Photo Trivia Time: Pick a Capsule… Any Capsule

It’s time for a little Associated Press wire service photo trivia! Here is the original image, with the caption information removed.

AP Wire Service Photo, 1969

Take a moment and ponder. What could this be? A new miracle drug perhaps? Space Age food capsules? Hmmmm.

OK, give up? After the jump is the original AP photo, with the caption information.

AP Wire Photo, 1969, Selective Service Lottery Draft

Here’s the caption information, in case it’s too hard to read on the image:

Washington, D.C., December 2, 1969 — RANDOM CHOICE — Capsules containing days of the year are picked, one by one, during lottery last night at Selective Service headquarters in Washington. The first draft lottery in 27 years is to set the order for next year’s draft.

There you have it. Inside those little capsules were the fates of young American men who were eligible for the draft. And for many, that meant a ticket to the Vietnam War.