences. The preachers smile quite well. These extremists have power, which derives less from dogma than from a deep public need to retrieve the values and comforts of belief. The preachers will be rejected eventually, but the need will survive. It is that need that lies below the speed of the times, swimming in the opposite direction of science and technology.

The places where faith begins to reappear are those where science and technology fail or fall short. You may look back at us and say that no age in history ever grappled with so many painful and complicated moral problems, but you will also see that no age did so much to create them. Thanks to our dogged inventiveness, we are now in a position to keep a body functioning as a biological organism without allowing it real life. We know everything about sex, except how to keep teenage girls from pregnancy. We are on the verge of being able to juggle our genes without the slightest grasp of the emotional consequences. If I have a fatal brain tumor, I know exactly where to go for the best mechanical support. But who will tell me how to face my death?

% For so long now has the world sprung away from religion and faith that it may be ready to move back toward a compromise. Our 19th century ancestors did a thorough job of divorcing feeling from intellect. Your 20th century ancestors are beginning to seek a reconciliation. For all our dials and buttons, we have known from the start how helpless we often are before the consequences of our ingenuity. One still sees a lot of machinery these days, but very little machine worship, and almost none of the irrational overconfidence in human knowledge that the 19th century willed us.

In philosophy, the pragmatic, linguistic and analytical directions taken in the early part of our century are being replaced by the old-fashioned philosophical questions of how to live. Universities that only 15 years ago were promoting a do-it-yourself education for undergraduates are lunging back to the basic, orderly curriculums of the past. In art and architecture too, one begins to feel a resistance to the antihuman cant of modernism. It is not quite so chic to be modern anymore, not a necessary declaration of one’s moral and aesthetic worth. We ride on a supersonic vehicle from our century into yours, yet a great many seats are facing backward.

Which brings us to a third secret of our age: many of us do not willingly live in our age at all. That may sound perverse to you, since we have no choice but to live where we were put. But it is very hard to take one’s bearings while living in a perpetualmotion device, and the mind, our private mind, unable to catch up with or absorb all the matter hurled at it, often grasps a different ground entirely.

In reality, we live in several times at once, including yours. Perhaps because we have come to expect eruptive change as normal, we are less enthralled by it than we once were, and so choose an hour or an era in which we privately live irrespective of the insistent present. Modernism is committed to turmoil and revolution, but we have grown tired of the steady diet. The result is a sensibility that roves easily back into one’s parents’ more stately generation, and forward into the future where the imagination revels. Such range allows the mind a curious and salutary independence of time itself, which, in a world run by clocks, is a state of grace.

To that is connected a fourth secret of the age: more people are more comfortable with themselves in the 1980s than they have been in a very long time, or than they care to concede. The social revolutions that stormed for the rights of blacks, women and homosexuals, among others, in the 1960s, while not yet complete, have begun to be accepted as facts of our lives. In the 1980s it is O.K. to be divorced, O.K. to be a single parent, O.K. to be different. Slowly, mysteriously, Americans are learning to live according to inner judgments. We are learning to profit from history: rejecting crusaders and romantic ideologies, widening the middle ground.

Freud, Marx and Einstein, raiders of thought and institutions at the outset of our century, are beginning to fade as influences on conduct. The relative universe of which Einstein brought news no longer frightens people into a sense of personal powerlessness. Marx has been discredited in public as the prophet of a future that works only at the expense of human self-regard. Freud one either takes or leaves: your age may think him a brilliant curiosity, an alchemist with style. In different ways, all three helped to persuade several generations that fate either was not in their hands or existed only in the form of a collective. Now, suddenly, you will find intellectuals paying lip service to powerlessness as a sort of homage to an old complaint, yet under the skin they feel individual responsibility again.

This change is a real revolution, but it is being accomplished noiselessly. All the obvious disadvantages of a mechanized society aside, the fact is that some of our more recent machines have allowed people to publish their own books, to produce their own films, to accept their own diversity. More significantly, they are encouraged to do those things. Eventually we will need to establish a new unity of thought, if our nation is to progress into yours with some improvement. For the moment, however, the effects of regaining individual responsibility are liberalizing, even though it is said that we live in severely conservative times.

Both are true. On the surface, the rich and near rich have more money to toss around, so the values of the age appear callously self-directed. Yet the plight of the poor is a constant subject of concern and speculation, arising regularly in the platforms of both political parties and in public debate. Below the glacial surface of inactivity, real hearts stir on this issue, but they move nothing. This secret of the age has a secret of its own: we embrace all groups but the poor.

What is it like to live in these times? Take a tour with me. The country feels enormous still, and various, in spite of airport roads that look identical everywhere and stores that unite the country in a fast-food mythology. The electric glass of Dallas could not be mistaken for Boston’s pedagogical tweed or San Diego’s white sail. In New York City this season, the sky dims by 4 in the afternoon, and the shop lights pop on like gold-and-white lanterns.

Anyone flying across the country is surprised by how much free, unpopulated land remains between the crowded clusters in the middle and on the two coasts. People in Great Falls, Mont., can look out their windows and see 60 miles to the start of the Rockies, blue-purple in the south. The mountains glow orange in New Mexico. In Vermont, your foot cracks snow like wafers around a part of the woods where a brook, not yet frozen, applauds itself in a rush. High over Iowa a hawk hangs still, watching a small boy kick a box in the road.

Do such things sound familiar to you, or has the world advanced so exponentially these hundred years that our common sights are fossils? Futurologists guess about your life, drawing pictures of robot doctors, television sets that one can talk back to, cars that park themselves. There must be more to you than that.

What did you do to handle the overpopulations we predicted? How did you protect the seashores? What did you do to keep the ozone layer intact, the energy supplies, the trees? Have you eliminated ignorance, brutality, greed? You haven’t, I know; but one has to ask. Does your world revere the past — not us, specifically, but the past in general? That might be a Christmas gift from us to you: the assurance that a knowledge of the past is far more valuable than a knowledge of the future, being that by which moral action is educated.

In some ways, then, we are giving you the future in this letter, which seems a right thing to do for one’s children’s children’s children. Look back to us as we look to you; we are related by our imaginations. If we are able to touch, it is because we have imagined each other’s existence, our dreams running back and forth along a cable from age to age. Hold this paper to the light. It is a mirror, a delusion, a fact in the brief continuous mystery we share. Do you see starlight? So do we. Smell the fire? We do too. Draw close. Let us tell each other a story.

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Time Capsule College Essays Samples For Students

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A Time Capsule from The 1960s Creative Writing Essay

To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
As a template for you assignment

This time capsule was unearthed successfully and all the artifacts from the ancient time were still inside the rustproof metal casing. The casing was sealed and the numbers ‘1964’ were written on top of it. Thereafter, the casing was taken to the laboratory for analysis.

It was later discovered that it had been buried in the ground since 1964. Before the casing was opened, detailed forensic analyses such as x-ray micrographic study were carried out (Cooper, Hedges & Valentine, 2009). This ensured that adequate information was gathered from the artifacts before the materials inside the casing could degrade after being exposed to air (Babbie, 2010).

When this time capsule was successfully opened, it had five objects. They included an electronic watch, Nautilus film history, an old computer memory unit, a sample piece of element Tektite, and a tape recording of famous sounds of the 1960s. All the identities given to the artifacts found in the time capsule were easily traced.

The five samples were then analyzed in order to offer a detailed description of the 1960s as well as how things will be thousands of years from present time. The artifacts were perfectly preserved in spite of the status of technology that was available at that time (Devereux, 2009).

