Vermont town opens 1976 time capsule with a joint and birth-control packaging

In 1976, as the United States celebrated its bicentennial, residents of Warren, Vermont, decided to leave a message for the future. They filled a time capsule with objects that reflected everyday life, local humour and the era’s changing culture, then buried it beneath the town. Among the contents were a joint, a garter belt and birth-control packaging, items that offered a candid glimpse of what people considered worth remembering at the time. Fifty years later, Warren opened the capsule, turning an ordinary town gathering into an unexpected lesson in social history. As reported by The Valley Reporter, the community is now preparing to bury a new capsule for 2076, giving future residents their own chance to discover how Warren lived, laughed and thought in 2026.A message from the bicentennial yearThe original capsule was created during a year of national celebration. In 1976, communities across the country marked the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with parades, concerts, historical displays and local projects. Warren joined that movement by creating a physical record of its own moment in time.Time capsules often combine official history with ordinary objects....