Goodyear Time Capsule Installed
31 August 1998
Goodyear Time Capsule Installed AKRON, Ohio, Aug. 28 -- On the eve of its 100th anniversary,
Goodyear officials took steps today to touch the past and future through a
ceremony that installed a time capsule in a landmark structure at the
company's headquarters. The ceremony was part of the company's year-long
observation of its centennial.
Chairman Sam Gibara joined engineers and technicians from the company's
research department who built the capsule to roll the stainless steel box into
the position it will occupy for the next century in the corporate clock tower.
The four-story tower has stood since 1915, erected in tribute to the
company's first 12 employees, "The Old Guard."
The inscription on a plate on the capsule identifies the researchers who
built it and requests that it not be opened before August 29, 2098, the
company's 200th anniversary.
Gibara, Goodyear's 11th CEO, spoke to associates gathered for the
ceremony, commenting on the core values that brought the company through its
first century, "protecting our good name by conducting business in accordance
with the highest legal and ethical standards; providing customers with
outstanding quality and value in company products and services; valuing
shareholders by ensuring profitable and sustainable growth and valuing our
fellow associates daily," he said.
The time capsule contains an assortment of items, both historical and
contemporary. Objects that belonged to Charles Goodyear are included as well
as the original paperwork registering the famed Winged Foot logo. Original
plans printed on linen for Goodyear's first tire lines, produced just after
the company was founded in 1898 are inside. Sections of contemporary tires
including the Aquatred and so-called "run-flat" tires and reinforcement
materials also are included to show Goodyear engineers in 100 years what was
in use in transportation.
Goodyear associates also placed photos of themselves inside the capsule
along with written descriptions of their careers and their thoughts about
working for the company. The contents will be protected by a blanket of inert
gas.
The time capsule will be secured but in plain view on the ground floor of
the clock tower, said P.F. "Doc" Pingree, manager, special projects. "That
way it won't get lost in 30 or 40 years," he said.
The clock tower was rededicated as the "Old Guard Tower." A current
Goodyear associate who is the great grandson of one of the Old Guard unveiled
the special commemorative plaque that had originally dedicated the tower. The
plaque had been misplaced after a major fire, but was recently relocated in a
remote section of the old plant.
