CROSS SECTION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 282, 29 November 1938, Page 7

CROSS SECTION.

OF MODERN LIFE.

AUSTRALIANS' CHOICE.

INQUIRY BT NEWSPAPER

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

SYDNEY, November 24

On the site of the New York World Fair there has been buried a time capsule that will not be opened till 6938 A.D. It contains a cross-eection of twentieth century life—a newspaper, money, music, poker chips, clothing and so on.

This gave the "Daily Telegraph" here an idea. It invited, its readers to compile a list of 12 articles which they thought would give future generations the best idea of life in 1938. Within a week the "Telegraph" had received hundreds of replies. From all these the "Telegraph" itself compiled a crosssection of these readers' cross-sections— a selection of the 12 articles most frequently chosen by readers.

These 12 were: Newspaper (with form guide), bathing trunks, false teeth, a gas mask, lipstick, aspirin, cigarettes, tin food, zip fasteners, cocktails, spectacles, animated cartoons.

The common choice of a newspaper was a natural selection, for there is probably no other single article to compare with a newspaper as a mirror of the life and events of the day. A little thought soon discovers obvious reasons behind some of the other selections. False teeth, for instance, may suggest to future generations that in spite of the scientific knowledge suggested by several of the articles on the list we of 1938 have not yet discovered how to do without dentists. Aspirin, spectacles and fake teeth were chosen ecores of times, apparently in bitter comment on the cost, in physical fitness, of moderr life.

The "Telegraph," however, suggested that the commonness of spectacles in Australia might also be due perhaps to living in a land of brilliant sunshine, and also to the amount of time which the average person spends at the cinema. Cynical Suggestions. The choice of the zip fastener is somewhat unexpected. If it was intended to suggest the mechanical bent, or desire for haste of our age. there are several other articles which would have been much better symbols.

Surprisingly few people listed the electric shaver, which has only made its appearance on the market here from America in the last few months. One reader cynically suggested a sound recording of a Sydney night club, and another sent the following list of concentrated cynicism: Marriage certificate, dole tickets, pawn tickets, tote tickets, all the tickets in a single lottery which do not win a prize, copy of Marie Stopes' "Married Love," aspirin, cosmetics, income tax forms, film of "All Quiet on the Western Front," bathing trunks, gold passes (politicians' free railway passes).

Another cynical reader suggested "a copy of the various international agreements entered into in various years just to show what hypocrites we are. It might be necessary to indicate clearly that these documents are not examples of our fiction."

The following list compresses much comment into a few short lines, from the latchkey symbolising our need for protection against crime, to the top hat. symbol of the cramping rule of custom; latchkey, tin opener, shorts, frock coat, bathing trunks, top hat, daily newspaper, order for food relief, champagne, tube of toothpaste, dental plate, lipstick. The most popular selections of films, books and music were as follows: Films, "Things to Come," "Cavalcade," "Test Pilot," "March of Time," "All Quiet on the Western Front," animated cartoons Books: Hitler's "Mein Kampf,' t*un ther's "Inside Europe - *•"•?£ "Looking Backward," WeU« Things to C°»«-%*g£; ierentd*; rvuic.