It’s hard to forget the day your elementary school class buried a time capsule—the excitement of knowing that someday future students and teachers, or maybe even you and your classmates at your 30-year reunion, would get a glimpse of what your life was like. Maybe you tucked in a fact sheet listing your favorite foods, video games, school subjects and closest friends, or a letter to your future self predicting flying cars. Or maybe you and your best friend stuffed a coffee can with friendship bracelets, the names of your crushes and a mixtape of your favorite songs.
These days, it may seem as though a time capsule wouldn’t be worth making when a quick online search can turn up old yearbook photos, newspaper archives and videos of just about anything you ever played with or listened to. But nothing compares to holding the real thing: the soft crease of a handwritten letter, the rough, snaggly hair of a vintage Barbie doll, the crackling of a well-worn single on a record player. Objects that were actually there at the time carry a look and feel no screen can match, and that’s exactly what a time capsule preserves.
So if you’re wondering how to make a time capsule as a grown-up, here’s the good news: It’s not only easy—it’s also even more meaningful the second time around, especially when you do it with your family. That’s because it’s a literal snapshot of who you are right now: the jokes everyone repeats at dinner, what the kids want to be when they grow up, what a gallon of milk costs, and the way Grandma signs her name. They’re exactly the kind of everyday details that slip away over the years and that future generations most want to know … that is, if they’re able to decode cursive!
And the timing couldn’t be better. The holidays bring multiple generations together under one roof, and everyone is already in a reflective, year-in-review mood. “The people holding the undocumented memory are physically present, and that’s the part you can’t recover later,” says Steven Lazaroff, founder of the genealogy research marketplace GeneoHub.
So how do you make one of these for yourself? To find out, I spoke with Lazaroff and genealogy expert Lisa Louise Cooke, author of The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox and host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast. Read on to learn how to make a time capsule your family will treasure (and actually open), plus simpler ways to capture your loved ones’ stories each year.
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When were time capsules invented?
People have been leaving messages for the future for centuries, but the oldest known time capsule in the United States dates back to 1795, when Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and Colonel William Scollay placed a box beneath the cornerstone of the Massachusetts State House. When it was opened at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2015, it held coins dating as far back as 1652, newspapers, a copper medal of George Washington and a silver plaque thought to be engraved by Revere. Pretty cool, right?
That said, the modern time capsule took shape in the 1930s. The man often called “the father of the modern time capsule” is Thornwell Jacobs, the former president of Oglethorpe University in Georgia. In 1935, while researching ancient civilizations, he was struck by how little accurate information had survived. So he set out to preserve a record of 20th-century life for the people of the future. The result was the Crypt of Civilization, a 20-foot-long room beneath the university’s Phoebe Hearst Hall. (Fun fact: The room was once a swimming pool.) Inside are more than 640,000 pages of microfilm, newsreels, recordings, a set of Lincoln Logs, a Donald Duck doll and even a machine designed to teach English to whoever finds it. It was welded shut on May 28, 1940, and isn’t scheduled to be opened until May 28, 8113.
Jacobs’s plan made headlines when he announced it in 1936, and the term time capsule was coined soon after, when Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company began preparing a capsule of its own for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Sealed on Sept. 23, 1938, and buried about 50 feet underground at the fairgrounds, the bullet-shaped cylinder holds more than 100 items, including seed samples, microfilm and a handwritten message from Albert Einstein. It’s slated to be opened in 6939.
Why should families bring back the time capsule?
“Time capsules are unique in that they are curated by the family itself and not a third party like a governmental agency,” says Cooke. “Each item has special meaning. It’s a way to speak to the future about what you valued in your present.”
Lazaroff sees the value from the other side: His business helps families piece together their history from records. “My job is reconstructing context that no longer exists,” he says. “I can find you a birth date. I can’t tell you what your great-grandmother’s kitchen smelled like.” A time capsule, he explains, is your one chance to put in that context on purpose.
What should you think about before you start?
“Decide the open date first,” says Lazaroff. “Everything else follows from it.” How long the capsule stays sealed shapes what you put inside, what kind of container you need and how much explaining your future selves will need.
For a long-term family capsule, 20 to 25 years is the sweet spot, according to Lazaroff. Instead of choosing a round number, tie the opening to a life event, like “when your youngest turns 30.” Events get remembered, he says—dates don’t. If you’re thinking even further out, keep in mind that past 50 years, you may not be around to explain what everything means, so the capsule has to make sense entirely on its own.
If you have young kids, consider doing both a short-term and a long-term capsule. A one-year capsule opened on a birthday or next Thanksgiving shows kids that the payoff is real. Children under about age 10 can’t really imagine 25 years from now, Lazaroff explains, so a long-term capsule on its own can feel like an abstraction to them.
How to make a time capsule
Knowing how to make a time capsule that survives the years comes down to a few key decisions. Here’s how to do it, step by step.
