Buried Treasures : Orange County Has at Least 30 Time Capsules, in Which Pieces From the Past Are Preserved for Future Generations

They can be as unpretentious as a mayonnaise jar, placed in a shallow grave among the agapanthus, with a cargo of tangled yo-yos or last year’s Barbie doll.

Or they an be as elaborate as Atlanta’s Crypt of Civilization, a swimming pool-sized vault whose contents of 1940s treasures won’t be opened until May 28, 8113.

Time capsules are underfoot everywhere--perhaps as many as 1,000 in California alone. Offering tangible evidence of present-day life to future generations, the capsules are fun to plan and humbling to ponder, as they lie unchanged for decades just a few feet beneath the hustle and transience of modern life.

Time capsules are the publicist’s pal, adding a bit of intrigue to an otherwise deadly-dull ribbon-cutting ceremony. They give common cause to disparate civic associations, which gather to contribute prized photographs, mementos and the inevitable membership rosters for inclusion in the capsules. And schoolchildren benefit from an outdoors history lesson with hands-on appeal.

Orange County has at least 30 major time capsules, plus others at schools and private clubs. Next month, two major time capsules will be buried: the new city of Lake Forest will plant one on Heritage Hill and Huntington Beach will commemorate its new pier with a new capsule.

With the millennium just a few years off, interest in time capsules will soon be skyrocketing, experts say. To meet the demand, the handful of companies that now specialize in making the containers will be augmented by hundreds of sheet-metal fabricators, engineers and others.

But with the multiplication of capsules will come an increase in the problems that have plagued literally thousands of time capsules in the past, says Paul Hudson of the International Time Capsule Society in Atlanta.

“The biggest problem is simply that time capsules get lost,” he says. “They’re almost destined to be lost, right after they’re sealed. Sometimes they’re relocated and then promptly lost again.”

Indeed, research for this article yielded locations for a few Orange County time capsules that might otherwise have been forgotten. Hudson estimates that of the world’s 10,000 time capsules (9,000 of which are in the United States), 90% are lost forever.

The problem is that no mechanism exists for keeping the capsules’ existence high in the minds of the community; city clerks have far more pressing responsibilities. Often, even though an expensive plaque is placed over the capsule, the plaque fails to mention the capsule buried beneath, Hudson said.

Creating a registry of all time capsules is therefore a primary goal of the ITCS, which has offices at Oglethorpe University, the site of the Crypt of Civilization. This massive vault, sealed May 28, 1940, was the project of Thornwell Jacobs, the first president of the university. He arrived at the crypt’s opening date of 8113 by computing the time from 4241 B.C., considered the first recorded Egyptian calendar date, to the present and then extending the same time into the future.

If time capsules manage to outlive benign neglect, they must survive two other scourges: leaky containers and improper preservation of the contents.

After decades in a box, moisture can turn a treasured first-edition book into a bloated, unreadable cake. In the old Huntington Beach Pier capsule, which was opened last May, a newspaper suffered this fate, and was also damaged by rust.

“Once the tin box was breached by water, the cellulose molecules in the paper began to oxidize,” said Dennis McGuire, Orange County archivist. “The fibers lose their resiliency and the paper cakes together in a big mass.”

Insects or fungus also can quickly destroy garments, and rubber items soon decompose, releasing sulfur. Many plastics, inks and paints release acetic acid that, with no means of dispersing, accelerates the degradation process.

Flushing oxygen from the container and replacing it with an inert gas such as dry nitrogen or argon is an effective remedy against much deterioration, provided the container’s seal is air- and watertight, says Marjorie Cleveland, head of Technical Information Services at the Smithsonian Institution. But only about a third of all time capsules are thus prepared, she added.

Cities and groups that plan their capsule to be buried for 75 to 100 years often receive advice and materials from specialized manufacturers, such as Time Capsules Inc. in Nampa, Idaho, Erie Landmark Co. in Chantilly, Va., and American Aluminum Co. in Mountainside, N.J.

Lake Forest’s time capsule, to be buried July 4, will have its contents prepared by Future Packaging in Covina, which also is building the capsule. Time capsule companies offer contents preparation, oxygen-flushing and capsule-sealing as part of their service.

Prices from these suppliers range from $250 for a one-foot-long, 6-inch-diameter aluminum cylinder to thousands of dollars for boxes with more than 400 square feet of storage space. Orange County’s 500-pound centennial time capsule, buried at the Old County Courthouse in August, 1989, cost $4,000 in labor, materials, fabrication and sealing, said McGuire.

But even if the contents survive their journey through time, chances are they will suffer an even worse fate: denunciation by their finders as bor-r-r-r-ing.

A capsule buried in 1939 at Fullerton’s East Commonwealth Post Office, for example, will yield nothing more interesting than rosters of city officials, Red Cross officers and the members of various service clubs such as Kiwanis, Ebell and the Izaak Walton League. Lake Forest’s new time capsule, on the other hand, will include a signed photo of Miss Lake Forest, 1991.

In assembling the contents of a time capsule, officials should strive to reflect the trends, lifestyles and values of the day, say Hudson and other time capsule researchers. A photo is better than a list, and a complex piece of equipment, such as a watch, is preferable to the catalogue that features the watch.

Archivists and time-capsule makers say that when choosing contents you should strive for a mix of materials, from the important to the trivial. Include items that otherwise would not survive intact into the future, such as small power tools, calculators and watches. Videotapes are popular items, but a cassette player should also be enclosed, since the technology will doubtless be obsolete in 50 years.

