Editorial Policy

This page describes how articles on Time Capsule Daily are researched, produced, checked and corrected. It exists so that readers can judge our work rather than trust it.

Sourcing

Each factual item in an article carries its own source, and that source is a specific document rather than a general reference. In practice the great majority of what we cite sits in the Internet Archive: scanned mail-order catalogues, manufacturer brochures and manuals, price lists, and period advertising and film. We say this plainly because the alternative — listing categories of source we rarely reach — would tell you less about our work than the truth does. Where a subject is better served by another holding, we use it.

We do not use social media posts, forum recollections, wikis or other user-generated content as the source for a factual claim. User-uploaded mirrors inside an archive are treated the same way and are excluded.

What verification means here, and what it does not

Before publication each cited source is checked automatically to confirm three things: that the document exists, that it is reachable, and that it is about the object the item concerns. Sources that fail any of these are replaced or the item is removed. Items are also checked for a year, price, model designation or measurement that a reader can test.

We want to be exact about the limit of this. We verify that a cited document is the right document. We do not claim to have read every page of every scanned catalogue, and we do not attribute specific figures to the interior of a document we have not read. Where an article states a price or a date, that statement rests on the general record, and the citation tells you where the object itself is documented so that you can go further than we did.

Period covered

We write about roughly 1950 to 2005. Items are checked for references outside that range, because an article that drifts into last year’s products is no longer the thing you came to read.

Use of AI tools

We use AI-assisted drafting tools as part of our production process. They do not have the final word: no article is published without its sources being verified, and we do not publish claims we could not check. We disclose this because a reader is entitled to know how what they are reading was made.

What we do not publish

We do not publish medical, financial, legal or safety advice. We do not publish about living private individuals. We do not publish content whose accuracy depends on a source we cannot show you.

Corrections

When an error is confirmed, we correct the article and add a dated correction note at the foot of the page describing what was wrong and what it now says. We do not silently edit factual claims. Report errors to our contact form.

Images and licensing

Images come from public archives and freely licensed collections. Where a licence requires attribution, the creator, source and licence appear beneath the image. Where a licence prohibits commercial or derivative use, we do not use the image.

Advertising and independence

The site is funded by display advertising. Advertisers have no involvement in the selection or content of articles, and no article is written to serve an advertiser. Advertising units are labelled and separated from editorial content.