The electronic watch was the first to be analyzed. It was quite a simple electronic device that seemed to apply electromagnetic vibrations to be able to tell time. From the outlook, the simplicity of the watch suggested that it was stored at the time when this kind of electronic device was innovated (Babbie, 2010).

It was heavy and huge, thereby suggesting lack of advanced refinement in the industrial productions during those days. From the information attached on the watch, it had been provided by Bulova Company. The latter company has dominated the watch production industry in the 21 st century. This suggests that it was a masterpiece produced by this company at that time.

The fineness of the wire used in winding the watch, its gears, and the smoothening of the casing demonstrated some high level of skilled industrialization (Devereux, 2009). It also signified the existence of social classes, the watch was gold coated and apparently extremely expensive at that time. The casing of the watch was designed in an artistic manner. This implied the inclusion of art in the development of technology.

Nautilus film history was extremely old and retrieving data from the tape was cumbersome. However, the limited data retrieved from the magnetic tape was important in outlining the historical events of the 1960s. The size of the tape was quite large but the information stored in it was rather little.

In comparison to other magnetic tapes that were recovered, this tape seems to be amongst the oldest in the magnetic tape technology (Hyvärinen, Karhunen & Oja, 2004). It was recorded using simple magnetic resonance skills. This was a rather old form of recording used in the 19 th century.

It enabled the storage of information in the tape. The tape was also used to record events that occurred during the early 19 th century. The most significant event that was retrieved from the tape was the Second World War pictures. Although they were not colored, the information was of great use in reconstructing the history of the 19 th century.

From the film, the world’s oldest atomic-powered submarines were seen in action. Although most of such machines got extinct in the 21 st century, the information provided shows how humans had developed the use of atomic energy. This indicates that it was a tool for mass destruction and had great potential of harming the environment.

The film was brief but the information stored in it was detailed in the sense that it could be used to describe the forms of governments that were in place, how people interacted, the level of technological advancement that was in place and how it was being utilized (Devereux, 2009). From the film, the code of dressing for the soldiers of the 19 th century era was innovated.

The old computer memory discovered from that capsule was also analyzed critically with the aid of the historical information stored in the archeological archives. It showed that electronic data storage methods existed during that time. When it was compared to the human beings who lived fifty years from 1960, the human beings must have been quite intelligent. Their way of life at this level was completely improved.

From the analysis, it was ascertained that the data storage device utilized magnetic storage units. It was large in size and designed like a drum with a capacity of 17 kilobytes. This is a rather small memory size but at that time, it must have been a significant growth in the state of technology. The oldest information relating to computer use dates back to 1945.

The computer memory was used in the 1960s had a significantly reduced size. The piece of information gathered from this analysis confirms that the 19 th century witnessed a great scientific revolution in human history (Devereux, 2009). This early civilization laid the basic foundation of the technological advancements that are currently being used.

Element Tektite was also available in the capsule although it was nonexistent on the earth’s crust at that time. The only way it could be available was through proper storage by scientists of that time. It is highly unlikely that scientists could have synthesized the element. The other viable possibility is its extraction from the moon since it is freely available there.

If this option is authentic, then the availability of element Tektite in the capsule indicated the existence of space scientists and a possibility of human beings having explored the moon in the 19 th century. If humans had the potential of extracting materials from space, then this shows that a great scientific revolution was in place when the capsule was excavated.

The last artifact recovered from the capsule was a magnetic tape recording of famous sounds of the 1960s. These recordings were from famous public speakers of the aforementioned era, and music samples that were dominant during those times (Hyvärinen, Karhunen & Oja, 2004). These recordings were effectively recovered thereby exposing the rich cultural practices of the people of the early 19 th century.

From the speeches, the origin of liberalization and democracy was traced. For instance, the speeches demonstrated the existence of several nations with each having a unique government that is elected by the people. The songs helped in identifying the social practices of the people who were listening to those types of music.

The information gathered from the artifacts found in the capsule assisted in analyzing the history of the 19 th century era. It has shown how much the social development of those people assisted in shaping the future. Democracy was tirelessly sought by the ancient civilizations.

Massages from civil rights groups and scientists struggling with inventions were also major contributions during this era. All these information indicate that the state of the modern world has been fashioned by mankind.

Human beings have struggled for many years to reach the status they are in today (Devereux, 2009). All practices performed by our ancestors clearly reveal that there was commitment for the sake of improving the future. These included technological advancements, messages of hope, and songs meant to sooth the soul. All these artifacts attempt to display how far human beings have advanced.

The people of the 1960s had hope for a better future. They stored artifacts that were displaying their positive and negative achievements and most importantly, the voice recordings that were against inhumane practices. The greatest lesson that can be derived from these artifacts is that there are unlimited possibilities that can always be attained with hope.

These people completely transform their way of life by coming up with state of the art inventions. They never gave up until their struggles to what is believed to have been witnessed in the 21 st century socially, technologically, and politically.

The modern world is a better place to live. The efforts of the people who lived during the tough times that marked the modernization of the world cannot be forgotten. Historically, the world is at a post modernity level. The future will be determined by the actions of the present.

Every human being should be part and parcel of shaping the future of humanity. Moreover, this discovery has offered the current archeological field an insight into the landmark historical achievements by mankind.

Babbie, E. R. (2010). The Basics of Social Research (5 th Edn). Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning.

Cooper, H. M., Hedges, L. V., & Valentine, J. C. (2009). The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis (2 nd Edn). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

Devereux, P. (2009). Archeology: Discovery Series . Three Watson, Irvine, CA: Saddleback Educational Publ.

Hyvärinen, A., Karhunen, J., & Oja, E. (2004). Independent Component Analysis: Adaptive and Learning Systems for Signal Processing, Communications and Control Series (Vol. 46). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

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5 Letter To Future Self Examples For High School Students

Greetings, time-travelers, and future selves! Have you ever wondered what it would be like to communicate with your future self? Well, put on your wackiest imagination hats and join us on this journey. Writing a letter to your future self is a chance to step into a time machine and project yourself into the future.

Think about it, what if in the future, we could travel back in time and meet our past selves? What would you tell them? Would you share some secrets or give them some sage advice? Writing a letter to your future self is the closest we can get to this phenomenon. It’s a chance to capture your current thoughts, hopes, and dreams, and send them off into the future.

Moreover, wouldn’t it be cool to have something like this on your bucket list? So, grab your pen, put on your craziest socks, and let’s start writing our letters to the future! Who knows what kind of zany adventures await us?

A time capsule from high school: A letter to my future self

Dear Future Self,

I hope this letter finds you well and happy. As I sit here writing this letter, I can hardly believe that several years have passed since I was in high school. I remember the excitement and anticipation of those years, but also the challenges and uncertainties that came with them.

If you’re reading this letter today, I hope you’re doing something that brings you joy and fulfillment. Maybe you’re pursuing a career that you’re passionate about or maybe you’re still figuring it out. Either way, I hope that you’re happy with the path you’ve chosen and the person you’ve become.

As I reflect on my time in high school, there are a few things I wish I could tell my younger self. First, I would remind myself to be kind to others, even in the face of adversity. Second, I would encourage myself to take risks and try new things, even if it felt uncomfortable or scary. And finally, I would tell myself to trust the journey and have faith in my own abilities.

So, if you’re ever feeling lost or uncertain about your future, remember these three things. You are capable of achieving great things, and you have the strength and resilience to face whatever comes your way. Keep pushing yourself to grow and learn, to take risks and try new things, and always remember to be kind to yourself and those around you.

Your Past Self

I hope this letter finds you happy and healthy, with a life that you love. As I write this, I am a high school student with dreams and aspirations that I hope to achieve in the future.

