NYC Cracks Open 1914 Time Capsule 40 Years Late

Contents turn out to be pretty dull
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 9, 2014 3:48 AM CDT
NYC Cracks Open 1914 Time Capsule 40 Years Late
Items wrapped in paper and envelopes sit in a bronze chest time capsule that was opened during a ceremony at the New-York Historical Society yesterday.   (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

A time capsule sealed with great fanfare in 1914 was finally cracked open yesterday—just over 40 years after the Lower Wall Street Business Men's Association had intended for it to be opened. The bronze box was forgotten amid the New-York Historical Society's archives for decades, but it was rediscovered in the '90s and for a time was thought to be the world's oldest unopened time capsule, reports the New York Times. But the contents turned out to be pretty dull: The now-defunct business organization had filled it with things like financial reports and company yearbooks that they apparently believed would be of great interest to the New Yorkers of 1974.

While the 1914 capsule may have been a bit of a letdown, interns at the historical society have contributed items to a time capsule of their own, set to be opened in 2114, reports the Daily Beast. That capsule's contents will include an iPhone, a Kindle, a gay pride T-shirt, an Obama campaign button, subway maintenance signs, a ticket from a Lady Gaga concert, and even websites preserved on a flash drive. In Boston, meanwhile, a 113-year-old time capsule discovered in the head of a lion statue last month will be carefully removed today, the AP reports. A spokeswoman for the Bostonian Society says it may be opened today as well, although any documents inside will probably be too delicate to be removed immediately. (The "Steve Jobs Time Capsule" was also forgotten and only recently re-discovered.)

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