Typed documents should be on unfolded, acid-free paper or, better yet, on space-saving microfiche. Black-and-white photographs are preferable to color, which can fade, and color slides are preferable to color prints. A detailed list of the contents should be included, along with predictions of life at the time the capsule is scheduled to be opened.

Just as important as what should be included in the time capsule, however, is what should be avoided. Plastic, rubber and wooden items, especially oak, release acidic vapors that can speed up the degradation of other contents. Avoid plant materials, matchbooks and other items that contain sulfur, and remove batteries from electronic devices.

Experts recommend placing the capsule in a secure location, away from construction or vibrations from freeways and busy highways. The container should be made of copper, aluminum, stainless steel or polyethylene. Weld or seal the cylinder caps with epoxy; lead-tin solder will deteriorate, allowing water to get in the capsule. Capsule makers on a budget can make a box within a box, sealing both with an inch of paraffin wax.

Perhaps most important is to ensure that your capsule won’t be one of the thousands that have been forgotten. Mark the location with a plaque stating when the capsule is to be opened, and send a document to your local reference librarian outlining the capsule’s exact location, contents and opening date. If possible, hold a ceremony every 10 years or so to remind the community about the capsule and to revive interest.

Where to Find Time Capsules

Following is a partial list of the known major time capsules in Orange County:

ANAHEIM * Location: Mother Colony House, 414 N. West St. * Date placed: 1957, as part of centennial * To be opened: 2057, during city’s bicentennial

* Location: Disneyland, Main Street Emporium * Date placed: March, 1990, as part of refurbishing * To be opened: No date set

* Location: Pacific Bell building, Lincoln Avenue * Date placed: July, 1990 * To be opened: No date set

BREA

* Location: City Hall Park, 1 Civic Center, under flagpole * Date placed: 1987 * To be opened: 2012, on 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts’ founding

DANA POINT

* Location: Dana Point Harbor, Puerto Place northern parking lot * Date placed: Aug. 29, 1966 * To be opened: Aug. 29, 2016

FULLERTON

* Location: U.S. Post Office, 202 E. Commonwealth Ave. * Date placed: June 3, 1939, to commemorate opening of the W.P.A. building * To be opened: No date set

* Location: Cal State Fullerton, McCarthy Hall cornerstone * Date placed: Oct. 10, 1963, at building’s dedication * To be opened: No date set

HUNTINGTON BEACH

* Location: Pierside Pavilion * Date placed: September, 1989 * To be opened: 2089

IRVINE

* Location: City Hall * Date placed: Sept. 13, 1989 * To be opened: 2089

* Location: UC Irvine, Gateway Plaza * Date placed: May 19, 1968 * To be opened: 1993, University of California system’s 125th birthday

* Location: UC Irvine Student Center’s “Time Capsule Wall” * Date placed: Each year by graduating class * To be opened: 20 years after placing

LAGUNA BEACH

* Location: Police Department, 505 Forest Ave. * Date placed: July, 1991, to commemorate new building * To be opened: No date set

* Location: City Hall * Date placed: 1951, to commemorate new building * To be opened: No date set

LAGUNA HILLS

* Location: Clubhouse 1, Leisure World * Date placed: 1989 * To be opened: 2014, Leisure World’s 50th birthday

MISSION VIEJO * Location: Community and Senior Center, under flagpole, 24932 Oso Viejo * Date placed: 1989 * To be opened: 2050

NEWPORT BEACH

* Location: Newport Center, 550 Newport Center Drive * Date placed: July 21, 1967 * To be opened: No date set

* Location: Edwards Lido Theater, 3459 Via Lido * Date placed: February, 1990 * To be opened: 2039, the theater’s 100th birthday

ORANGE

* Location: Orange Plaza, Chapman Avenue and Glassell Street * Date placed: December, 1974 * To be opened: 2073

* Location: Northeast quadrant of Orange Plaza * Date placed: April 6, 1988 * To be opened: 2088, at city’s bicentennial

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO

* Location: El Camino Real Park * Date placed: November, 1976, to commemorate 200th anniversary of settlement * To be opened: No date set

* Location: Old Capistrano Union High School, Camino Capistrano, near front steps, under a deodar tree * Date placed: Unknown * To be opened: No date set

SANTA ANA

* Location: City Hall, east end, under flag mount * Date placed: Oct. 23, 1974 * To be opened: No date set

* Location: Old County Courthouse, Sycamore Street and Santa Ana Boulevard * Date placed: Aug. 2, 1989 * To be opened: Aug. 2, 2089, for county’s bicentennial

* Location: Old County Courthouse * Date placed: Dec. 13, 1988 * To be opened: No date set

* Location: Rancho Santiago College, in front of administration building * Date placed: April, 1992 * To be opened: 2010

TUSTIN

* Location: City Center, Main Street and Centennial Way * Date placed: May 3, 1975 * To be opened: 2075

WESTMINSTER

* Location: Westminster Memorial Park and Mortuary, 14801 Beach Blvd. * Date placed: Feb. 27, 1977 * To be opened: 2076, nation’s tricentennial

YORBA LINDA

* Location: Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace (two separate capsules) * Dates placed: 1960 and 1972 * To be opened: No dates set

TIME CAPSULES TO BE PLACED THIS YEAR

BREA

* Location: A downtown site, to commemorate redevelopment * To be placed: December, 1992 * To be opened: 2017

HUNTINGTON BEACH

* Location: Just north of pier * To be placed: Soon after pier reopening, July 17-19, 1992 * To be opened: 2092

LAKE FOREST

* Location: Heritage Hill, Serrano Road and Lake Forest Drive * To be placed: July 4, 1992 * To be opened: Dec. 20, 2041, city’s 50th birthday