PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – The discovery of a time capsule at a Main Street business proved not just children get toys for Christmas.
The MPG Truck and Tractor center recently underwent some renovations to increase the size of their showroom. While tearing down an interior wall, a time capsule was discovered containing a mint-condition toy tractor and several documents dating back several decades.
“While knocking out a wall between the two showrooms to make one big one, we found some original contracts with International Harvester and a toy tractor concealed in the wall,” said Lynwood Winslow, manager of the facility.
Winslow and his crew were surprised and pleased with the find.
“It was kind of neat. It’s a Farmall toy tractor in its original box,” he continued.
Contractors ‘unearthed’ the copper box containing the items as they worked at the site shortly before Christmas.
“They ran into a brick with a date on it. We found that interesting. Then we accidentally broke it and saw a sealed copper box inside,” said Winslow.
When the box was opened, Winslow and his staff were amazed to find a brand new, still-in-the-box Farmall toy tractor.
“It appears to be kind of a generic model but is in fantastic shape, made of plastic, with rubber tires – made in the USA,” said Winslow.
So far, the company has been able to contact at least one person who remembers the time capsule being placed in the wall.
“We were able to contact one person who remembered the event who was in the area at the time – a former employee from Easton. The original dealership was an International Harvester corporate store, built from the ground up,” said Winslow.
Documents in the box – an assortment of dealership-type documents of the time, such as information on how to sell and display tractors, current programs for pricing and competitive product data – dated back to the building’s construction in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
“We see the same kind of information today but in a much more professional form,” said Winslow. “One of the documents even talked about International Harvester refrigerators. Included with that was something about new insurance at the time that was meant to cover the price of food, if the fridge quit.”
Plans are already under way to put the items in a display case at the company headquarters on Parsons Street.
“The novelty of it is what seems to have caught on. It’s been suggested we do something similar at the new facility being built on Parsons Street,” said Winslow. “It just goes to show that when people do such (bury time capsules), it has value to those who find it.”
Renovations were expected to be completed around the end of the year.
“Since we’re not selling cars any more, we didn’t need the two showrooms. So we decided to turn the two into one and organize a little bit,” said Winslow.
Store hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. MPG Truck and Tractor provides sales and service for a variety of brands used by the farming industry and private individual alike.
