Capsule reveals Kaua‘i that was by Rachel Gehrlein – THE GARDEN ISLAND In 1958, when a gallon of gas cost a quarter and a loaf of bread was 20 cents, a small copper box containing photos, newspapers, books and pamphlets
Capsule reveals Kaua‘i that was
by Rachel Gehrlein – THE GARDEN ISLAND
In 1958, when a gallon of gas cost a quarter and a loaf of bread was 20 cents, a small copper box containing photos, newspapers, books and pamphlets was welded shut and placed in the cornerstone of the unfinished Lihu‘e United Church Sunday School Building.
Some 50 years later with gas at $3.50 a gallon and a loaf of bread at $3.99, the box was retrieved from the cornerstone and opened as part of the building’s 50th anniversary and rededication ceremony.
Four generations of the Wilcox family were present that day in 1958, not only to help bury the box, but to dedicate the building to Elsie Hart Wilcox.
David Goodale of Kilauea was a 9-year-old Sunday School student at the time of the dedication. As part of four generations of the Wilcox family there that day, Goodale and other family members placed a trowel full of cement on the unfinished cornerstone after the box was placed inside.
“All I remember is that I thought it was pretty cool to be playing with cement,” Goodale said. “I don’t even remember what was put in the box.”
Though many years have passed, Goodale said it felt wonderful to witness the reopening of the cornerstone.
“It doesn’t feel like 50 years have passed,” Goodale said. “To be able to come back and be here for this is pretty great.”
Once the box was pulled from the cornerstone, the Rev. Wesley Elmore rededicated the building as “a place of learning and enrichment.”
After the top of the box was opened and peeled back like a can of sardines, church member Debbie Levine donned a pair of white cotton gloves and began pulling items from the tightly packed box.
As Levine pulled out copies of slightly yellowed newspapers, a Kaua‘i tour guide, a Lihu‘e Plantation report, a Kaua‘i Telephone Company directory and blueprints for the Sunday School building, among other items, she remarked on how everything was in “perfect condition.”
One item not mentioned on the official list of material placed in the box was a magazine of 1950s pinup girls.
“Our church members must have had a sense of humor,” Levine said, as she held up the magazine.
According to Elmore, the box from 1958 will be put back on Easter Sunday and will be joined with a box from 2008 to be opened 50 years from now.
“A guestbook was passed around for people to write down messages,” Elmore said. “(The box) will also contain similar things as in the 1958 capsule.”
A photo of the congregation taken Sunday will also be put in the 2008 time capsule.
“It’s exciting to have people from 50 years ago come back for this,” Elmore said. “It’s neat to enjoy this with the entire congregation.”
• Rachel Gehrlein, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or rgehrlein@kauaipubco.com.
