Creating a time capsule that captures a period of time with items that would go into a container and buried in a location only to be discovered many years later is an age-old tradition. While I was researching the origin of a time capsule, I learned the concept is ancient, yet the name “time capsule” originated back in the 1930s.

Time capsules have a purpose and over the years there have been many reasons for its use. From celebratory to the remembrance of an ill-fated event, these historic caches have helped historians understand many things – both important and non-important.

When I was in middle school, I remember the principal buried a time capsule in the courtyard of our school. This was around 1982-83, so the items that may have gone in there (as I clearly don’t remember) might have been some school items or popular books at the time.  The disc camera was new and so was one of the first persona computers: Timex Sinclair. If I think more about what went in there, I may get depressed!

We all want 2020 to come to an end with hopefully better times in the new year. If you were able to create a time capsule to memorialize this year, what types of items would you put in there?

Some obvious items would be …

• Toilet paper
• Hand sanitizer
• Face masks / gloves
• Bleach or any cleaning supply
• Empty bottles of liquor consumed during the pandemic. (Well, this could create an environmental problem for some people!)

Sure, those are the easy ones, but here are some serious ones that we shouldn’t forget.

• A musical instrument – signifying the lack of music or entertainment that occurred during the pandemic.
• A menu. So many restaurants, small businesses, went under due to quarantine.
• Photos of family or loved ones lost during the pandemic.

Many of you would add to this capsule the actual Covid-19 virus, but given that a time capsules purpose is to one day be discovered…I’d prefer to bury this disease and never uncover it again.