Unearthing Ms Belvedere!

On June 15, 1957, a new gold and white 1957 Plymouth Belvedere Sport Coupe was buried in a time capsule in downtown Tulsa, OK. The time capsule was part of Golden Jubilee Week: Tulsa's celebration of Oklahoma's semi-centennial. The car is buried under the sidewalk in front of the Tulsa County Courthouse, approximately 100 feet north of the intersection of Sixth Street and Denver Avenue.

The contents of a women's purse, including bobby pins, a bottle of tranquilizers, cigarettes, and an unpaid parking ticket, were added to the glove compartment of the car shortly before burial.

Other items included in the time capsule were:

10 gallons of gasoline and 5 quarts of oil
A Douglas Aircraft Co. aerial map of airport facilities and legend, a statement from Tulsa council of Churches and prayer for greatest good, a recently completed history of churches in Tulsa, and a directory of the present churches
Statement from board of education - historical data related to 50 years of education in Tulsa and copies of "School Life" all-high school publication issued by Tulsa high schools each month
Statements from Mayor and Chamber of Commerce officials
Flags which have been flown over the national capitol, state capitol, and in the county and city
Other aerial photos of the area
Statement from Tulsa Trades and Labor Council
Statements from all former mayors of the city - their record of service and civic accomplishments in the city, state and nationally.
As part of the "Tulsarama!" festivities, citizens of Tulsa were asked to guess what the population of Tulsa would be in the year 2007. The guesses were then recorded on microfilm and sealed in a steel container and hopefully buried with the car. When the car and artifacts are excavated, the person whose guess is closest to Tulsa's 2007 population is to be awarded the Belvedere.

They really aren't sure what they will find when they open the time capsule. They are hoping that it was sealed well.

The car will be unearthed at noon as part of the Oklahoma Centennial festivities on Friday, June 15, 2007. There will be an unveiling ceremony at 6:30pm at the Convention Center. Boyd Coddington, of American Hotrod, and his crew will attempt to start the car.

There will also be an Open Car Show on June 16th-17th and a by-invitation-only car show on June 15th-17th where Ms. Belvedere will be on display.

Car enthusiasts from all over the world are coming to this event as there are only two time capsuled cars known in the world. The second one was time capsuled also in Tulsa in 1997.

There will also be a 1950s Sock Hop on Saturday night at the convention center with Fabian, Bobby Vee and the Chiffons.

For more information go to www.buriedcar.com