general Time Capsules

[Dreambiscuit 10,874]

If you were to make a Time Capsule, what would you put into it? How long would you wait to open it? And would you create it for yourself or for someone else to open? And please explain your reasons.

For that matter, has anyone here ever made a time capsule or opened one? Let's talk about it!

 

 

[Snoopy Fan 5,567]

Interesting topic, Dreambiscuit. If I were to make a time capsule, I’d put in one piece of merchandise from some of my favorite franchises:

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Peanuts
• Phineas and Ferb
• Rugrats
• Winnie the Pooh
• The Fairly OddParents
• Jimmy Neutron
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Lilo and Stitch

And if I ever had grandchildren, I’d make it for them so I could show them all the fun shows and movies I grew up with.

[SharpWit 2,814]

I've thought about doing this for my kids one day, because I'm unsure how to go about it for myself.

When I was 7 or 8, I made one with a friend. I don't remember what all was in it, but we used a small wooden box that wasn't even remotely sealed. Dug until we saw clay, and called it good. I wanted to check on it a month later I think? The whole thing had fallen apart, and maybe half of whatever was in it was salvageable. A letter to our future selves had either disintegrated or glued bits of itself to the wood and all the writing washed away.

My first highschool has a whole bunch of time capsules, but they stopped putting them in after filling the row. I'm not aware of any plans to open them. I was disappointed that it wasn't set up so that we could say, make a new one and open one every 50 years. Give us a chance to connect with our past and set something up for those who come after and all that.

Part of the issue with what I'd like to put in one, is I want to include things that are already gone that I'm nostalgic for. A dumb example is those cheese and cracker handisnacks, but specifically the ones with the little red plastic spreader that were both wasteful and a choking hazard. But man do I miss them.

As such, I would like to make one for my future kids when they're about 5-10 years old. Reading material wont be as much of a thing as it was, but I'll do my best to include a mix of stories from that year, photos, media, snacks, and a few other things particular to the time. Then we can crack it open some point down the line, maybe when they have kids of their own.

[Sparklefan1234 176,975]

On 2025-06-11 at 1:20 AM, Dreambiscuit said:

If you were to make a Time Capsule, what would you put into it?

Things related to My Little Pony, Disney and probably wrestling.

On 2025-06-11 at 1:20 AM, Dreambiscuit said:

How long would you wait to open it?

A few months, probably...

On 2025-06-11 at 1:20 AM, Dreambiscuit said:

And would you create it for yourself or for someone else to open?

 
 

I'd forget where I put something so I'd need to check everywhere.

Edited Sunday at 03:17 AM by Sparklefan1234

[Dreambiscuit 10,874]

I’ve never made a time capsule, even though the idea intrigues me greatly. An assortment of items specific to the time is always a good place to start. I’d avoid anything perishable (that could get yucky), but if I wanted to include food items I’d just put the cleaned-up packages or labels. I might put a note with predictions of what I think the world will be like when the capsule is opened, although it would be wise to avoid anything potentially depressing. I’d put photos of myself, family and friends, along with their ages and interests just to see how much things change or stay the same. And I might even put a recording or video of some sort (along with something to play it on, since it would be obsolete media by the time it’s opened and played). Some toys and maybe a daily diary of sorts would be nice, and I might add a few suggestions for a future generation: learn a language, learn an instrument, don’t waste opportunities, keep perspective with the past and use common sense. I’d love to include some plant seeds as a way to bring the past into the future and commemorate the people who filled the capsule, but I don’t think seeds preserve beyond a few years, tops. I’d seal the capsule for at least 50 years because anything less just doesn’t seem like very long anymore. The last twenty years sped by, and I’d want this thing to feel like a part of a more distant time.

On another note, my uncle filled two balloons and put them each in a metal box back in 1983. They still exist and the balloons are somehow still partially inflated. He said if I ever wanted to breathe a little air from 1983 I’d be set. I’d love to try it but the air in there is probably toxic by now! 

[Street Light 259]

a hard drive that has all of the photos and documents from my phone, pc, and laptops as well as screenshots of every YouTube comment (which you can see all of in the history tab), pretty much everything I've ever posted anywhere ever, and screenshots of everything I've ever googled :3

i will never open this. id like it to last at least like... 30 years. Idk how long a hard drive would survive. probably a while?

i will do this because i have spent lots of time online and i think it'd be neat for someone to stumble across and be curious about how a random person spent their time online and how it changed as they got older uwu

[Pentium100 2,282]

4 hours ago, Street Light said:

Idk how long a hard drive would survive. probably a while?

hard drives are not good for archival storage like this. A lot of things can go wrong with them - bearings can seize etc. 

Better to use magnetic tape or magneto-optical disks (kind-of old technology so the capacity is not that great) for this. Choose a popular format so that it would be possible to find a drive to read it. Minidiscs are magneto-optical so I would probably use them. Or LTO tape if I wanted terabytes. The 3.5" or 5.25" MO drives are kind-of hard to find. 

Flash memory can also be used, weirdly enough to make it retain the data for longer, you need to write it when the memory chip is hot and then store it in a cold place. Use lower density technology lik SLC or MLC instead of TLC. However, some SSDs (especially enterprise IIRC) have very short data retention, they are not designed for being unplugged for long periods of time.

 

I am not planning on doing this, but if I was, I would probably just use analog reel-to-reel tape and maybe film. Stored sealed they can last a long time and even if they get damaged, usually it is still possible to recover some of the information. I may be tempted to include a LTO-1 or SDLT tape (lower density, hopefully bettter reliability compared to something like LTO-6) or a minidisc.

[Street Light 259]

9 hours ago, Pentium100 said:

hard drives are not good for archival storage like this. A lot of things can go wrong with them - bearings can seize etc. 

Better to use magnetic tape or magneto-optical disks (kind-of old technology so the capacity is not that great) for this. Choose a popular format so that it would be possible to find a drive to read it. Minidiscs are magneto-optical so I would probably use them. Or LTO tape if I wanted terabytes. The 3.5" or 5.25" MO drives are kind-of hard to find. 

Flash memory can also be used, weirdly enough to make it retain the data for longer, you need to write it when the memory chip is hot and then store it in a cold place. Use lower density technology lik SLC or MLC instead of TLC. However, some SSDs (especially enterprise IIRC) have very short data retention, they are not designed for being unplugged for long periods of time.

 

I am not planning on doing this, but if I was, I would probably just use analog reel-to-reel tape and maybe film. Stored sealed they can last a long time and even if they get damaged, usually it is still possible to recover some of the information. I may be tempted to include a LTO-1 or SDLT tape (lower density, hopefully bettter reliability compared to something like LTO-6) or a minidisc.

well if i had a subject matter expert helping me out then i would do that ^~^ but I'd totally do the hard drive thing if i was, inadvisably, left to my own devices, as i have no idea what any of that is!!!!