Published: Sunday, September 17, 2006
Panel preserves time in a capsule
The time capsules include technology and toys. Some 1956 items will go back in.
SALEM — The time capsules were packed and ready to go before noon Friday with plenty of space for any last-minute items.
The capsules will be buried at 10 a.m. Saturday in the lawn of the Salem Public Library, 821 E. State St. A brief ceremony will end the city's bicentennial and related events.
Fifty years from now, the capsules will be dug up for inspection. One of the capsules that will go back into the ground was buried at the library 50 years ago.
Judi Allio, chairwoman of the bicentennial time capsule committee, said air will be sucked out of the capsules and will be replaced with argon gas. Allio said that was done with the 1956 capsule, and its contents were in perfect condition.
The additional container for 2056 reflects the interest in the project. There are about 500 items or packages, some with multiple parts, going into the containers, such as a bag filled with business cards from area residents.
A few items from 1956 are going back into the capsules. One is a package of Salem cigarettes that will go with a new package of Salem cigarettes that has a health warning and a universal bar code.
There are non-Salem items, such as a Canfield Fair baseball cap, items from the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers and a Lordstown cap.
And some items are for fun, including a plush Snoopy doll and a Quaker Sam bobble-head doll.
What drew interest
David Stratton, director of the Salem Historical Society and a member of the time capsule committee, said the item from 1956 that drew the most attention may have been sheet music from Alan Freed, who grew up in Salem and coined the phrase "rock 'n' roll."
But a letter from James Hafer, the Salem librarian 50 years ago, also prompted discussion. In describing the library of the future, he said people would call the library on their "radiophone." The librarian would feed the material into a transmitter, and the patron — and other people in other locations — could view it at will or at the same time. The description is somewhat like the Internet.
It isn't clear if new predictions in the 2056 capsules describe the future. Some predictions, and some personal letters, are sealed or confidential.
One woman wrote in a letter to her grandchild that in the future, "Maybe they'll be able to implant computers into humans and cure diseases or other ailments."
That same woman noted that computers in 1970s took up the whole room and were operated with paper tapes punched full of holes.
The 1956 capsule included a reel-to-reel tape of music, but nothing to play it on. The new capsules include a DVD-CD and MP3 player for various items, including a CD with the name and address of everyone in the 44460 ZIP code.
Other tech items include a cell phone, an Apple iPod, a Palm Pilot, a disposable camera and a credit/debit card.
Looking ahead
David Shivers, the society's president and time capsule committee member, said that in the future, things will be more automated and people swamped with fax, phone and e-mail may have only one number.
But he also sees a continuation of Salem's friendly small-town feel.
"People know people for blocks around," Shivers said. "It's a good place."
He lives in a house that his family bought in 1941 and sees homes being renovated and neighborhoods coming back.
Fifty years from now, he said, Salem residents will look at the materials in the capsules, and bury items for people that will be alive 100 years from now.
Shivers said, "What's neat is you'll see the pattern repeated."
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