Fascinating 1950s time capsule is opened nearly 80 years after it was buried... and its pristine contents are fascinating

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 14:49 EDT, 29 September 2026 | Updated: 15:26 EDT, 29 September 2026 A fascinating time capsule has been opened nearly 80 years after it was sealed and buried at a school in California.Students and teachers at the International School of San Francisco dug up the capsule from 1950 after it was found during recent renovations.The bulk of the capsule's contents were historic newspapers from the time period.It also contained incredible black-and-white historic photos of the school's buildings.'Seeing all of these old buildings and seeing some of the similarities to how it is now was really interesting,' student Max Ginsburg told KRON4.The capsule was buried on July 20, 1950 during a ceremonial ribbon-cutting for a new office building.Head of School Eric Thuau said he had found as much joy in the time capsule as the students did.'It's like a treasure. I was like a kid that found a treasure, and so we are all very excited about this finding,' Thuau said. Students and teachers at the International School of San Francisco dug up a fascinating time capsule from 1950 after it was found during recent renovations The bulk of the capsule's contents were historic newspapers from the time period. It also contained incredible black-and-white historic photos of the school's building Student Max Ginsburg and his classmates said they were surprised to see the comparisons to how their school was similar but also different in the past. The capsule was buried on July 20, 1950 during a ceremonial ribbon-cutting for a new office buildingNewspapers found inside detailed the ongoing Korean War as well as reported whiskey shortages and price gouging on nylon stockings. Advertisement spaces on the paper were priced as low as one cent.Previously, the school was used as a Caltrans Bay Area District 4 Headquarters for transportation operations and planning. It was stationed on Oak Street for over 40 years before moving to a new building in the 1990s. 'The people who placed those items in the capsule could not have known when it would be opened, who would open it or what the Bay area would look like on that day,' Caltrans District Four Director Doanh Nguyen said.'Yet they were thinking about the future and sharing what they valued, what they experienced, and what they hoped the future might become,' he said.According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the capsule was first discovered by Daniel Klingebiel, the school's Director of Operations. They reported that Klingebiel had seen drawings for the capsule on a set of blueprints Caltrans provided when the school was purchased in 1995. A 1950s-time capsule has been opened nearly 80 years after it was sealed and buried at the International School of San Francisco in California Eric Thuau, Head of School, described finding the newspaper clippings and old black and white photos in pristine condition was similar to finding treasure The International School of San Francisco hosted another ribbon cutting ceremony early September to mark the transformation of their new Oak Campus. 'This moment marks an exciting new chapter for our community. We're thrilled to unveil a brand-new High School alongside beautifully renovated Lower and Middle School spaces, all thoughtfully designed with our students and educators in mind,' they wrote in a Facebook statement. Nguyen prompted the students to continue thinking about the contents of the time capsule in comparison to today's time period. 'If you had lived in 1950 what would you have placed inside to tell future generations about your time? Standing here today, what would you hope to find in that box so you could better understand San Francisco, the Bay area and California three quarters of a century ago,' Nguyen told the outlet. He encouraged the students to fill their own time capsules with 'curiosity and learning.' 'The time capsule did a fantastic job keeping these documents in very good shape. It will be shared broadly in our school community and also in the broader community,' Nguyen said.