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There Were Giants In Those Days . . .

August 7, 2012

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I mentioned silver dollars in my last post. It occurred to me that younger readers may not be familiar with the old U.S. silver dollar coins, which were big (an inch-and-a-half in diameter) and heavy.

They were the biggest coins the U.S. Treasury ever made and were quite impressive. You didn’t see them in circulation all that often, but kids got them for Christmas and I heard that in Las Vegas, the slot machines were made to handle silver dollars.

They were solid silver, or close to it, for many years and had an impressive ring if you dropped one on a table or floor.

My dad had a friend, an old boat captain, who would come by if I was sick and give me either a silver dollar or a Mexican one-peso coin, which was the same size and was also legal U.S. tender for at least a while, as I recall; I know they were accepted at some stores I shopped at in Texas, valued the same as a U.S. silver dollar.

It’s About TIme!

August 7, 2012

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Back in the early 1960s, there was a lot of interest in time capsules. Usually these were a big deal and there were World’s Fair time capsules, scientific-society time capsules, and, of course, home-made ones. I buried one, made of a big metal coffee can, in our backyard in 1961. That was the year JFK was inaugurated, and I thought it was the beginning of a brave new world.

Being nine years old at the time, I chose what was important to me for my gift to the people of the future. I remember stuffing a Superman comic book into the can, some toys, and a couple of silver dollars I had saved. It was fun imaging how impressed people of the year 2061 would be when they found it!

Of course, my brother and his troops could have dug it up a week after I buried it for all I knew. But it was something to have fun doing.

Fast-forward to today. Remember the post a couple of weeks ago where I identified the home we lived in 50 years ago? Well, I just sent them a letter telling them about the time capsule. Photos taken in 1961 show them where the thing was buried, and I told them if they found anything at all, they were welcome to it.

Whether or not they’ll find anything, or do more than simply toss the letter in the trash, I can’t say. If nothing else, they may get a kick out of seeing what their home looked like over 50 years ago. But if anything interesting turns up, I’ll share it here!!!

UPDATE:

As of the end of November, three and a half months after I sent the letter to the folks at our old address, the people there haven’t responded.