When I think back on my high school years, I remember the moments of self-doubt and uncertainty that sometimes held me back. But I also remember the people who believed in me and encouraged me to keep pushing forward. If you’re reading this letter today, I hope you’ve continued to surround yourself with positive influences who support and inspire you.

As you reflect on your journey thus far, I hope you can look back with pride on all that you’ve accomplished. Whether you’ve pursued a career that you’re passionate about or traveling the world to experience new cultures, I hope that you’ve lived a life full of adventure and purpose.

If there’s one thing I want to remind you of, it’s this: don’t forget to take care of yourself. In the pursuit of your dreams, it’s easy to forget about your own well-being. But self-care is essential for living a happy and fulfilling life. So, take the time to rest and recharge, explore your passions and hobbies, and prioritize your mental and physical health.

I believe in you, and I know that you’re capable of achieving great things. Keep pushing yourself to grow and learn, take risks, and try new things, and always remember to take care of yourself along the way.

Dear Future Me,

I hope this letter finds you well, happy, and surrounded by the people you love. As I write this, I am filled with a mix of excitement, anticipation, and a little bit of fear. Excitement because I know you have achieved great things and have lived a life full of adventure, anticipation because I can’t wait to see what the future holds, and fear because I know that life is unpredictable, and anything can happen.

One thing I know for sure is that you have not let fear hold you back. You have always been a risk-taker, willing to step out of your comfort zone and pursue your dreams. I hope you have continued to do so and that you have found success in everything you have set your mind to.

I also hope that you have stayed true to yourself and that you have not to compromise your values or beliefs to fit in with others. You have always been authentic, and I hope you have continued to be true to who you are.

Lastly, I hope that you have found happiness in all aspects of your life. That you have cultivated meaningful relationships, pursued your passions, and found fulfillment in your work.

Remember, you are capable of achieving great things. Keep pushing yourself, stay true to who you are, and never stop dreaming.

I can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Your past self

As I write this letter, I’m a high school student with big dreams and aspirations for my future. One thing that has always been important to me is making a positive impact on the world around me. I hope that, by the time you’re reading this letter, you’ve found ways to make a difference in the world.

Whether you’re working in a field that directly impacts people’s lives or volunteering your time to support a cause you’re passionate about, I hope you’ve found ways to use your talents and resources to create positive change.

But I also know that making a difference in the world can be overwhelming and exhausting at times. So, if you’re ever feeling burnt out or discouraged, remember that every small action counts. Whether it’s a kind word to a stranger or a donation to a local charity, every act of kindness and generosity adds up to make a difference.

I believe in you and your ability to make a positive impact in the world. Keep pushing yourself to grow and learn, to take risks and try new things, and always remember that even the smallest actions can make a big difference.

Your High School Self

As I write this letter, I’m a high school student with a passion for creativity and self-expression. Whether it’s through writing, painting, or music, I’ve always found joy in creating something new and unique.

If you’re reading this letter today, I hope you’ve continued to nurture your creative spirit and pursue your passions. Maybe you’ve published a book, exhibited your art in a gallery, or performed on stage in front of a live audience. Or maybe you’ve simply found ways to incorporate creativity into your everyday life.

Whatever your creative pursuits may be, I hope they bring you joy and fulfillment. And if you ever find yourself feeling stuck or uninspired, remember that creativity takes many forms and can come from unexpected places. Take a walk in nature, try a new hobby, or simply take a break and let your mind wander. You never know what new ideas or inspirations might come your way.

I believe in you and your ability to create something beautiful and meaningful. Keep pushing yourself to explore new ideas and take creative risks, and always remember that your unique perspective and voice are valuable and worthy of expression.

Many high school quotes suggest that in writing these letters to our future selves, we are setting goals and aspirations for ourselves. We are acknowledging our current selves and our hopes for what we will become. It’s important to remember that our futures are not set in stone and that we have the power to shape them.

Whether it’s reflecting on our past selves, making plans for the future, or exploring our passions and creativity, each of these letters is a reminder of who we are and who we want to be. As we continue to grow and evolve, we can look back on these letters as a source of inspiration and motivation.

So, let’s continue to write these letters to our future selves as a reminder of our dreams, aspirations, and goals. Let’s strive to become the best versions of ourselves and to create a future that we are proud of. The possibilities are endless, and the future is ours to shape.

Sananda Bhattacharya, Chief Editor of TheHighSchooler, is dedicated to enhancing operations and growth. With degrees in Literature and Asian Studies from Presidency University, Kolkata, she leverages her educational and innovative background to shape TheHighSchooler into a pivotal resource hub. Providing valuable insights, practical activities, and guidance on school life, graduation, scholarships, and more, Sananda’s leadership enriches the journey of high school students.

Explore a plethora of invaluable resources and insights tailored for high schoolers at TheHighSchooler, under the guidance of Sananda Bhattacharya’s expertise. You can follow her on Linkedin

ArchaeOLogy > Create Your Own Time Capsule

When archaeologists dig, they never know what they will find—pottery, gold jewelry, religious statues. Every object is like a message from the past, telling us what life was like long ago.

Imagine what archaeologists of the future will find in your hometown! Maybe a baseball or a computer? What messages would these things send about the way you lived?

Usually we don't think about the artifacts we leave behind. But by making time capsules, we can decide what message to send to the future about our own lives. The American Museum of Natural History has its own time capsule. It was started in 1999, to be opened in the year 3000. Many people suggested words, objects, and music for the time capsule. In the end, items were chosen that would tell people of the future about typical daily life in a small American town in 1999. Those items included a cell phone, a unicorn Beanie Baby, photographs and coins, and many other objects.

Time Capsule Ideas

Check out what these kids collected for their time capsules.

A Trip to New York

subway map, taxi keychain, Yankees cap keychain, pizza menu, postcards, cityscape snowglobe, magnets, mug, Statue of Liberty eraser, Empire State building statue

Being a Young Scientist

science books, microscope set, insect shed, compass, pupa in petrie dish, mineral sample box, binoculars, starfish, horseshoe crab

Now try making your own time capsule. If it were discovered years from now, what would the objects say about you and the time you lived in?

What You'll Need

A box with a lid
Items for your time capsule (5 to 10 things)
Materials to decorate your box (wrapping paper, markers, pencils, scissors, tape, old magazines)

Think about what messages you want your time capsule to send. You could focus on a special time in your life, like summer camp or fourth grade. Or you might highlight a part of your life, like learning ballet or playing on a baseball team

Make a list of items that will get your message across. What objects would tell about your summer at camp, or what it's like to be part of a team? (If you use things that are important to you, make sure you're willing to part with them.)

Collect the items. If you can't find an item or decide it's too valuable, you could draw a picture, cut one out of a magazine, or print one from a Web site. Or think about another object that might send the same message. When you're done, ask yourself if the items you've picked match the message you want to send.

Decorate your box. Think about what message or images should go on the outside. You could cover your box with your own drawings, a poem, wrapping paper, a wish for the future, today's newspaper, or a collage of images from magazines. Decide when your time capsule should be opened and write the date on the lid.

Put your items in the box and tape the lid.

Now it's time to put away your time capsule. You can hide it or give it to a parent to put away in a safe place. Make a note of where you hid it!

You might also like...

Create a time capsule challenge winners.

Kids took the OLogy Challenge and shared their work with us!

Piecing It All Together

Decorate, shatter, and piece together your own pottery artifact!

If Trash Could Talk

Take a look inside your trash can. What clues can you find?

