http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Cke2wm6T8
This is a public domain film about the 1939 New York World’s Fair produced by Westinghouse. It is part documentary about the fair and part shameless promotion for Westinghouse. The entire film is worth viewing -- about the hopes for the future after the Depression. Technology was the big hope. There was a great worry about jobs especially for young people. You can view the entire production about the Fair Visit by the Middleton Family at this link.
The clip is about the time capsule that was put into the ground in 1938 not to be opened until 6939.
The last item to be placed on top of the capsule was a lady’s hat -- the reaction in the clip:
A lady’s hat will reveal a lot about us to future scientists
Yes they will think we are nuts!
How we have changed in Society in 70 years. If you are doing a time capsule in 2009 would a lady’s hat be featured so prominently? It does not seem likely. Technology has changed so rapidly since 1938 and so has fashion. 70 years is a drop in the bucket compared with the 5,000 year time period. Perhaps we need to leave a trail of several capsules so that future generations could follow our progress. In fact Westinghouse did bury yet another time capsule in 1965. It’s hard to keep pace isn’t it. (Let’s hope that in future both men’s and women’s hats will be at the top of the list to be put into time capsules!)
You can read about the time capsules here.
Quick Facts
The hat in the time capsule was the 1938 Autumn style designed by Lilly Dache.
You can see a representation of the display case here.
Westinghouse was the first to invent the term “Time capsule” for the burial of stuff for future generations to find. (What’s the future? Perhaps we will have virtual time capsules -- computer generated?)
The capsule is made of Cupalloy -- 99.4% copper, 0.5% chromium, 0.1% silver. Great care was taken in sealing the inner contents and the choice of items. It was flushed with nitrogen gas to prevent oxidation -- could be a problem with the microfilm in the capsule I would think?
You can find the current location of the capsules from both World’s Fairs marked by an unpretentious granite marker at Flushing Meadows Park in New York City. It has been the target of graffiti and looks very untended in the photo in this article.
Climate Change may affect whether the capsules will be easily found in 5000 years. They are neglected now already. What happens if they are underwater -- a scary scenario indeed?
