Preserving and Organizing Posters

[Cobra 6 Actual]

I am working on preserving and organizing a variety of collectibles, military and otherwise. For patches and badges I am using a number of plastic containers inside of cardboard boxes, like this:

 

 

But for posters and prints I am having a problem deciding how best to preserve and store them. For example, a number of my WWII era savings bond posters are too fragile to fold or roll. So far all I have come up with is to store them flat on a large table. Should I have some kind of protective paper between them?

 

For more modern posters and prints I am thinking of storing them rolled up, like this:

 

 

Is this an effective method to preserve them? And should there be some kind of separating conservation paper between those that I plan to roll together in the same tube?

 

Suggestions? Ideas? Thanks!

[gitana]

I had mine shrink wrapped on acid free foam core. You can also put a poster on each side doing this. You have to have a place to put them (mine are in a large box under the bed) but it keeps them safe and doesn't roll or fold them. I planned to keep them like that until I can frame them.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks, gitana. Sounds interesting. Any idea of the costs involved. Also is this OK for long term preservation?

[Rakkasan187]

Cobra,,

 

Take a look at Gaylord archival products company.. http://www.gaylord.com/c/Preservation

 

These products are among the best for conservation and preservation.. They have poster size acid free materials as well as storage boxes..

 

Also you may look into university products for similar preservation and conservation materials..https://www.universityproducts.com/

 

I will tell you that they are pricey because they mostly cater to museums and art centers but given the large volume of poster tubes you have, I would assume you have a lot invested in them, so I would suggest investing in archival products to help ensure they will be safe..

 

We use a lot of these materials in the museum I am curator at..

 

Leigh

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks, Leigh. So, if I put the posters flat should I have some kind of conservation paper between them? And, for the more modern posters is it OK to roll them in tubes with some kind of conservation paper in between each or not roll them?

[Rakkasan187]

Cobra,,

 

Yes and yes... Modern posters are fine to be rolled in a tube as well as reproductions (if you have any) Older posters, and when I am speaking about older posters I mean from WW2 and prior, I would place acid free paper as a buffer between them and lay them flat. Another member suggested that they store them under a bed which is great if you have the space. It is dark and mostly cool in that environment and that will help maintain the colors of the posters..

 

I would not suggest shrink wrapping as if I understand the process, heat is introduced to the process and the plastic may not be acid free and could off-gas. IN addition to the off gassing the heat introduced in the process could make the poster paper more brittle in cases where the paper is delicate to start with.. but to each his own..

 

Obviously in the museum environment I work in we have large metal map case drawers that store many of our larger posters, but we also have some that are so big (outside wall size posters) we have had to fabricate our own storage jackets for them but they work just fine..

 

Here are some examples of the material from Gaylord. These are archival safe protectors with an acid free stiff cardboard type material and inside is archival safe Mylar that you place the document behind. There is also acid free buffered tissue paper that comes with each folder and can be placed either on top of the picture under the Mylar or on the base of the cardboard for a buffer. Keep in mind these are small size protectors but they come in all sizes, (As big as poster size as well).. The hinge is made of acid free archival safe tape that has no affects and does not come in contact with the paper products..

 

When I go back to work on Monday, I will take some pictures of the larger size poster holders that we have so you can get an idea of just how big and how many of these products are available through Gaylord and university products..

 

 

Leigh

 

P.S.

 

If I hadn't mentioned before, you have a remarkable collection and your storage capacity and methods are most impressive. Well organized and detailed..

 

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thank you, again, Leigh. I appreciate all of your advice. And, I must admit that Ive only just started organizing things: my ultimate plan is to have 200 cardboard boxes with items labeled and placed inside of them in sub-divided lots (for example, marksmanship badges separated from breast badges and from helmet badges, and so on). Each individual item will have a description of the item, its era of use, its initial cost, and a listing of eBay prices.

 

Then, what I will do for the posters is what you have suggested for both the WWII era posters as well as for the modern ones. I look foward to your photos on Monday. Again, thanks!

[Rakkasan187]

Cobra,

 

Here are some more pictures from the museum so you can see the storage we have for maps/posters.. We use map cases (Grey and tan colored) for various items we like to leave flat. There are a few different storage options that we use. If the item needs to be stored in one drawer with nothing on top or below we line the map case drawer with acid free paper and place the item in one of the acid free poster sleeves. In some cases we have MYLAR sleeves that completely cover the poster front and back. We are in the process of replacing a lot of the sleeves and preserving all the posters and photo yard longs the same way.. It is rather time consuming but eventually we will have the same storage process for all of our posters/yard longs and other oversized prints etc...

 

Here are some pictures of the larger archival sleeves that we use for posters, maps, etc.. These are very large and can be cut down.. These are from Gaylord Archival nd they have numerous sizes from post card size what I showed you yesterday to the larger poster size which is shown here. I placed a WW2 poster next to the sleeve for size comparison. As you can see, in some cases 2 posters side by side can share a folder. Each one has a sheet of tissue paper on top of the Mylar to protect it from scratches but you can also use the tissue paper to place on top of the poster and then under the MYLAR sleeve for added protection.

 

It is really up to you..

 

We have silk escape maps, posters, yard longs, campaign maps, all types of paper ephemera that we store flat and in map cases, and also some smaller sized flags as well..

 

I will have to post several pictures due to size limits...

 

Leigh

 

 

 

[Rakkasan187]

More...

 

 

 

 

[Rakkasan187]

More..

 

 

 

 

[Rakkasan187]

More...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rakkasan187]

Last ones..

 

 

 

 

 

You can see that the posters fit well into the sleeves and will be protected from UV light as well as other elements..

 

If you can afford a map case with the size dimensions similar to the posters and larger items it may be a worthwhile investment.

 

These can be stacked on top of each other as I have shown in the pictures and I have seen them on occasion at yard sales and closeout sales from architectural and drafting companies..

 

Hope these pictures give you an idea. Sorry for the lack of order. I resized them all down but they were still to large to post all on one post..

 

Leigh

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks, Leigh ... very much! Hey, you guys have some cool posters! Again, I really appreciate your professional advice!