Image Credits:

Photos: courtesy of AMNH

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How the Voyager Golden Record Was Made

We inhabit a small planet orbiting a medium-sized star about two-thirds of the way out from the center of the Milky Way galaxy—around where Track 2 on an LP record might begin. In cosmic terms, we are tiny: were the galaxy the size of a typical LP, the sun and all its planets would fit inside an atom’s width. Yet there is something in us so expansive that, four decades ago, we made a time capsule full of music and photographs from Earth and flung it out into the universe. Indeed, we made two of them.

The time capsules, really a pair of phonograph records, were launched aboard the twin Voyager space probes in August and September of 1977. The craft spent thirteen years reconnoitering the sun’s outer planets, beaming back valuable data and images of incomparable beauty . In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to leave the solar system, sailing through the doldrums where the stream of charged particles from our sun stalls against those of interstellar space. Today, the probes are so distant that their radio signals, travelling at the speed of light, take more than fifteen hours to reach Earth. They arrive with a strength of under a millionth of a billionth of a watt, so weak that the three dish antennas of the Deep Space Network’s interplanetary tracking system (in California, Spain, and Australia) had to be enlarged to stay in touch with them.

If you perched on Voyager 1 now—which would be possible, if uncomfortable; the spidery craft is about the size and mass of a subcompact car—you’d have no sense of motion. The brightest star in sight would be our sun, a glowing point of light below Orion’s foot, with Earth a dim blue dot lost in its glare. Remain patiently onboard for millions of years, and you’d notice that the positions of a few relatively nearby stars were slowly changing, but that would be about it. You’d find, in short, that you were not so much flying to the stars as swimming among them.

The Voyagers’ scientific mission will end when their plutonium-238 thermoelectric power generators fail, around the year 2030. After that, the two craft will drift endlessly among the stars of our galaxy—unless someone or something encounters them someday. With this prospect in mind, each was fitted with a copy of what has come to be called the Golden Record. Etched in copper, plated with gold, and sealed in aluminum cases, the records are expected to remain intelligible for more than a billion years, making them the longest-lasting objects ever crafted by human hands. We don’t know enough about extraterrestrial life, if it even exists, to state with any confidence whether the records will ever be found. They were a gift, proffered without hope of return.

I became friends with Carl Sagan, the astronomer who oversaw the creation of the Golden Record, in 1972. He’d sometimes stop by my place in New York, a high-ceilinged West Side apartment perched up amid Norway maples like a tree house, and we’d listen to records. Lots of great music was being released in those days, and there was something fascinating about LP technology itself. A diamond danced along the undulations of a groove, vibrating an attached crystal, which generated a flow of electricity that was amplified and sent to the speakers. At no point in this process was it possible to say with assurance just how much information the record contained or how accurately a given stereo had translated it. The open-endedness of the medium seemed akin to the process of scientific exploration: there was always more to learn.

In the winter of 1976, Carl was visiting with me and my fiancée at the time, Ann Druyan, and asked whether we’d help him create a plaque or something of the sort for Voyager. We immediately agreed. Soon, he and one of his colleagues at Cornell, Frank Drake, had decided on a record. By the time NASA approved the idea, we had less than six months to put it together, so we had to move fast. Ann began gathering material for a sonic description of Earth’s history. Linda Salzman Sagan, Carl’s wife at the time, went to work recording samples of human voices speaking in many different languages. The space artist Jon Lomberg rounded up photographs, a method having been found to encode them into the record’s grooves. I produced the record, which meant overseeing the technical side of things. We all worked on selecting the music.

I sought to recruit John Lennon, of the Beatles, for the project, but tax considerations obliged him to leave the country. Lennon did help us, though, in two ways. First, he recommended that we use his engineer, Jimmy Iovine, who brought energy and expertise to the studio. (Jimmy later became famous as a rock and hip-hop producer and record-company executive.) Second, Lennon’s trick of etching little messages into the blank spaces between the takeout grooves at the ends of his records inspired me to do the same on Voyager. I wrote a dedication: “To the makers of music—all worlds, all times.”

To our surprise, those nine words created a problem at NASA . An agency compliance officer, charged with making sure each of the probes’ sixty-five thousand parts were up to spec, reported that while everything else checked out—the records’ size, weight, composition, and magnetic properties—there was nothing in the blueprints about an inscription. The records were rejected, and NASA prepared to substitute blank discs in their place. Only after Carl appealed to the NASA administrator, arguing that the inscription would be the sole example of human handwriting aboard, did we get a waiver permitting the records to fly.

In those days, we had to obtain physical copies of every recording we hoped to listen to or include. This wasn’t such a challenge for, say, mainstream American music, but we aimed to cast a wide net, incorporating selections from places as disparate as Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China, Congo, Japan, the Navajo Nation, Peru, and the Solomon Islands. Ann found an LP containing the Indian raga “Jaat Kahan Ho” in a carton under a card table in the back of an appliance store. At one point, the folklorist Alan Lomax pulled a Russian recording, said to be the sole copy of “Chakrulo” in North America, from a stack of lacquer demos and sailed it across the room to me like a Frisbee. We’d comb through all this music individually, then meet and go over our nominees in long discussions stretching into the night. It was exhausting, involving, utterly delightful work.

“Bhairavi: Jaat Kahan Ho,” by Kesarbai Kerkar

In selecting Western classical music, we sacrificed a measure of diversity to include three compositions by J. S. Bach and two by Ludwig van Beethoven. To understand why we did this, imagine that the record were being studied by extraterrestrials who lacked what we would call hearing, or whose hearing operated in a different frequency range than ours, or who hadn’t any musical tradition at all. Even they could learn from the music by applying mathematics, which really does seem to be the universal language that music is sometimes said to be. They’d look for symmetries—repetitions, inversions, mirror images, and other self-similarities—within or between compositions. We sought to facilitate the process by proffering Bach, whose works are full of symmetry, and Beethoven, who championed Bach’s music and borrowed from it.

I’m often asked whether we quarrelled over the selections. We didn’t, really; it was all quite civil. With a world full of music to choose from, there was little reason to protest if one wonderful track was replaced by another wonderful track. I recall championing Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was the Night,” which, if memory serves, everyone liked from the outset. Ann stumped for Chuck Berry’s “ Johnny B. Goode ,” a somewhat harder sell, in that Carl, at first listening, called it “awful.” But Carl soon came around on that one, going so far as to politely remind Lomax, who derided Berry’s music as “adolescent,” that Earth is home to many adolescents. Rumors to the contrary, we did not strive to include the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun,” only to be disappointed when we couldn’t clear the rights. It’s not the Beatles’ strongest work, and the witticism of the title, if charming in the short run, seemed unlikely to remain funny for a billion years.

“Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground,” by Blind Willie Johnson

Ann’s sequence of natural sounds was organized chronologically, as an audio history of our planet, and compressed logarithmically so that the human story wouldn’t be limited to a little beep at the end. We mixed it on a thirty-two-track analog tape recorder the size of a steamer trunk, a process so involved that Jimmy jokingly accused me of being “one of those guys who has to use every piece of equipment in the studio.” With computerized boards still in the offing, the sequence’s dozens of tracks had to be mixed manually. Four of us huddled over the board like battlefield surgeons, struggling to keep our arms from getting tangled as we rode the faders by hand and got it done on the fly.

The sequence begins with an audio realization of the “music of the spheres,” in which the constantly changing orbital velocities of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter are translated into sound, using equations derived by the astronomer Johannes Kepler in the sixteenth century. We then hear the volcanoes, earthquakes, thunderstorms, and bubbling mud of the early Earth. Wind, rain, and surf announce the advent of oceans, followed by living creatures—crickets, frogs, birds, chimpanzees, wolves—and the footsteps, heartbeats, and laughter of early humans. Sounds of fire, speech, tools, and the calls of wild dogs mark important steps in our species’ advancement, and Morse code announces the dawn of modern communications. (The message being transmitted is Ad astra per aspera , “To the stars through hard work.”) A brief sequence on modes of transportation runs from ships to jet airplanes to the launch of a Saturn V rocket. The final sounds begin with a kiss, then a mother and child, then an EEG recording of (Ann’s) brainwaves, and, finally, a pulsar—a rapidly spinning neutron star giving off radio noise—in a tip of the hat to the pulsar map etched into the records’ protective cases.

