Westinghouse Time Capsule

Westinghouse's exhibit on time consisted of three open-sided circular pavilions. In the center, suspended by stainless steel wires over a reflecting pool, was a Time Capsule that was to be buried in tar and concrete on the next to last day of the Fair. Plans were for it to remain buried for 5000 years as a message to the future. Ten feet south of the site was the location of the original burial site of Westinghouse's first Time Capsule.

Westinghouse exhibit.


The first circular pavilion contained a full-sized model of the original Time Capsule that was buried at the close of the 1939 World's Fair. A window along one side revealed what had been packed inside. They included a slide rule, a woman's hat, synthetic rubber, 10 million words on microfilm taken from books, magazines and newspapers. There were also messages to the future from Albert Einstein, Robert Millikan and Thomas Mann.

Westinghouse's two time capsules.


The second pavilion showed photographs of some of the awesome things that had happened since the first capsule had been buried; wonder drugs, jet aircraft, atomic explosions, commercial television and the first man in space. A distinguished committee choose what would be recorded in the new Time Capsule.

In the third pavilion was a 5000 year calendar that showed events of the past in detail.

Westinghouse scientists preparing the 1965 Time Capsule.


Contents of the 1965 Time Capsule

  • bikini
  • Polaroid camera
  • plastic wrap
  • electric toothbrush
  • tranquilizers
  • ball-point pen
  • molecular block
  • 50 star American flag
  • superconducting wire
  • box of detergent
  • transistor radio
  • fuel cells
  • electronic watch
  • antibiotics
  • contact lens
  • reels of microfilm
  • credit cards
  • ruby laser rod
  • ceramic magnet
  • filter cigarettes
  • Beatles record
  • irradiated seeds
  • freeze-dried foods
  • rechargeable flashlight
  • synthetic fibers
  • heat shield from Aurora 7
  • Revised Standard Version of the Bible
  • film history of the USS Nautilus
  • fiber-reinforced material
  • film identity badge
  • material from Echo II satellite
  • computer memory unit
  • pocket radiation monitor
  • graphite from first nuclear reactor
  • Vanguard satellite radio transmitter
  • container for carbon-14
  • tektite
  • pure zirconium
  • desalted Pacific Ocean water
  • birth-control pills
  • pyroceramic baking dish
  • plastic heart valve
  • Official Guide to New York World's Fair
  • photographs of important events





Copyright © Jeffrey Stanton 1997
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