Big Book of Aberdeen Tank Photo's

[Pip]

I picked up these books with a bunch of stuff from a Vietnam Vets estate. Anyone have any idea what these were for or value?

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Also they are starting to get wavy in these books. Should I take them out?

[rd12]

Are they original prints? To me the value seems to be in the research potential - myself I would really enjoy looking through these. Looks like some interesting stuff.

[Pip]

They are all original from what I can tell. They are all photographs

[Pip]

Should i take them out of these green folders?

[dskjl]

I would leave them alone.

 

I don't know how to place a value on them but they are very cool and i would love to have them.

 

Nice pickup.

[doyler]

I agree with D.

 

Leave them as is.

 

I guess you can either put archrival back boards or replace the holders (if this is a concern of preservation)but as it is its value is in keeping it all together.

[Pip]

Thanks guys!

[The Meatcan]

Appears to be some highly interesting photos there! Great find!

Terry

[Pip]

I went back and counted the photos. 150 in the big album which is all tanks. 350 or so in the other 3 which are of everything including some tanks. I took some photos of some of the different ones I had not seen before. Sorry for the quality I didnt use flash so my battery will last. There was a box of extra ones about 40 thats he had two of from album 1.

 

http://imgur.com/a/gbuW7

 

[gitana]

I'm sure that this would be very exciting for someone who is interested in armor.

You might consider scanning the images and post them somewhere before they disappear into a collector's plastic tub.

[USARV72]

What is the earliest date and the latest date? Went to school in APG before going to RVN. Like the pic of the early M-88 tank retriever, our unit in RVN had the last GI operated one. The tank park there used to be one othe best collections , IIRC most tracks have been sent to Ft Lee and Ft Knox. Would love to look through those albums.

[Pip]

I believe its mainly 1942-1960. Looks like he took apart a bunch of books to make these as alot of punch holes (3,5 more) as if they were in a different book at some point in their life.

[gwb123]

Back in the day, the Army loved binders. If you walked into an office or staff section, you would see rows upon rows of them.

 

I am going to disagree with our colleagues advice.

 

From the photos, it looks like at least the top one is beyond overstuffed. That might be contributing to the warping.

At a minimum I would remount these in additional binders in smaller amounts so that they close flat.

 

Also, these old government binders do not always hold up over time. You will note one of the middle ones is showing signs of rust coming through.

 

The black backing sheets are a really low grade paper. They are probably full of acid which over time could damage your photos.

 

As to what these are, they were probably maintained as a reference library. Or they could have been a draft for a manual on vehicles. It's hard to say. But they all appear to be official photographs. Proving ground photos tend to be a bit sterile, as in lacking unit markings or any kind of location context. But typically they are full of detail And you have some real oddball variations just in the ones you have shown. A vehicle historian would go nuts over this trove.

[USARV72]

Im with Gil on preserving them. Hobby Lobby has excellent sleeves to store them in. Keep the original ring binders, store pics in sleeves in a box so they are flat. Mark the box as to the binder they came from. Have one from an AV Company, kind of a TO&E. These would be a big deal at a MVPA show.

[Pip]

Thanks! What is the best kind of storage holders would be best?

 

Edit: Thanks ! I saw your response after I posted.