Time wounds all reels

Not long ago we received an email from Dale Brooks with questions and suggestions about the time capsule in Berkeley Springs State Park.
Brooks was a popular local radio personality when the capsule was buried with much ceremony in the fall of 1963, as part of West Virginia’s centennial celebration. It was to be opened in 2063 so Morgan Countians of the future would know what life was like a century earlier.

But we are just 47 years into the 100 years, and Brooks wonders if the time capsule already poses problems. We understand his concern.

The time capsule marker was removed from the park some years ago because it was in such poor shape, so it’s easy to put it out of mind. Six or seven years ago, the late Bob Hawvermale showed Bill Clark and your editor where the capsule was actually buried, but we won’t be around in 53 years. We hope there’s an official record of the exact location and that some official calendar has a notation to dig the thing up in 2063.

A concern of everyone involved was — and is — whether the documents, photos and items in the capsule would survive undamaged. After all, the park is a wet place and Warm Springs Run has probably flooded 40 times since 1963.

Dale Brooks’ concerns specifically relate to the tapes and perhaps records from WCST that were part of the contents. He recalls station owner Tom Butscher putting in a reel-to-reel tape of a radio show, which may be quite a hit when the capsule is eventually opened. That is, if the tape is intact and if playback equipment is available. Some 45 r.p.m. records and albums may be there, too, but no record player.

Brooks noted that very few people have reel-to-reel tape recorders these days and they may be quite rare in 2063. Of course, tape never really was a good medium to store music and voices. Brooks said that when he recently played back an old tape, the splices had come undone. And we all know how badly tapes can age.

Thirty years ago, the Library of Congress tried to ease the strain on its old recordings by taping the records. Now, they’re doing the same thing digitally because the tapes were less reliable than the old records and no one will be using tapes in the future.

Brooks’ solution is to pack up a reel-to-reel tape recorder and a record player, along with written explanations and schematics, so the people of 2063 won’t have such a tough time dealing with the technology of 1963. But who will keep the package and arrange for the opening ceremony in 2063? And, who knows what they will find?

It’s all just another example of how rapidly things change in our lifetimes.