A crowd of people gathered outside the courthouse in Oklahoma, in June 1957, to witness the burial of an unusual time capsule : a brand-new gold-and-white Plymouth Belvedere car. The city leaders explained :"In exactly 50 years time ,this car will be unearthed to show the world who we were and how we lived in Tulsa in 1957.
The automobile contained a flag, a city phone directory, a case of beer , an unpaid parking ticket , and the contents of a woman's purse:bobby pins , a ladies' powder compact a plastic rain cap.several combs , a tube of lipstick a pack of gum , a wad of &2.753 in bills and a bottle of tranquilizers. Five gallons of gas were also included,in case the combustion engine became obsolete by 2007 and no fuel was available
The event attracted all sorts of people to Denver Avenue that day in 1957. Some though that the idea of burying a new car was dumb ; others though it was brilliant. Raffle tickets(for the car) were sold. The person to guess the approximate population of Tulsa in 2007 would win. "I'll never be alive," said Teddy Baxter aged 6. " sure you will," answered his brother Henry, who was 19. " I might not be , but you'll be around for sure." Gene McDaniel, who was 20 at the time , thought:" In 2007 , I'll be 70- I'll never make it
The Plymouth was wrapped in protective materials and lowered into a concrete vault,which was supposed to withstand even a nuclear attack . It lay for 50 years. On June 13,2007 the vault was opened, and the car was raised as thousands of people watched. The organizer of the event said: " Ladies and gentlemen , I present you Miss Belvedere." Unfortunately the tomb was unable to protect the car from moisture, and the vintage vehicle was covered in rust. The contents of a "typical" woman's handbag in the glove compartment looked like a lump of rotted leather. The microfilm that recorded the names of the contestants wasn't found. There was a bit of disappointment that the items were not in better condition. However , some items inside the time capsule were in good shape - they included a U.S. flag and some historical documents, such as aerial maps of the city and postcards.
The good new is that when the belvedere was unearthed , Teddy and Gene were still alive. They never though they would be here to see it happen . Someone present said ,"It's our King Tut's tomb . It's like a fairy tale.