A glimpse of the past

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Published 6/24/2009 in Local News

By RACHAEL GRAY

The predictions were hopeful, the visions were optimistic. Garden City residents of the past looked positively toward the future, wrote down their thoughts, collected memorabilia and put it all in a time capsule.

"You have just opened up part of the past. We hope your future is as prosperous as the present is for us," current Garden City Mayor Nancy Harness wrote on the bottom of the lid of the capsule, May 6, 1984.

The capsule, unearthed in 2008, is now an exhibit at the Finney County Historical Museum, 403 S. Fourth St.

Its contents give clues to what life was like in 1958, the original burial year, and 1984, the last time it was unearthed and buried again.

Perfectly preserved old photographs found in the time capsule line the walls of the museum exhibit, "Digging through Time." Museum staff took modern-day photographs of the locations so comparisons to the past can be made.

"It's really neat to see how the buildings and town have changed," Chevelle Thomas, museum education coordinatior, said. "It's something that anyone can enjoy whether they've lived here their whole lives or just a few weeks."

Thomas said that museum visitors can find a strong comparison between 1958 and 2008.

In 1958, the country entered a large recession and had 5.2 million people unemployed and a 7 percent unemployment rate, according to the exhibit's introductory sign. In 2008, 10 million people were unemployed at a rate of 6.5 percent.

"But they stayed hopeful," she said. "The percentages of unemployment are somewhat comparable, but our worries and priorities are much different today," she said.

Twenty-five years later, in 1984, the average income was $21,600, gas was $1.10, and Ronald Regan was president. The AIDS virus was identified.

Thomas said that every era has its worries.

Kali Maxfield didn't have too many. She wrote a letter of predictions that she placed in the capsule in 1984. Maxfield predicted new foods, fashions, technology advances and populations in Garden City.

"Most of our household appliances will be run by a computer," she wrote.

She predicted that the population of Garden City would triple in size and that the city would be five times as big.

At the end of her predictions and letter she wrote, "Maybe Garden City will be a ghost town by then."

Rick Thomeczek wrote a letter from Burtis Motor Co. Inc. in 1984 to "Future Garden City Automobile Enthusiasts." He expressed excitement about the new models of Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth, Lincoln and Mercury cars. Thomeczek was sure these car models would be collector's items in 2008. He wrote they would be outdated by even more sophisticated vehicles in the 21st century.

Thomeczek enclosed brochures that had the prices of the 1984 models.

Like Maxfield, he looked forward with mostly optimism.

"The 21st century is something that we all are looking forward to and hope that peace and prosperity is with all of us," he wrote.

The exhibit is open now until the end of the year. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

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A glimpse of the past

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