Asking for Sage Advice on WWI Gas Mask Bag

[mikie]

I’m “torn” on what to do about the strap on this gas mask bag I recently purchased. The bag is named on the strap and unit marked on the bag . The bag is in really nice shape except for the strap. If it was an unmarked bag, I’d probably give fixing the strap a try. But I don’t want to do this with this marked one. At the same time, I am annoyed by the strap being torn apart like this. 
Any comments or suggestions are welcome. 
mikie

[Dogsbody]

Hello Mikie, I not sure if I'm capable of giving sage advice but my stance is that I leave things the way I got them. The closest I've ever come to a repair is fixing a broken liner chinstrap with a small peace of band aid. This was only done to prevent it falling out of the liner and causing further damage. I'm not against repairs perse but imo it  should always be done in a non invasive manner and preferably reversable if necessary. Your gas mask bag looks great and displays well imo. Even with the broken strap. Just make sure you keep all parts together.

[Blacksmith]

I’m straining my memory banks to recall a time when the consensus response wasn’t to leave the item as-is.  The challenges with starting to repair, clean, add to, or alter any historical item are multiple. 

 

Amongst these is the fact that it’s often not reversible, and undermines the authenticity of the item.  (“Hey, when I had that item, it didn’t have a chinstrap on it?!”)

 

Damage is part of an items’ history - even if it’s by a mouse in a barn 40 years post-war.  Not to get overly philosophical, but - as a short-term custodian of these pieces - what rationale do I have for changing their state?

 

I don’t care what they’re worth, so why enhance them to make them more attractive to me, or someone else?

 

That said, an item belongs to whomever owns it, and as such, they are free to do as they see fit with it.  If it were mine, I’d put the separated portion of the strap in a ziploc bag, and put it inside the gasmask carrier.  If the unjoined ends of the strap were causing me psychic pain, I’d binder clip them together.

 

All just my opinion.

[MAW]

You could cut pieces of khaki cloth/fabric, and tack it to the strap to give enough support that it wouldn't get more damaged, but at the same time it would be reversible and - if the color matches - it wouldn't be overly noticeable.

 

[mikie]

Thank you all for your thoughtful replies. My history buff side definitely says to leave it alone, it’s a great piece of history as-is. But another side of me is annoyed at the strap being torn up. Kind of like an itch you know you shouldn’t scratch. I will leave it alone and thanks to your comments, feel much better about it. 
mikie

[P-40Warhawk]

1 hour ago, MAW said:

You could cut pieces of khaki cloth/fabric, and tack it to the strap to give enough support that it wouldn't get more damaged, but at the same time it would be reversible and - if the color matches - it wouldn't be overly noticeable.

 

I was going to suggest this. So normally leaving it alone would be the safest, best way to preserve it. But in this case we have a piece completely separated from the other pieces of the strap. This makes it all the more likely that the loose piece could be inadvertently separated from the artifact, and lost forever. What you suggest is a common (which I'm sure you know, but in case others don't) method used by conservators to prevent further loss or damage. Just so others know, the goal isn't to 'fix it', it's just to stabilize it for the future. 

 

[atb]

There is nothing wrong with stabilizing the damaged areas to prevent further deterioration provided it is done in such a way so no more harm is done and the treatment is reversible. This is done by museums as part of conservation and preservation efforts.

[RayRay]

Safety pin

[atb]

On 5/22/2023 at 4:55 PM, RayRay said:

Safety pin

Not a good idea. You'd be piercing already probably weak fabric. It also creates a strain between the two separate sections. The deterioration would be speeded up