“The Sounds of Earth”

Ann had obtained beautiful recordings of whale songs, made with trailing hydrophones by the biologist Roger Payne, which didn’t fit into our rather anthropocentric sounds sequence. We also had a collection of loquacious greetings from United Nations representatives, edited down and cross-faded to make them more listenable. Rather than pass up the whales, I mixed them in with the diplomats. I’ll leave it to the extraterrestrials to decide which species they prefer.

“United Nations Greetings/Whale Songs”

Those of us who were involved in making the Golden Record assumed that it would soon be commercially released, but that didn’t happen. Carl repeatedly tried to get labels interested in the project, only to run afoul of what he termed, in a letter to me dated September 6, 1990, “internecine warfare in the record industry.” As a result, nobody heard the thing properly for nearly four decades. (Much of what was heard, on Internet snippets and in a short-lived commercial CD release made in 1992 without my participation, came from a set of analog tape dubs that I’d distributed to our team as keepsakes.) Then, in 2016, a former student of mine, David Pescovitz, and one of his colleagues, Tim Daly, approached me about putting together a reissue. They secured funding on Kickstarter , raising more than a million dollars in less than a month, and by that December we were back in the studio, ready to press play on the master tape for the first time since 1977.

Pescovitz and Daly took the trouble to contact artists who were represented on the record and send them what amounted to letters of authenticity—something we never had time to accomplish with the original project. (We disbanded soon after I delivered the metal master to Los Angeles, making ours a proud example of a federal project that evaporated once its mission was accomplished.) They also identified and corrected errors and omissions in the information that was provided to us by recordists and record companies. Track 3, for instance, which was listed by Lomax as “Senegal Percussion,” turns out instead to have been recorded in Benin and titled “Cengunmé”; and Track 24, the Navajo night chant, now carries the performers’ names. Forty years after launch, the Golden Record is finally being made available here on Earth. Were Carl alive today—he died in 1996 at the age of sixty-two—I think he’d be delighted.

This essay was adapted from the liner notes for the new edition of the Voyager Golden Record, recently released as a vinyl boxed set by Ozma Records .

Legacy Projects

What is a Time Capsule? Unique Ideas for Creating Your Own

Updated 04/23/2024

Published 04/1/2020

Jen Garcin, MS

Contributing writer, editor

Discover the best time capsule ideas and tips for children, families, couples, seniors, and more.

Cake values integrity and transparency. We follow a strict editorial process to provide you with the best content possible. We also may earn commission from purchases made through affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more in our affiliate disclosure .

A time capsule is a collection of items that paint a picture of what things looked like in the past when opened at a later date. It’s meant as a form of communication with the future and whoever digs up the capsule.

This might be the future you or a random stranger. Creating a time capsule is a fun and creative activity, leaving a snapshot in time to discover later on. Here are 38 ideas for items you can put into your time capsule.

Tip: You'll need to make your time capsule container first! Read our article on how to make a time capsule container for ideas and instructions.

Jump ahead to these sections:

History of time capsules, how to create a time capsule, tips for preserving your time capsule, time capsule ideas for a baby or first birthday, time capsule ideas for kids or students, time capsule ideas for families, time capsule ideas for couples or anniversaries, time capsule ideas for seniors.

The practice of burying time capsules has increased in popularity, but just when did this concept get started? It might surprise you to learn just how far back this practice goes.

Earliest known time capsule

The earliest recorded time capsule was buried thanks to Paul Revere and Samuel Adams in 1795. Yes, the Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. Just saying that feels like opening a time capsule, doesn't it?

The time capsule they buried contained coins and documents and initially lay untouched until 1855 when it was dug up and examined. The contents were checked, a few things were added, then it was reburied and forgotten!

In 2014, workers found the time capsule completely by accident after a water pipe broke and they were working on repairs. The capsule was opened and inspected for all to see. Some of the items included newspaper clippings, old coins, and an engraving done by Paul Revere, himself.

Famous time capsules

There are quite a few famous time capsules in addition to the one mentioned above. Here are some of the most famous:

Paris Opera Vault: In 1907, containing 24 recordings of opera singers from the time. The capsule was forgotten about and rediscovered in 1989 and taken to the National Library of France in Paris. The vault was opened in 2007 and digitized copies of the records were created.
Crypt of Civilization: This time capsule was buried in 1936 and gained status as a Guinness Book of World Records entrant for the first time capsule to successfully document life on Earth for future residents or visitors. The capsule contains large quantities of literature including copies of the Bible, the Qur'an, and Homer's Illiad. It is buried at Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, Georgia.
World's Fair Capsules: The Westinghouse Electric company buried time capsules in honor of the 1939 and 1965 World Fairs. They contain items including a mini camera, pamphlets and newspaper clippings, freeze-dried food, and a Mickey Mouse mug. Both are scheduled to be opened in nearly 5000 years.
Osaka Castle Capsules: In 1968, two capsules containing over 2,000 items were buried near Osaka Castle in Japan. One capsule is set to remain buried for 5,000 years, while the other will be removed every 100 years for examination.

Are you getting the itch to create a time capsule of your own? Here is how to create your very own piece of history.

Gather items

The first step in the process is to determine what you want to include in your time capsule. You can choose a theme like movies, music, books, or your favorite things. Or decide on no theme at all and simply include objects and items you find interesting that you think others would find interesting, as well. Just make sure that every item you include is non-perishable.

Choose the container

Next up, you'll need a container to store all of those items. Whether you plan on burying it, putting it somewhere out of the elements, or burying it in the floor of your home, the container should be leak-proof, air-tight, and rust-proof. By sealing out the elements, you'll help keep the contents inside from breaking down or getting destroyed.

Mark the outside of the container in a permanent marker with the date it should be opened.

Package the items

Even if your container is leak-proof, it's a good idea to provide an extra measure of protection for the items inside. This means sealing paper and photographs inside archival-quality sleeves and wrapping delicate items in tissue.

When finished, go the extra step and place the entire container in a sealable bag for even more weatherproofing.

Choose a location and bury the container

Once your container is ready for burial, choose a location to bury the container. This can get tricky depending on whether you're on public or private land. Be on the safe side and bury it in an area you can access and that doesn't require special permits.

Note the location and date of burial

As you've seen above, time capsules can tend to get forgotten about and found by accident, when they should be remembered and rediscovered on purpose, instead! Be sure to write a note to yourself (or others) about the location of the capsule and the date when it should be opened again.

Once you've got your time capsule ready to go, it's important to understand how to preserve it until it's opened again. Here are some tips to follow.

Use archival paper: Rather than originals, include photocopies of newspaper clippings and documents on high-quality archival paper.
Protect photos: If including photographs, place them in clear archival sleeves to protect them from sticking to each other. Also, go with black and white instead of color if possible, as black and white photos age better.
Use acid-free tissue: If wrapping delicate items, use acid-free tissue to prevent breakdown.
Choose a leak-proof, rust-proof, durable container: Containers should be able to keep water and air out, while maintaining durability over a long period of time.
Document its contents and location: Make a list and keep it with you so you know what you should find inside. You should also make sure you know where the capsule is located so you can get it when it's time.

