An iPhone 5, a photo of the late Mayor Tom Menino, and a letter from Boston.com will be among the items placed in a time capsule in the golden lion statue when it is returned to the top of the Old State House.

The lion and unicorn statues were taken down from the Old State House for restorations in September, when historians discovered a 1901 time capsule hidden inside the lion’s crown. The copper time capsule was carefully opened last month and revealed a number of photographs of political leaders, letters, newspaper articles, and one mystery red book.

The refurbished statues will be “super shiny,’’ said Heather Leet, director of development for the Bostonian Society. They are tentatively scheduled to go back on top of the Old State House on Nov. 23, depending on the weather.


“Our goal is to get them up before the weather turns,’’ Leet said.

Before then, though, the Bostonian Society has been taking suggestions for what to put in a new, replacement time capsule, which will also be made of copper and will be the same dimensions as the old one. The new box will be placed in the lion statue’s scroll—not the crown, as it was in 1901—to make it easier to access.

Some items that will go in the time capsule for future generations have already been finalized, Leet said, including:

An iPhone 5

A member of the Bostonian Society offered an iPhone 5 for the time capsule, Leet said. They tried to get an iPhone 6 from Apple, but were unsuccessful in doing so.

Putting an iPhone in the time capsule was one of the first ideas lobbed, but there were concerns the device would explode under the sustained heat of being out in the elements for so long. Leet said this iPhone will have its battery taken out by Apple retailers “for safety’s sake.’’

Red book

The new time capsule’s red book, on left, next to the book found at the top of the old time capsule. —Bostonian Society

When the time capsule was opened, onlookers were genuinely surprised by the presence of a red book on top because it was not mentioned in a 1901 list that detailed the box’s contents. The book was later revealed to be “Foreign Relations of the United States, 1896.’’ It was likely included by forebearers as a space-filler.


This time, another red book will be placed in the new time capsule: “Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Vol. III.’’ That’s the most recently published book in the Foreign Relations series.

“It looks exactly like the original red book,’’ Leet said.

Letters from journalists:

The recently opened time capsule included a letter from George Litchfield, the editor of the Boston Traveler, that attempted to guess what life would be like in the future. “We shall speak around the world,’’ he wrote in a smart guess. “We shall see the face of him with whom we talk.’’

Other predictions weren’t as accurate. “We shall fly; not merely navigate the air with cumbersome machinery sustained by bags of gas, but we shall step from our houses, and at our convenience or pleasure ‘mount up on wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint.’’’ Nice thought, but no, Bostonians are still riding the same old MBTA.

In an allusion to that letter, The Bostonian Society asked three journalists—Brian Burns of Boston.com, Kiera Blessing of The Boston Globe, and Steve Annear of Boston Magazine—to submit letters of posterity to future generations. Feel free to bother them with ideas.

Other letters:

Mayor Marty Walsh and Bostonian Society president Brian LeMay will also write letters of posterity.

Photos of political leaders:

A picture of Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron and Governor Deval Patrick (not necessarily this one) will be included in the new time capsule. —David L Ryan/Boston Globe

Photos of Walsh and of late mayor Tom Menino will be included. In addition, a photo of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and British Prime Minister David Cameron together was provided by Susie Kitchens, the British Consul General.


Some other finalized items include:

Boston Marathon medal

Tickets from the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park

Baseball signed by the Red Sox

An issue of the Boston Globe