Fans of a certain vintage will remember way back in the mists of time, when Lucasfilm buried a time capsule on the grounds of Skywalker Ranch, and the official Lucasfilm website looks back at that momentous moment in their latest History in Objects article.
Lucite star paperweights inscribed with “Star Wars” and “May the Force be with You” in blue velvet bags – these were gifts to the cast and crew of Star Wars: A New Hope
A bottle of wine with a custom label reading “Skywalker Design Division” that appears to depict caricature drawings of Lucasfilm employees. The back of the label indicated that this was a 1968 Cabernet Sauvignon, alluding to the year that Lucas and early collaborator Francis Ford Coppola happened upon the territory that would eventually become Skywalker Ranch
Softcover editions of Ballantine Books’ The Art of Star Wars and The Art of The Empire Strikes Back
A 17-minute super-8 movie reel of scenes from The Empire Strikes Back by licensee Ken Films
At least six Kenner Star Wars action figures, including Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, Han Solo, and the lone entry from The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda
A miniature wind-up walking R2-D2 toy produced by Japanese licensee Takara
A miniature AT-AT walker snow globe or crystal ball, which may have been a licensing sample or gift item that was not widely produced
A computer graphics t-shirt featuring an image of a staircase with a slash through it, meaning “no jagged edges” (the bane of early computer graphics artists)
Raiders of the Lost Ark producer Frank Marshall’s crew cap
Two Voyager I buttons commemorating the spacecraft’s flyby of Saturn on November 12, 1980 (Voyager II would repeat this feat in the month following the picnic in August, 1981)
A postcard depicting Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood displaying the Star Wars title on the marquees
The original Lucasfilm contract with Universal for 1973’s American Graffiti and “an unnamed science fiction movie”
Cassette soundtracks for American Graffiti and Star Wars
Six microfiche strips featuring the full roster of Official Star Wars Fan Club members in 1981
A small American flag commemorating the Fourth of July ceremony
A small sealed bottle with the label “California Crude Oil – Made [in] Marin 1981” (this one’s a mystery!)
Photos of what appear to be Ranch construction employees and an early building on the Ranch
“…and much, much more” according to an account published in the fan club newsletter at the time