Image with ideas for baby or first birthday time capsule

A time capsule is a great way to remember your baby’s first year. It will be such an amazing gift for your child to get to dig this capsule up in their future.

Here are some ideas for what you can put inside a time capsule:

Newspaper from the day they were born
First rattle or spoon
A favorite outfit
A letter to the baby
Recorded baby coos and giggles
A birth announcement and birthday party invitation
A hand and footprint

1. Newspaper from the day they were born

Putting in a newspaper from the day your baby was born is a great way to remember the day. You’ll be able to see what a newspaper looked like that year, and all the current events going on that day.

2. First rattle or spoon

Or any baby keepsake will do! This is a fun way for the future version of your child (or whoever finds the capsule) to see what kind of items babies used in the past. It’s also a heartwarming memory for your family.

3. A favorite outfit

It is so fascinating to see what babies wear throughout time. The styles change so much. Put a favorite outfit in, and if you dig up the capsule someday, you’re sure to feel sentimental and maybe even have a good laugh.

4. Pictures

Pictures really pull together any time capsule. Make sure to include adorable baby pictures and a family photo or two.

5. A letter to the baby

It’s a really nice idea for parents and other family members to write a letter to the baby or to the future version of their child. This will be a lovely keepsake for your little one to find someday. You can find beautiful stationery paper without breaking the budget on Amazon.

6. Recorded baby coos and giggles

Get a tiny recorder and record those adorable baby coos and giggles. This is guaranteed to be a delight for the person who ultimately digs up the capsule.

7. A birth announcement and birthday party invitation

A birth announcement and a birthday party invitation is a perfect item for the baby’s time capsule. It will show the baby’s birth date and time, length, weight, and likely the address of the home you lived in when your baby was born.

This could also show someone from the future what your tradition of celebrating birthdays was like.

8. A hand and footprint

Complete the time capsule with an adorable hand and footprint! There’s nothing cuter than teeny little hands and feet. If you haven't made one already, you can get a baby handprint and footprint kit on Amazon. Your future kiddo won’t believe how small they once were!

Image with ideas for time capsule for kids

Creating a time capsule can be such an exciting and fun project for kids and students. You can choose to bury the capsule for your future self or for a future stranger to stumble upon someday.

Here are some ideas of what you can include in a time capsule for kids and students.

Certificates or ribbons
A letter from your parents
The packaging from your favorite snack
A toy or stuffed animal
Art projects
A keepsake from your las t birthday party
An all-about-me page
A letter to your future self

9. Certificates or ribbons

You should be proud of your accomplishments in school and activities. Put any certificates, ribbons, trophies, or even a report card you’re proud of into your capsule.

10. A letter from your parents

Have your parents write a letter to the future you and put it in the capsule. It will be so fun to read your parents’ hopes and dreams for you when you’re all grown up!

11. The packaging from your favorite snack

When you’re an adult, your favorite snack might not exist anymore. I know that’s scary to think about — but don’t worry, your tastes will change too.

When you finally open up your time capsule, all of your memories of that favorite snack will flash back.

12. A toy or stuffed animal

You’ll want to keep your absolute favorite toy and stuffed animal safe with you, so choose one you don’t play with so much anymore. Make sure to leave a description of the toy or stuffed animal and include its name if it has one.

13. Art projects

Include one of your beautiful art projects (or a photocopy) in your time capsule. You could also gather your art supplies or pick up an art kit from Amazon and make a special piece for the time capsule. You can even include a poem, essay you wrote, or a science project as well.

14. A keepsake from your last birthday party

Have an extra party favor or leftover decorations? Into the time capsule they go! This is a great way to remember how you celebrated your birthdays when you open up the capsule in the future.

If you're looking for ideas, read our guide on birthday keepsakes for more inspiration.

15. An all-about-me page

Start with a blank sheet of paper and be creative! Decorate this page with your age, height, weight, hair color, eye color, and all of your favorite things.

Your hair color might change in the future — you never know! Illustrate the page and make it colorful.

16. A letter to your future self

What are your hopes and dreams for your future? What do you want to be when you grow up? Tell the adult version of yourself everything you want them to know about your life right now.

Image with ideas for time capsule for families

A great time to create a family time capsule is when you’re moving into or out of a new house. This could be fun for a new family to find in many years, or for your family to come back to and revisit.

Here are some ideas for what your family can use to fill up your capsule:

A family tree
Family photos
A list of demographics
An artifact from your neighbor
A list of prices
Old cell phones
A family questionnaire
A family heirloom

17. A family tree

A family tree will be so fun for your family, future relatives, or even strangers to find. This is the history of your family. It’s also a fun project to do some research on your lineage and pull everything together. You can draw one, print it out, or use photos to bring the tree to life.

18. Family photos

A time capsule wouldn’t be complete without a picture or two of your family. Family photos put faces to the names of anyone that finds your capsule.

If it’s you opening the capsule in the future, it will be fun to see what you all looked like, and what pictures you chose to represent your family.

19. A list of demographics

Make a fact sheet with all of your family’s demographics. Mark down the date, then list everyone’s names, ages, height, and more.

20. An artifact from your neighborhood

Find a few things around your neighborhood that you think are good representations of your community. It could be a takeout menu from the best restaurant in town, city plans from town hall, or a current picture of the main street or a welcome sign.

21. A list of prices

Write up a list of prices of items that your family uses regularly. If your time capsule is opened decades later, these prices are likely to have changed and will be an interesting find.

22. Old cell phones

This is a fun one! Collect everyone’s old cell phones to put in the capsule. It will be amazing to see the advancement in technology over the years and what different members of the family used at different times.

If someone finds your family capsule in the distant future, they’re likely to be astonished to have unearthed such a relic.

23. A family questionnaire

Write a list of questions for everyone in the family to answer. It would be fun for everyone to do this in their own (hopefully legible) handwriting.

You can ask questions like where each family member sees themselves in 5, 10, or 20 years. You can ask about favorite songs, movies, and food.

24. A family heirloom

This could be jewelry, a piece of china, documentation, or even a recipe. If you don’t feel comfortable putting an actual family heirloom in the capsule, you can always take a picture of one to include.

Tip: A memorial diamond made from ashes can be a unique heirloom to keep someone's legacy alive for future generations. Some companies, like Eterneva , create lab-grown diamonds and allow you to pick from several cuts and colors for your gemstone.

Image with ideas for time capsule for couples

A wonderful way to celebrate an anniversary is to create a couple’s time capsule. Here’s a list of ideas for things you can include to preserve your love in a time capsule:

Pictures of you two
Love letters to each other
The story of your love
Your bucket list
Anniversary or wedding cards from friends and family
Your favorite bottle of wine and champagne
A dried flower from your wedding or first date
A piece of your wedding attire

25. Pictures of you two

Your time capsule absolutely needs pictures of the happy couple! Be sure to also include snapshots of you with your most beloved family and friends.

You can also include videos. Copies of wedding videos make for amazing discoveries down the road.

26. Love letters to each other

How beautiful would it be to uncover old love letters when you finally open up your capsule? If a future stranger is finding your capsule, it will be such a treat to get to read love letters. So romantic!

27. The story of your love

No time capsule is complete without its story. Make sure to include the date you seal the capsule, along with a history of your life as a couple up to this point.

28. Your bucket list

Be creative with this one! What do you want to do together before you die?

Think about where you want to travel, dates you want to have, and the activities and adventures you want to experience together. You can even put dream homes and how many kids you’re envisioning on your list.

Post-loss tip: If you are the executor for a deceased loved one, the emotional and technical aspects of handling their unfinished business can be overwhelming without a way to organize your process. We have a post-loss checklist that will help you ensure that your loved one's family, estate, and other affairs are taken care of.