1. Choose a sturdy container
Your capsule’s biggest enemies are moisture, light, temperature swings, pests and acid, says Lazaroff. Look for containers and supplies labeled acid-free, lignin-free and Photographic Activity Test (PAT)–passed (meaning the material won’t react with photos). Inert plastics like polypropylene and polyethylene are ideal. Avoid PVC entirely, since it gives off gases that can ruin photographs within a couple of decades. And skip cardboard, which is acidic and attracts pests.
On a budget? Lazaroff says a military-surplus steel ammo can with a rubber gasket works well indoors. It’s sealed, pest-proof and light-proof, and it typically costs around $30.
Cooke likes a more decorative approach: a lovely box secured with a lock and displayed on a high shelf. “[It] not only serves as a reminder of the excitement of the opening day to come, but it can also be easily brought along in the case of a move,” she says. If you go this route, line it with acid-free folders or sleeves, and keep it out of direct sunlight.
2. Get the whole family involved
A holiday gathering is the perfect time to fill your capsule. Lazaroff suggests waiting until right after a big meal, “when nobody wants to move.” Then try a few of these ideas.
- Pass a notebook around the table with a single question in it. Let everyone answer in their own handwriting. “The handwriting matters as much as the answer,” says Lazaroff.
- Let the grandkids play interviewer. Cooke suggests having grandchildren hand out paper and pens and pull prearranged questions from a bowl. They ask a grandparent the question, the grandparent writes the answer, and the grandchild places it in the capsule.
- Record the oldest relative telling one story. Just put a phone on the table. “You’re not making a documentary—you’re capturing a voice,” Lazaroff says.
- Give the teenager the camera. They get to document the day.
- Write down everyone who was in the room. Include full names and the date. “In 50 years, that page will matter more than anything else in the box,” says Lazaroff.
When you write your questions, focus on personal experiences and feelings, not the news of the day, which is easy to look up later. Cooke recalls reading the autobiography of her husband’s great-great-grandmother. “I was captivated by her description of her daily chores (so different from today) and how she felt about them, much more than [her] discussing the facts of the end of the Civil War,” she says.
3. Decide what to include
The best time capsules mix the meaningful with the mundane. Here’s what our experts recommend.
- Labeled photographs printed on real photo paper. Name every person in every photo, using a soft pencil or photo-safe pen, never a ballpoint or Sharpie, which can bleed through. “Every genealogist alive has a box of unidentified faces,” says Lazaroff.
- Handwritten letters from each family member. The handwriting itself becomes a keepsake.
- Everyday items. These could be a school lunch menu, a transit pass or a grocery receipt (photocopied). “Historians treasure the mundane because big events are documented everywhere,” Lazaroff says. “Nobody saved what bread cost.”
- Kids’ creations. Think: fridge drawings, letters to Santa, report cards and homework assignments.
- A printed family tree. It should include both current family members and ancestors, so the connections are clear. Cooke suggests a free tool like MyHeritage’s Family Tree Builder. You can also add notes, like the oldest ancestor you met in person or which relative taught you something important.
- A list of what you don’t know. Lazaroff suggests writing down family mysteries, like: “We never learned her mother’s maiden name.” Open questions tell a future researcher exactly where to dig.
- Copies of key family records—never originals—laser-printed onto acid-free paper. Write where each record came from, including the archive (e.g., a county clerk’s office, a state’s vital records office, a church parish or a historical society), reference number and date. “A photocopy with no source is nearly useless,” says Lazaroff. “A copy with a reference number is a treasure map.”
- A one-page profile of each person. Include their name, dates (birth, death, marriages), where they’ve lived, what they do, one story they tell and one opinion they hold. If you record audio, include a printed transcript too.
- An index page listing every item and why it’s there. Objects without an explanation become trivia.
4. Know what to leave out
Certain items quietly destroy themselves … and sometimes everything around them. Skip or work around the following, says Lazaroff.
- USB drives, SD cards and DVDs. The media itself degrades, and the technology to read it may not exist in 20 years. “Digital media formats have changed countless times just in our own lifetime, making analog a much more attractive option,” says Cooke. If you want to include digital photos or videos, print the most important ones.
- Newspapers. They’re highly acidic, and the acid spreads to everything they touch. Photocopy articles onto acid-free paper instead.
- Thermal receipts (the shiny kind). They fade within a few years. Photocopy them.
- Inkjet prints. Again, these fade badly. Laser prints and true photo prints last much longer.
- Rubber bands, paper clips, staples, tape and lamination. Rubber rots, metal rusts and stains paper, and lamination traps acid against a document permanently.
- Anything organic or liquid. These items can attract pests or leak.
- Original documents you might need, like birth certificates or passports. “If you need that birth certificate for a passport next spring, you’ve locked it away,” Lazaroff says.
5. Prep before sealing
Before you seal anything, let all the contents sit indoors for a few days to make sure they’re completely dry, and add a few silica gel packets. Don’t make the container airtight unless everything inside is bone-dry, warns Lazaroff, or “you’ve built a mold incubator.”
