Each one of these 2 page letters has a long list of their vision of our day, 53 years later. Mr. Kelly, for example, predicted that mail and cargo would be transported to remote areas of Utah via radio controlled missiles and rockets. Mr. Peterson accurately predicted that newspapers would be sent right to the subscribers home by means of electronic transmission. And President Olpin predicted that television receivers in the form of wall panels would be in all classrooms and in virtually every room of individual homes with educational programs available at all hours of the day with the flip of a switch.
There were predictions of electric automobiles and moving sidewalks and climate controlled clothing along with some fear of what the future might be like in the atomic age.
You can enjoy a few of these letters by clicking on the author’s names below.
Anton F. Peterson – President of the Salt Lake Tribune
Albert Ray Olpin – President of the University of Utah
Elias J. Strong – Utah Automobile Dealers Association
Arthur F. Kelly – Western Airlines
W.T. Nightingale – Mountain Fuel Supply Company
Stanford P. Darger – Retail Merchants’ Bureau
Sherman P. Lloyd – UT Retail Grocers
Marion C. Nelson – Gillham Advertising
M.L. Dye – First Federal Savings and Loan
Harold D. Glazier – Home Builders Associciation
Gus P. Backman – Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce
1950’s Time Capsule Discovered in Crandall Building
In addition to the predictions, the time capsule also included a savings account with $50 in it, to be given to the first baby born in Utah in the year 2000. We tracked that baby down and met 12-year-old Brinlee Millenia Shepard of South Jordan. Washington Federal Savings presented Brinlee with a $1000.00 savings account on February 29, 2012 at the Crandall Building.
From left to right:
Washington Federal Savings presenting Brinlee with a $1000.00 savings account
Brinlee and her family with Robert Crandall at the Crandall Building
Brinlee with 1959 savings account passbook from First Federal Savings and Loan and the new Washington Federal Savings account
