Ford is now in possession of the message in a bottle and the artifact will need to be carefully preserved in a temperature-controlled environment.
“The main thing you have to do is slow down the deterioration of the paper,” said Ted Ryan, Heritage and Brand Manager. “With the bottle, that’s easy because it’s glass, but we’ll also have to make sure the rest of the label doesn’t deteriorate. It’s just like the pieces of a classic car.”
For now, it’s not clear what this 108-year-old message was about but it’s a remarkable find over a century later. Ford has already spent a lot of time testing self-driving cars in Detroit and the revamped Michigan Central Station will only increase its activities in the area when it is completed by the end of next year.