‘A look at how things were:’ Take a trip to the ‘70s with this KS city’s time capsule
A Christmas card. A 1979 Sears catalog. A chunk of charcoal. A quarter dated 1976. While these four items seem random, they all have one thing in common: they were buried for more than 20 years in Haysville.
A time capsule buried in the ‘70s and opened 25 years ago is set to be displayed in the Wichita suburb’s community library this summer.
Haysville, south of Wichita, buried a collection of time capsules in the late ‘70s to be opened in 25-year increments. Now, as the city is celebrating 75 years since incorporation, the time capsule opened in 2001 will be displayed at the library beginning in late May.
“The occasion behind all of this is that Haysville is going to be celebrating its 75th anniversary of its incorporation (and) we’re busy . . . making available to the public a bunch of historical Haysville memorabilia and related items,” Ken Bell, Haysville’s library director, told The Wichita Eagle.
The time capsules were created by the Haysville Bicentennial Committee formed in 1976 as part of the United States’ 200th birthday and Haysville’s 25th. Now, 50 years later, the contents of one capsule will be displayed at the library and another is set to be opened on July 3.
Bell’s favorite item to be displayed is a Sears catalogue.
“It’s really interesting to see all the items that are for sale,” Bell said. “Their prices, which given current affairs are of interest . . . it’s just an entertaining look at how things were in the last half of the 1970s.”
Additionally, the city is working to put together another time capsule to bury, Bell said.
“We’ll have both the old contents and the contents of the new time capsule on display . . . on the third of July,” Bell said.
Bell said when the new time capsule will be buried and where has not been decided yet.
What’s in the time capsule?
Here’s a list of all the items that will be displayed on the time capsule, from Haysville library’s website. Pictures of all the items can be found online.
- Pioneer Days 1977
- A Christmas card
- A Campus Colts patch
- A 1979 Girl Scout calendar
- Haysville pioneer barbeque beef ticket
- Kansas certificate of immunization
- Campus Colt special issue (Campus High newspaper) from 1979
- Napkin from the open house of Haysville’s city building
- Pioneer Days horseshoe tournament 1976 flyer
- Official bicentennial city letter of recognition
- Haysville bicentennial flag and credential presentation letter
- 1873 Haysville abstract of title
- Original Haysville platt
- Picture of 1978-79 Haysville Pioneer Day committee
- Salute to America program 1976
- 1978-79 parents guide to Haysville public schools
- A number of newspaper articles
- Five snaps for clothing
- Three paper clips
- Four buttons
- A stick pin
- Good News for Modern Man copy
- 1976 “A Dream is a Wish” program
- 1979 Sears catalog
- Haysville brochure
- Pioneer Days worship bulletin
- Photos of the bicentennial celebration
- A chunk of charcoal
- One warm fuzzy (a pom pom toy with googly eyes)
- A tin of Bayer aspirin
- Shoe strings
- A piece of chalk
- A 1976 quarter
- A Haysville cassette tape
- Valley Center chapter of Sweet Adelines signup
Several items are missing from the capsule, Bell said. Those items are a letter and report of the Haysville holdup of 1921, the book The Heritage of Haysville and a Cub Scout Webelos pin, the website says.
