Need Time Capsule contents suggestions

[Michael Weber]

Number one and only Grandson will be 1 year old this June. Parents have ask for items to be put in a time capsule to be opened on his 18th or 20th birthday. Some suggestions were advertisments listing the price of various items like food, gas or real estate. Coins or a proof set for the year. Not sure about any of that. Seems rather impersonal. I'm at a loss. It's not like I know what his interests will be so the item must be generic but somehow significant. Any suggestions from the collective? Woodworking or not.
Thanks, Mike

[Bob Moyer]

Number one and only Grandson will be 1 year old this June. Parents have ask for items to be put in a time capsule to be opened on his 18th or 20th birthday. Some suggestions were advertisments listing the price of various items like food, gas or real estate. Coins or a proof set for the year. Not sure about any of that. Seems rather impersonal. I'm at a loss. It's not like I know what his interests will be so the item must be generic but somehow significant. Any suggestions from the collective? Woodworking or not.
Thanks, Mike

Think back 20 years ago and what would be surprising.
I would probably put in items that would either be obsolete or severly changed.
1. Cell Phone
2. Newspaper
3. DVD
4. Postage Stamps
5. Baseball Cards
6. Cigarettes
7. Photos of power tools of today

Things that you can't put in but may not be here or will be severely changed in 20 years,
Home Swimming Pools
Drinking water from the tap
Lawn Tractors
Skateboards
Bowling Balls
SUV's
Kitchens

[Craig Summers]

If you are looking for personal, his first walking shoes, clay impressions of hands and feet, photos of him and grandparents.

On the other side of 'severely changed', put in a twinkie, see if that really does last forever.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

If you have a copy of the newspaper where his birth was announced, that would be cool.

[Phyllis Meyer]

Michael,

While cleaning my mom's house after she died we found a booklet that was titled: All About Grandma. In it were headings such as: My favorite thing to do, my favorite movie, my years of growing up, my first job and wages...and her first date, when she saw Frank Sinatra and so much more, and of course at the end advice on life...It was so precious!

This was a treasure found! I then made copies for all of her grandchildren and they have all said that this is one of the greatest gifts that Grandma could have ever given them. So Michael, while the "what's going on in the world today" is fun stuff for your grandson to read when he opens this, he will treasure knowing more about the Grandparents who put this together for him!

Sincerely,
Phyllis:)

[Pete Simmons]

I just made this for my Grandson.

Name has been washed out. I would rather not post it.


Coin is a 1 ounce silver eagle of the birth year.

[Scott Kilroy]

I'd suggest writing a couple of letters, one about your hopes for him as a person and another predicting what life will be like for him.

[Mike SoRelle]

The receipt from a gas fillup on the vehicle with the largest tank you own after it was run to empty

A copy of time/newsweek/local paper

[Mitchell Andrus]

A lock of his, his mom's and dad's hair.

[Pat Germain]

Throw in a People magazine. You'll get great satisfaction from hearing, "Who is Brittany Spears?" when he looks at it 18 years from now.

[Walt Nicholson]

Many years ago when the first video (vhs) recorders came out, a friend made a tape of his son just after he was born, with his mom in the hospital. He then went home and recorded the evening news and added some audio about current events. Then he put the tape in a safe. When his son had his first birthday (and every subsequent birthday after that) he took the tape out, taped the birthday party, the evening news, etc. When the son was old enough to talk he had him tell who his friends were, what his favorite toy was, what he was doing in school, etc. in addition to the other info. He had to add more tapes along the way and eventually, as technology changed copied all over to cd. When his son was 23 and married, he gave him the cd as a chronicle of his life. It is something he can share with his kids for years to come. I always thought it was a neat idea.

[Joe Pelonio]

Be careful about where it's hidden, and make sure it's documented.

The school where my wife works buried one the first year it opened. Last year they celebrated the 25th anniversary, and part of the ceremony was to open the time capsule. After 3 hours digging they gave up looking for it.


As for suggestions, I think newspaper front pages could be interesting, especially with the presidential election content, because he will be studying it as "history" by then. Also, the section with new car ads, even the grocery ads, those may be way different.

The trouble with any electronic media is that there may not be any way to play it back by then. Many people no longer have a VCR, even DVDs and CD's may well go the way of the floppy by then too.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

invoice for heating oil.

[curtis rosche]

as a joke, take a clean diaper, put some dirt in it, then fold it up like you would a "filled" one. when the box is opened that should make a good laugh..... throw a couple pennies or something in the dirt, "hey look what you used to eat!"

[Michael Weber]

Lots of great suggestions. Thanks everyone. Have a week or so before the big event so still open to ideas.

[Mike SoRelle]

Be careful about where it's hidden, and make sure it's documented.

The school where my wife works buried one the first year it opened. Last year they celebrated the 25th anniversary, and part of the ceremony was to open the time capsule. After 3 hours digging they gave up looking for it.


As for suggestions, I think newspaper front pages could be interesting, especially with the presidential election content, because he will be studying it as "history" by then. Also, the section with new car ads, even the grocery ads, those may be way different.

The trouble with any electronic media is that there may not be any way to play it back by then. Many people no longer have a VCR, even DVDs and CD's may well go the way of the floppy by then too.


Electronic media would be a very bad idea for that kind of timeframe, most current technologies would go the way of the dodo bird by then, and you don't really want to go through the trouble the government does with those kind of archives (either constantly converting or mothballing the equipment needed to get the data back later along with the media)

Also put some serious thought into how (and where, and in what) you are going to store it. Here is a page that has some good tips on that http://www.timecapsule.com/Retail/Ideas_and_More.htm

I'd suggest something hermetically sealed and stored in perhaps a small firesafe (or better yet, in a bank safety deposit box)

[jeremy levine]

Get a year end ( maybe last years) from Popular Science or Mechanics and/or Scientific American . They often have all the "outlook" for the future articles