What to Put in a 2015 Time Capsule: 10 Items
This paper proposes ten items for inclusion in a three-cubic-foot time capsule intended to convey what life in the United States was like in 2015 to people living in 2215. The items range from technology (an iPad and flash drives) and transportation artifacts (a highway map and model car) to print journalism (copies of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal), a written account with photographs of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and cans of premium dog and cat food representing the nation's pet-ownership culture. For each item, the paper provides a rationale for its inclusion and considers how future generations might interpret it.
- Introduction: The Challenge of Capturing 2015: Why selecting time capsule items is difficult
- Proposed Items and Their Rationale: Overview of the ten-item table framework
- Technology: iPad and Flash Drives: iPad as symbol of 2015 digital life
- Transportation: Interstate Highway Map and Model Car: Cars and highways as American infrastructure icons
- Print Journalism: The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal: Newspapers as records of 2015 current events
- Historical Record: September 11, 2001: Preserving memory of a defining national tragedy
- Pet Culture: Dog Food and Cat Food: Pet ownership as a major American cultural trend
- Conclusion: Summary of items and their collective cultural value
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper organizes its argument around a clear, practical framework — a table of items, rationale, and possible future interpretations — making a potentially open-ended topic easy to follow and evaluate.
- Each item is justified on two levels: why it is representative of 2015 and how it might plausibly be misread by people in 2215, adding analytical depth beyond simple description.
- The selection of items spans technology, infrastructure, media, history, and everyday culture, demonstrating awareness of how broadly "a way of life" must be defined to be accurately captured.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses a structured comparison format (item → rationale → interpretation) that functions as a rudimentary cost-benefit analysis, weighing the communicative value of each object against the risk of misinterpretation across two centuries. This technique shows students how to justify curatorial decisions with explicit reasoning rather than assertion.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief introduction situating the assignment within human history and acknowledging its practical constraints. The body is organized around ten items grouped into thematic clusters — technology, transportation, journalism, historical memory, and pet culture — each handled with consistent parallel structure. A short conclusion is implied by the framing of the introduction. The table format, though unusual for an essay, serves as a concise organizational scaffold throughout.
Introduction: The Challenge of Capturing 2015
One of the fundamental aspects of the human condition is the desire to leave future generations with some indication of how people lived, worked, and recreated during their lifetimes. Many individuals, groups, and communities have used time capsules of varying sizes for this purpose (Hart & Rollins, 2011). Given the dynamism of the early 21st century, however, accurately reflecting what life was like in 2015 is a challenging enterprise, particularly when faced with a three-cubic-foot space limitation — especially considering that some time capsules are as large as living rooms (Smith, 2008). The selection of representative items therefore requires careful consideration and a variety of perspectives in order to accurately reflect the most salient aspects of American culture and daily life.
Proposed Items and Their Rationale
The following sections propose ten items that can be placed in a time capsule today to help people living in the United States in the year 2215 better understand what life was like in this country in 2015. Each item is accompanied by a rationale supporting its inclusion and a discussion of how it might be interpreted by people two centuries from now.
Technology: iPad and Flash Drives
Items 1–3: An iPad (with printed instructions placed inside) and two flash drives loaded with multimedia content.
The iPad and comparable devices had become a ubiquitous part of the American landscape by 2015 and are highly reflective of the state of technology and how it was used by ordinary people. These items also require relatively little physical space. Because devices for viewing digital information will likely be entirely obsolete by 2215, citizens of that era may interpret an iPad as a book reader, a television, or a game device, rather than understanding that it could perform all of these functions and much more. The printed instructions are therefore included to help bridge that interpretive gap.
Transportation: Interstate Highway Map and Model Car
Items 4 & 5: A map of the United States highlighting the interstate highway system, and a 12-inch model car.
The interstate highway system in the United States was widely regarded as one of the engineering wonders of the modern world in the 20th century, and its legacy is the continuing proliferation of fossil-fueled vehicles upon which American consumers and businesses heavily relied in 2015. Both items occupy little space in the capsule. Although promises of flying cars have been made by scientists for over a century, they may well be a reality by 2215, and any surviving ground vehicles will likely be viewed as priceless antiques — much as antique automobiles are prized today. These two items will help underscore how dominant the personal automobile was in 2015.
Conclusion
The ten items proposed here collectively span the technological, infrastructural, journalistic, historical, and everyday cultural dimensions of American life in 2015. Together, they represent a carefully curated cross-section of a society defined by digital connectivity, automobile dependence, mass-market print media, the long shadow of the September 11 attacks, and an enduring affection for companion animals. Each item is compact enough to fit within a three-cubic-foot space while carrying substantial communicative weight — though, as the interpretive possibilities outlined above suggest, no selection of objects can ever fully guarantee that the intended meaning will survive two centuries intact.
References
Hart, R. & Rollins, J. (2011). Therapeutic activities for children and teens coping with health issues. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Smith, B. (2008, September 26). Keeping time capsules preserve today's culture for tomorrow's historians. St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO), 1C.
Thompson, C. N. & Brommer, D. M. (2012, Fall). Pet ownership and the spatial and temporal dimensions of evacuation decisions. Southeastern Geographer, 52(3), 253–255.
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