Then label the outside in large letters: “FAMILY TIME CAPSULE. DO NOT DISCARD. OPEN [insert date],” along with a name and contact information.
6. Store it at home—and don’t bury it
Burying a time capsule may be the classic move, but both experts advise against it. Ground moisture, freeze-thaw cycles and tree roots can all damage the contents. And people move. Cooke’s former next-door neighbor learned this the hard way. Twenty years earlier, he had buried a capsule in his backyard containing his father’s World War II medals and some family gold. When he moved, he forgot it. He came back six months later, and the new owners graciously let him dig, but he never found the capsule.
Instead, keep your capsule in an interior closet on a main or upper floor, off the ground and out of the light, Lazaroff recommends. Avoid the attic (temperatures swing too much) and the basement (humidity and flood risk). “If you wouldn’t be comfortable sitting in that spot for a year, neither will your photographs,” he says.
If your family is set on burying it, Lazaroff suggests three layers of protection: the archival container inside, a sealed waterproof barrier around it, and a rigid outer vault rated for burial. Never put it directly into soil. Choose high ground with good drainage, away from anywhere that might be built on, paved or planted. Most important, mark the spot above ground with something permanent, like a plaque, an engraved paver or a stone. “The marker is the entire ballgame,” he says.
How to ensure you won’t forget your time capsule
The biggest threat to a time capsule is being forgotten. “Almost no capsule is lost to decay,” says Lazaroff. “They’re lost to being forgotten and thrown out.” An unlabeled box is easy to toss during a move or an estate cleanout. Here’s how to keep yours on everyone’s radar.
- Label it clearly. Make sure it’s emblazoned with the open date and a contact name, as described above.
- Tell at least three people across two generations. You want backup in people, not just in notes.
- Set a recurring calendar reminder for the open date. Also mention the capsule in your will.
- Photograph the capsule and where it’s stored, then email those photos to yourself and two relatives. Email archives tend to survive house moves better than paper.
- Take it with you when you move. Lazaroff suggests writing “TAKE ME” right on the box.
- Register it. The free International Time Capsule Registry, created with the International Time Capsule Society, is designed to help people track down capsules decades later.
- Keep it in sight. This is where Cooke’s on-display approach shines: A capsule on a shelf is much harder to forget than one buried in the backyard.
What should you do when it’s finally time to open it?
When the big day arrives, Cooke suggests transferring the items into a glass-sided display case so everyone can enjoy them. Have everyone at the opening sign a card and take a group photo, then add those to the display. Then you can reuse the capsule and start the next one!
What’s a low-key way to capture your family each year?
If a sealed box feels like too much, a simple annual tradition can capture your family’s story just as well, and you get to enjoy it along the way. Try one of these.
- Ask the same three questions every year. Pick a date, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, and ask everyone the same questions, then write down the answers. “After 10 years, it’s extraordinary, and it takes 20 minutes,” says Lazaroff.
- Host a label-the-photos night. Once a year, pull up that year’s photos and name everyone in them. “Unglamorous, and worth more to your descendants than any capsule,” Lazaroff says.
- Write a birthday letter to each child every year. Seal them, and hand over the whole stack when they turn 18.
- Print 10 photos a year. Physical prints are the only format Lazaroff would bet on still being viewable in 50 years.
- Make a year-in-review photo book. Cooke suggests print-on-demand services like Shutterfly or Lulu to turn the year’s photos into a hardcover book. Give copies as holiday gifts, or let each family member order their own.
- Set up a digital photo frame with an album for each year. Cooke suggests putting it on display during the holidays as a year in review. You can even include photos of handwritten notes.
- Record one story from your oldest relative every year, and transcribe it. “This is the one with a real deadline, and the one families always mean to get to,” says Lazaroff.
- Write wishes for your future self. Have everyone do this at Thanksgiving dinner, seal them in an envelope and read them aloud next year.
- Start a family tree. If the capsule sparks curiosity about your ancestors, building a family tree is a natural next step.
About the experts
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At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. For this piece on how to make a time capsule, Danielle Saliman tapped her experience as a longtime journalist who frequently writes about lifestyle, family, psychology and trends for Reader’s Digest. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- Lisa Louise Cooke, founder of Genealogy Gems and host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast; email interview, Oct. 23, 2026
- Steven Lazaroff , founder of GeneoHub; email interview, Oct. 23, 2026
- History: “America’s Oldest Known Time Capsule Was Made by Paul Revere and Samuel Adams”
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: “Massachusetts State House Time Capsule Opened at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston”
- 99% Invisible: “100 Objects #1: The Century Safe”
- Oglethorpe University: “Crypt of Civilization”
- Bureau International des Expositions: “Westinghouse Time Capsule: 80 years on, still 4920 years to go…”
- Oglethorpe University: “International Time Capsule Society to digitally preserve thousands of records”
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