Sometimes complete ignorance would be a relief.
I was hunting around for info on time capsules in public statues and a back synapse sparked to life for an instant and died. I half-remembered an intriguing story about a war memorial and a governor’s private papers.
There’s a gorgeous pacifist/World War I memorial in Kittery, Maine done by one of “my’ sculptors, Bashka Paeff. The piece was a political pawn between two succeeding administrations in that state, because of the way it presented the horrors of war. But Bashka was a savvy gal and got the state to let her complete the work (the first state sponsored World War I memorial in the US) and when it was finished there was a great hoopla and a time capsule was buried by Governor Baxter.
Comes the 21st century and the capsule is unearthed during restoration procedures. It’s opened and the papers included are juicy- the real dish. Personal stuff. Who knew? Only I can’t remember what they said nor where I found the info in the first place. I’ve spent hours on the web with no results. I could kill myself. It’s better to have never known this stuff in the first place.
Time capsules and public statues, it seems, go together like vintage peanut butter and jelly. From Dublin (where a 200 year old capsule was located under Nelson’s Pillar, but HASN’T BEEN OPENED!!!) to San Francisco (where a 100 year old box under the statue of Ben Franklin was pried open to reveal some Harper’s mags, temperance manuals, and an Almanac and replaced with Levis, a Ferlinghetti poem and a fine bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon), the theme is timelessness. As long as this statue shall stand, etc.
It’s fascinating to see what’s considered most important to the people who bury the things in the first place. The containers don’t always contain items directly related to the statue itself. But a statue of Emperor Nerva, the town’s founder, in Gloucester, England does guard a history of the founding of the town and info on the statue itself. In Warren, OH, a time capsule found under a doughboy statue contained a list of that town’s soldiers who died in the Great War. And the Eisenhower statue in the Statehouse rotunda in Pa contains one of Mamie’s handkerchiefs, letters, photos and newspapers of the times.
If I could choose anything to put in a public statue, what would it be? I’m not sure, but I could certainly do better than Fountain, CO’s suggestions for the New York Times capsule sealed at the millennium. Among their most important objects for future generations to ponder were an SUV brochure, Walmart barcodes and barbed wire.
(Photo from goseacoast.com website)
5:32:55 PM 
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