Hilarious Contents of My '97 Time Capsule

So here are the obscure items that my 12 year old self thought would be of interest to the people of the future.  I never expected to see this time capsule ever again.  I thought that someone would find it decades, maybe even 100 years later and then learn what a child of the end of the 20th century was like.  Ha!  

My time capsule was made from an old Jiff peanut butter jar.

The introductory note to the future discoverer was folded like this and read:

 

I hid the time capsule in the basement/cellar of my old house, behind the stairs.  I knew that hiding space wasn't the greatest, but I didn't have time to dig a hole.  Surprisingly the capsule remained hidden for almost eight years.  Mary and David, the new owners of that house, went along with my instructions and wrote their name and the date on the "I have seen Sarah's Time Capsul" page.  Their kids reopened it just a few days ago and signed below their parents.  Mary was so awesome to give it back to me.

Ah, the old folded fortune teller.  I included one with just girls names and the other with just boys.  They were names of my classmates, of course. 

Scratch paper, a Hacky Sack, a flashcard of Spanish colors I used in 3rd grade, How to Draw a dragon instructions taken from the comics section of the newspaper, and homemade Stick Sticklys.

Some pins from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, a spring, a tiny pencil from Lowe's, a pipe-cleaner-chicken in an mini Easter egg, a pencil topper, a Creepy Crawler, a Push-A-Point colored pencil, an IBC root beer bottle cap, a bookmark, a bracelet that I made, a mini maze puzzle, an unused box of crayons from Hard Rock Cafe, and what I thought was a test tube, but now know is a shot glass. 

These incredibly significant photos.  Read full story here. 

A tiny notebook and the other random photos I included: a chameleon, my cat Max, and a group photo taken on an Art Club field trip to Chicago in '97. 

 Inside the tiny notebook, I had a list of friends, names of my family members, list of my favorite numbers, an inventory list of the contents of the capsule, and what is shown here.  To the side is a list of "Popular Music Groups".  

 On the last page of the notebook, I wrote "My cat 'Punkin' died three years ago and is living on this property."  I think this is a clue as to where I buried the first time capsule I made.  I used a tin Folger's Cofee can and buried it within two feet of my cat.

No time capsule would be complete without an homage to The Beatles.  I wrote up that little summary myself.  This is an example of my first computer skills.  Lol.

Well, I'm  very glad that I had the foresight to do this as a kid.  Although the capsule didn't end up in a museum, it has sure made my day. 

Real Life, Freaky-deaky Twilight Zone Moment

Greetings!  I've recently experienced perhaps the most bizarre coincidence/synchronicity/serendipitous event of my life.  It was too good not to share so here it goes:

First, a pertinent update for those who might not know.  Since March of this year, I've been working at Conner Prairie, a living history museum.  My job at Conner Prairie is to play the role of a citizen of Prairie Town, a historically based town set in 1836.  My favorite role to play is the potter.  The ceramic skills I acquired from college helped me land this ridiculously fun job.  Here's me working in costume in the pottery shop.

And now a flash back:
When I was 12 years old, my family and I moved out of the house that I'd grown up in.  Before leaving, I made a time capsule.  I filled an empty peanut butter jar full of things I thought might be of interest in 100+ years when the capsule might be found.  This included an introductory note, five photos, and a smattering of other items.  

Well, the family who moved into that house eventually found the time capsule and returned it to me recently on July 25th, 2012.  Upon opening the capsule, I found the note.  It was dated July 29th, 1997 - almost 15 years ago to the DAY.  

Digging further inside the jar, I found the photos.  Three were of no great significance: a photo of my cat, a chameleon in a tree, and a group photo taken so far away that my classmates faces are indistinguishable.  And then I saw the fourth photo:

In this photo, my friends and I are on a field trip.....at Conner Prairie.  We're sitting on the porch of the Golden Eagle Inn.  This had to be in the fall of 1994 or spring of 1995.  We were in fourth grade.

Que the Twilight Zone theme now.  Here's the 5th photo.

It's me making pottery.  I still get chills when I see these photos.  My Dad is a photographer.  Out of the THOUSANDS of photos I could have put inside this time capsule, I put in these.  I was so excited that the next day at work, I showed many of my co-workers.  One of them, Shelia, took my photo on the same spot - the porch on the Golden Eagle Inn - to complete the circle.

I hope you've enjoyed this real-life Twilight Zone episode as much as I have.  I'll be posting about the hilarious contents of the time capsule here.  Thanks for reading!  

-Sarah