29. Anniversary or wedding cards from friends and family

Pack some cards from friends and family into your time capsule so you can remember all the support you had. It will also be fun to see the style of cards from the year of your anniversary or wedding. You could also include an invitation to your anniversary party or wedding.

30. Your favorite bottle of wine or champagne

If the time capsule is big enough, include your favorite bottle of wine or champagne. These make for great keepsakes.

Make sure to empty it out (or drink it) first, so it’s not rancid when the time capsule is opened. Who knows if that brand will even exist anymore when your capsule is discovered?

31. A dried flower from your wedding or first date

This is such a sentimental and beautiful item to store in your capsule. A flower from any bouquet you’ve shared together will work perfectly. Or you can pick a flower from your backyard if you have a garden and dry it or put it in a flower and leaf press .

32. A piece of your wedding attire

Whether it’s a piece of your wedding dress or a tie, include something you wore on your wedding day. This will be sentimental for you in the future, and if someone else is opening your capsule, it will be interesting for them to see the style of your wedding.

Tip: If you're interested in something very unique to incorporate the legacy of a loved one (think a game, their motorcycle, or instrument of choice), you can custom order an urn from a store like Foreverence . You submit a design idea or sketch, then the company designs and 3D prints your urn, so you get a 100% unique container.

Image with time capsule ideas for seniors

Graduating high school is a wonderful accomplishment and a major life transition. Congratulations! You are heading into adult life, and there are so many memories to maintain from your childhood. Think about what you would like to see in 10, 20, or 50 years. If someone else finds the capsule, what would you want them to know about you and your hometown?

Here are some ideas for what you include in a time capsule for a high school senior:

Graduation cap, cords, or tassels
Your yearbook
College acceptance letters
A description of your hometown with pictures
Pictures of you with friends and family
A page from your journal or diary

33. Graduation cap, cords, or tassels

Your cap, cords, and tassels are quintessential graduation keepsakes. These make for great additions to your time capsule.

Maybe in the future caps and gowns will be a thing of the past. If so, it will be so cool to get a glimpse into past traditions.

34. Your yearbook

There are a few times in your life when you’re likely to pull out the old yearbook and have a look. Get a copy for your time capsule, and this is sure to be one of your favorite treasures. If a future stranger finds your capsule instead, a yearbook is an incredible artifact.

35. College acceptance letters

If you’re headed to college, another congratulations is in order! Getting into college is a major accomplishment. Preserve this special achievement by including acceptance letters in your time capsule.

36. A description of your hometown with pictures

Write up a one-page description of your house, school, and town. Make sure to include some pictures to show what everyone and everything looked like in your graduation year.

37. Pictures of you with friends and family

You’ll want to remember what you looked like now and who you felt close to. As they say, pictures are worth a thousand words.

38. A page from your journal or diary

This will be so much fun to read in the future! If someone else uncovers your capsule, what an amazing find to discover your most inner thoughts and desires.

Preserving the Present with a Time Capsule

Creating a time capsule is a fun project that helps capture a moment in time and preserves it for the future. What you choose to include is entirely up to you. Have some fun, be creative, and preserve a piece of history to look back on for years to come.

1. Cirjak, Antonia. "What is the World's Oldest Time Capsule?" History, World Atlas, 10 May 2020. Worldatlas.com

How to Make a Time Capsule Container to Bury: Step-By-Step

How to Create a Quarantine Time Capsule: 6 Steps

How to Write a Time Capsule Letter + Examples

21 Things to Put in Your Wedding Time Capsule or Box

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How to Create a Time Capsule That’ll Withstand the Test of Time

Last Updated: July 19, 2024 Tested

Sample Time Capsule Letters

Assembling your contents, choosing a container, finding a location, storing the time capsule.

This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff . Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. The wikiHow Video Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 754,986 times. Learn more...

Time capsules are fun to make, and even more, fun to open years down the line. A time capsule can be any container that holds objects meant for people to open in the future, whether that be in 5, 10, or even 100 years. A good time capsule will hold its contents safely, preserving them for a future version of yourself, your grandchildren, or even a stranger. Soon you will have the skills to create a time capsule that will thrill and fascinate someone in the future.

How do you make a homemade time capsule?

Make a list of items to include in your time capsule.
Pick a box or container to use for your time capsule.
Place your objects (toys, letters, pictures, etc.) in the container.
Close the container and set a date on when to open it.
Seal the capsule and store or hide it somewhere safe.

If you are struggling to find an audience, think about what kind you would most like to open. Do you wish your grandparents had left you a time capsule filled with memorabilia and handwritten notes? Does the thought of opening a 150 year old capsule left by someone lost to time long ago thrill you?
If the capsule is for yourself, focus on personal mementos of your life as it is right now. Things like a pair of earbuds you wore every day for 2 years, an old key, or a takeout menu from a favorite restaurant will bring memories back in just a few years.
For a time capsule that you plan to pass down to your children or grandchildren, find things that will interest them about your life and your world. Both personal objects of significance to you and your family, like wedding invitations, and things that depict the state of the world, like technology, are good choices.
If your capsule is for people in the far future to uncover long after you are gone, focus on the era you are in. Things that may seem to be of little value now may be fascinating to someone in 75 or 100 years.
Toys can change over the years more than you might think, and for a child they can be fondly remembered years later.
Be sure to keep the paper in plastic sleeves to ensure that it is preserved.
These are especially vulnerable to damage, so protect them in special archival sheets if the capsule will last more than 5 years.
If you are out of ideas for what to put in your time capsule, run through your daily activities in your head. What objects do you use? What do you look at? What do you read? Asking yourself these questions can give you many new ideas.
Write the letter as though it were addressed directly to whoever will open the capsule. This will give it a much more personal feeling than a letter that is closer to a list of facts than a piece of communication.

Step 8 Make an inventory of everything in the capsule.

It's okay to not have a specific date for the capsule to be opened. Maybe you want to open it when you are married or reach retirement.

Step 3 Use a shoebox, bin, or old suitcase for a short-term, indoor option.

Keep in mind that a capsule made of cardboard or paper may be completely destroyed by fire, flood, or other natural disaster.

Step 4 Use a coffee canister for a simple, short-term choice.

One example of a sturdy home-built PVC container is a PVC tube with an end cap attached with PVC cement and a test cap lid that can be screwed tightly into the pipe. [9] X Research source
Consider using desiccant "gel bags", such as those included in the packaging of electronic goods and in bottles of vitamin tablets. These help to absorb any moisture that may have been present at the time of encapsulation and help to kill microbes that may make some of your items perish.
Be sure to store your outdoor capsule in a place that is safe from development and construction, like just outside a national park or landmark, particularly if you choose to bury it.
Another positive side of underground storage is that it is less likely to be removed or opened early as it might be indoors. Outdoor storage has a better chance of staying in one place.

Step 3 Store your time capsule indoors for a safer alternative.

These above-ground time capsules are called Geocapsules and can provide a further level of adventure to the time capsule experience.
Avoid using ink to mark the outside of a buried capsule. An engraving would hold up best, but weather-grade paint is another good option.
Noting these dates on the outside and inside of the capsule creates extra assurance.

Step 2 Do something to remind yourself or others about the time capsule.

