In the preceding decade, the 90s, popular TV shows like Friends, Frasier, and Seinfeld dominated the airwaves.
There were also numerous brands, foods, and games from that era which might not be familiar to today’s younger generation or those not yet born at the time.
X user @FrDylanSchrader has now shared a glimpse into the early 2000s by posting a series of tweets about opening a Crayola time capsule he had kept sealed for 25 years.
He explained, “Amid the millennium craze of late 1999, @Crayola_Capital offered a simple time capsule. My brother and I both made one on the verge of the new year. I originally had the idea of burying it somewhere, but for whatever reason that never happened.”
Dylan went on to describe how he carried the capsule with him into adulthood, moving it from place to place, and how he contemplated discarding or opening it, only to find unexpected items inside.
Inside the capsule, there were AIDS brochures, information on drugs and alcohol, as well as literature on religion and abstinence.
As he noted, this collection is very much a reflection of its era, the year 2000.
While sharing the items one by one, Dylan said, “The first thing I pulled out was this AIDS flier. The sticker on it reminds me of something I had forgotten: the time capsule kit came with stickers prompting you to include different kinds of things. Here are some pamphlets from the late ’90s. Abstinence pamphlet. HIV, alcohol, and drugs. The personal information book! I guess I didn’t fill the whole thing out.”
The capsule also contained family photos, a Pokémon ad, a Windows key from a keyboard, and a Living Faith devotional booklet.
Dylan uncovered additional items such as a coin, an envelope, and an impression of a miraculous medal.
Among these treasures were also a button from his mother’s school board campaign, allergy-related materials, some pogs, and a receipt for an Icee bought at Walmart.
The price of the Icee, notably less than a dollar, highlighted the difference in cost over the years.
Dylan also included a letter to the ‘future’, expressing hopes for a society where freedom of religion, speech, and peace prevailed, alongside a recorded message and music on a tape.
While many enjoyed the nostalgic glimpse into pre-2000 America, others criticized the capsule’s contents as simplistic and overly focused on religion.
Responding to criticism about the religious focus, Dylan stated: “Some of the negative comments are cracking me up. No offense taken. I was a kid. I didn’t have any money, and I grew up in a small town. This is apparently what I had to put in the capsule. It’s all real.
“Family was actually not very religious back then. Much more so now. I had just started to get interested in Christianity over the course of the previous year or so. The devotional stuff is a reflection of that. Yes, I am a priest today.”
Questions arose about the inclusion of the AIDS pamphlet, to which Dylan replied he wasn’t sure but suggested they might have been readily available materials that fit in the capsule.
“AIDS was also something that we heard about all the time,” he further explained.