Consider writing the location and opening date in your will, or leave a letter with a grandchild containing instructions.
Take photographs of your placement, identify GPS coordinates, and write down all data important for relocating the precise location.
Register the time capsule to make it feel more official, and give the capsule a higher chance of being found if all else fails. [14] X Research source

Community Q&A

Reader Videos

Remember to mark the current date on the time capsule. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
If possible, use acid-free paper if you choose to include papers, books, or writing. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
Go looking for time capsules you may already have. Has Grandma forgotten a suitcase, trunk, or journal in her attic? Does your local library have old magazines, maps, or books you could explore? Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

If you are putting paper in your time capsule, you could laminate it and put it in a plastic bag if you are intending to leave it for a very long time.
If you have to bury it, bury it at least 3 feet below ground so that it's not subject to heating and cooling cycles.

Consider the life span of other objects, too. A plastic toy might weather the years better than a book or magazine, especially if the time capsule is ever exposed to water. Thanks Helpful 14 Not Helpful 2
Always treat antiques, historical artifacts, and other records of the past with care and respect so that their messages can reach future generations, too. Thanks Helpful 13 Not Helpful 3
Don't put perishable items in your time capsule. Nobody wants a 40-year-old peanut butter sandwich! Thanks Helpful 15 Not Helpful 4

↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/magazine/how-to-make-a-time-capsule.html
↑ https://www.loc.gov/preservation/resources/educational/timecapsule/ISUL.pdf
↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/magazine/how-to-make-a-time-capsule.html#
↑ https://www.mnhs.org/preserve/conservation/reports/timecapsule.pdf
↑ https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/how-to/g2183/how-to-build-an-indestructible-time-capsule/
↑ https://dos.myflorida.com/library-archives/archives/preserve/time-capsule/
↑ https://crypt.oglethorpe.edu/international-time-capsule-society/most-wanted-time-capsules/
↑ https://crypt.oglethorpe.edu/international-time-capsule-society/register-your-time-capsule/
↑ https://www.loc.gov/preservation/resources/educational/timecapsule/FordCC.pdf

About This Article

To create a time capsule, start by finding a shoebox, bin, or old suitcase. Then, pack it with items that show what it’s like to live today. For example, pack a recent newspaper or magazine, currency, fashionable clothes, photographs, or packaging from your favorite candies. You can also write a description of what it’s like to live today so you can see how much the world has changed when you open the time capsule. For instance, write about current fads, attitudes, and hot topics of the day. When you’ve finished making your time capsule, you can store it inside to protect it from the elements, or you can bury it outside. If you choose to bury your time capsule, add a few gel bags to reduce moisture and stop your items decaying over the years. For more tips, including how to set a reminder to open your time capsule, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet

40 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Story Analysis

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Summary and Study Guide

“Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet” (2009) by Margaret Atwood is a short story warning about the dangers of climate change and the influence of greed on society. Atwood wrote the story as part of the “10:10” campaign, an initiative by Britain's The Guardian newspaper to promote efforts for fighting climate change. Though “Time Capsule” is technically a short story, it doesn’t follow a traditional narrative structure, feeling like a cross between a short story and a poem. Atwood’s premise is that a found relic outlines the history of a planet’s progression from religious expression to money worship and then to death by way of climate change. Like much of Atwood’s writing, the story has many elements of speculative dystopian fiction with a heavy focus on socio-political issues.

Atwood is one of the most popular writers of the past 50 years, so anything she publishes garners significant attention; however, this short story is not one of her more well-known works.

Author Biography

Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Atwood spent most of her early life in nature and didn’t attend school full-time until she was 12. She developed a love of reading and writing at an early age, and she pursued these passions at Victoria College in Toronto and later at Radcliffe College at Harvard, where she earned her master’s degree.

After graduating from college, while working as a professor of English, Atwood wrote poetry and fiction, publishing her first novel, The Edible Woman , in 1969. Atwood published many books over the next decade. Her 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale obtained significant recognition and fame. This feminist speculative fiction novel has become one of the most famous books of the 20th century and was eventually adapted into a television series on Hulu.

All of Atwood subsequent novels have received critical acclaim and high sales. The most acclaimed book of her later career is The Blind Assassin (2000), a work of historical fiction set in 20th century Canada. In 2018, Atwood published a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale , titled The Testaments , which also received considerable critical acclaim.

As of 2022, Atwood continues to publish and is active in various political causes, including the feminist movement, environmentalism , animal rights, and free speech advocacy. Atwood is Canada’s most famous living author. Her work has inspired people across the world, as has her fierce advocacy for women’s rights, individuality, environmental conservation, and free speech. The Handmaid’s Tale has become a cultural phenomenon, and imagery from the novel has become a staple at political demonstrations and in pop culture.

Atwood, Margaret. “ Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet .” 2009. The Guardian.

“Time Capsule” has five sections, called “ages.” They are narrated for the most part from a first-person plural perspective—a collective “we” responsible for the actions the story relates. The last age changes to a first-person singular—the voice of the last person left alive.

In the first age, people created gods. Imagery associated with the gods alludes to a number of historical and mythological subjects from actual human history. The gods provided people with a welcoming Earth full of animals, plants, water, and children. In this age, the world was hospitable, and those who lived there saw themselves as one with the planet.

In the second age, people created money. Money functioned in similar ways to the gods, formed from precious metals and having special powers. Images of nature on money soon became all that was left of the gods. Although no one could not eat money or get warmth from it, money could turn into other things as if by magic. It was said that a large amount of money could give someone the ability to fly.

In the third age, money became an omnipotent god. It created good and evil— times of plenty and times of scarcity, feelings of happiness and misery. Now, instead of featuring images of famous people and elements of nature, the two faces of money became “greed and hunger” (Paragraph 4). Money built huge glass buildings and developed an insatiable appetite, eating up forests, crops, children, and cities. Still, people believed that possessing money was a sign of divine grace.

In the fourth age, people created deserts of sand, toxic land, and cement out of a desire for more money. Despite the wars and natural disasters the deserts brought, people would not stop making them. Eventually, the creation of these deserts led to the death of all natural things, and the earth became a wasteland. Despite this, humans rationalized the destruction as an aesthetic and sacred choice.

The narrator ends with a direct appeal to any alien civilization that has stumbled upon the “cylinder of brass” (Paragraph 7) on which the previous passages have been recorded—the narrator, the last person alive, is making this document on the “last day” before all life on the planet is gone. The narrator asks the alien reader to pray for a civilization that once also believed they could fly.

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What’s Inside The Time Capsule Of Humanity We Made For Aliens

From photos to rock records, these are the surprising things we're offering up to any aliens we may find in order to explain the human race.

The Golden Record was launched into space on board the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. The information contained is a mini time capsule of humanity as of 1977.

What would you tell the universe about humanity if you had the chance? This is essentially the question that was answered when NASA launched Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 in 1977 to feed information about Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune back to Earth. Scientists knew that Jupiter’s gravity would give the spacecrafts enough velocity to leave the orbit of the sun and enter into the greater Milky Way, eternally drifting further and further from our solar system.

In case these spacecrafts ever made contact with aliens (with the capability to use human technology, understand human language, and read the written word), each Voyager had an 8-track tape memory system, computers (with less processing power than a smartphone) and a copper phonograph LP that became known as the “Golden Record”, featuring a collection of images and sounds.

“This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings,” President Jimmy Carter wrote on June 16, 1977. “We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilization. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe.”

Here are a few more things in the Golden Record:

1. Spoken greetings in more than 50 different languages.

2. A compilation of natural sounds from Earth.

3. 90 minutes of music from around the world. Surprisingly not represented in the music department, however, is the Beatles. The group wanted to put “Here Comes the Sun” on, but permission issues with their record company got in the way.

4. 116 images of scientific knowledge, terrestrial environment, human anatomy and accomplishments like these:

The Golden Record’s image of eating, drinking and licking.

The Golden Record’s image of shopping in a supermarket.

PO Box 24091 Brooklyn, NY 11202-4091

IMAGES

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