Preserving Paperwork

[tractor]

http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f43/obba...a%20and%20Indy/

 

I found a vets lot a few years ago in an antique store. The antique store just thought it was another vet lot and never opened up the binder with the lot. When I bought it and opened it before the seller his mouth dropped wide open because what was inside. I have pictures above of some of the items in it. Here is a little about the vet he served aboard the Arizona, Indianapolis, Maryland, Portland, and several other ships during his career. He kept mementos from each of the ships and even San Diego Replacement Depot where he started in 1936 in the class of 36 which I have the class photo of.

 

So my question is whats the best method to preserving it. I have been storing it in a dry dark place hoping it wouldn't deteriorate any farther but the pen and ink drawing done from the Arizona's deck in 1937 is yellowing more and even has gotten a small rip in it. I have thinking of letting someone else handle it even maybe that will keep it preserved better then I have. My specialty is negatives and not paperwork.

Mark

[Bluehawk]

I can help with this, but need to see some photos of the pages etc., so I can judge better what everything is made of.

 

Even a thorough description of the materials would be useful.

[tractor]

I can help with this, but need to see some photos of the pages etc., so I can judge better what everything is made of.

 

Even a thorough description of the materials would be useful.

 

 

The pen and ink sketch is a paper like colored paper that kids use in school which is what the binders pages are made of. Most of the items in it are stapled or glued down but the pages are falling out of the binder now

[Bluehawk]

The pen and ink sketch is a paper like colored paper that kids use in school which is what the binders pages are made of. Most of the items in it are stapled or glued down but the pages are falling out of the binder now

Well, I'll make some assumptions such as that the pages are essentially the old style traditional scrap book type.

 

If that is true, then you have paper which is highly acidic, which in turn is very destructive to anything touching it over time.

 

Basically here is the best you can do without spending a lot of money for professional preservation services:

 

1. You must put acid free/neutral pH barriers between each page. These are sheets of special interleaving tissue which will at least stop the exchange of acidic damage.

 

2. If possible, gently remove the staples. Then if you wish to leave the artifacts where they were in the book, just be sure to use interleaving tissue to protect each one.

 

3. You also have the option of encapsulating each document by placing them in their own neutral sleeve.

 

4. If the order in which the documents appear in the binder is irrelevant, then what I would do is disassemble the entire thing as much as possible, and get the tissue barriers between everything.

 

5. When everything is interleaved, you can obtain a Hollinger or Solander box to store the entire thing in.

 

That, really, is about as much as you can do to stop continued deterioration. It will serve you well, and will last a good many years. Sadly, short of having each items bathed in a solution which will defeat the acidic content of the paper, there are few other options.

 

Keeping it all out of unfiltered UV light (such as sun and most flourescent), keep it away from radical changes in temperature, and preventing moisture interaction with the material will also help a lot. Then too, critters are always lurking somewhere.

 

We have a very good thread in this forum about Preservation/Conservation supplies, which will give you links to obtaining the tissue. It comes in a couple of different forms and many sizes.

 

If I could see the artifact, I could do a better job of advising, but the above should be useful.

[tractor]

One thing I have never done was photograph every page of the scrap book. I will try to do it next time I am home and try to remove anything stapled.

[Cobrahistorian]

Blue gives a really good breakdown there. Another concern is the type of reproduction processes used in each document. A pen and ink drawing should be ph neutral, unless it was done on an acidic piece of paper. More than likely the off-gassing of the scrapbook pages has caused it to yellow over time, rather than any acidic breakdown. My advice for that is interleave it with mylar sheeting to keep any further off-gassing from affecting it.

 

I mentioned the different types of reproduction process earlier. Your best bet is to store like-processes with like processes. If you have a number of photostats, store them in one mylar folder. They will all offgas at the same rate and won't affect other processes like diazotypes or ferrogallic prints. Photographs should be kept in yet another folder. By separating the processes, the residual chemicals don't have the opportunity to react and wreak havoc.

 

Mylar sheeting is relatively inexpensive and folding a large sheet in half and then permanently creading it makes an easy folder for keeping paper items in.

 

When I find it, I have a guide from my old job for determining print processes. I'll transcribe it and post it here once I find it!

 

Jon

[ron_brock]

I have seen chemicals listed in archival supply catalogs online that are used for neutralizing the acid in books and newspapers printed during that timeframe. I have not used them nor can I endorse them, but it may be worth talking with someone about these chemicals. Do a search for archival supplies or museum supplies and you should find a few companies that have similar products.

 

- Ron

[tractor]

Thanks guys. I am thinking of mounting all the Arizona items in One frame and hanging it on my wall but last time I got an estimate for doing it the proper way it was close to a grand from Michaels.

[Bluehawk]

I have seen chemicals listed in archival supply catalogs online that are used for neutralizing the acid in books and newspapers printed during that timeframe. I have not used them nor can I endorse them, but it may be worth talking with someone about these chemicals. Do a search for archival supplies or museum supplies and you should find a few companies that have similar products.

 

- Ron

This is true... but highly dangerous unless we can be 100% certain of exactly what was used to create the image on the paper.

 

It is real easy to totally dissolve or destroy a drawing or print by making an error in judging what it is made of.

[Cobrahistorian]

This is true... but highly dangerous unless we can be 100% certain of exactly what was used to create the image on the paper.

 

It is real easy to totally dissolve or destroy a drawing or print by making an error in judging what it is made of.

 

 

Exactly! Neutralizing an acid sounds good, but if the print process is the source of that acidity, you could very well destroy the print too!

[ron_brock]

Exactly! Neutralizing an acid sounds good, but if the print process is the source of that acidity, you could very well destroy the print too!

 

Good points. I suppose the most important point before attempting any type of restoration is to have high quality photos of the items prior to beginning. I recently removed a photo that was stuck to glass from getting damp. It was not rocket science, but was pretty cool to be able to remove the photo without any damage. Before beginning the proceedure I had several high quality scans of the image.

 

- Ron

[23engineers]

reading this reassures me that what I have done to my own photos and documents was the right way to go.

[Dave]

Good points. I suppose the most important point before attempting any type of restoration is to have high quality photos of the items prior to beginning. I recently removed a photo that was stuck to glass from getting damp. It was not rocket science, but was pretty cool to be able to remove the photo without any damage. Before beginning the proceedure I had several high quality scans of the image.

 

- Ron

 

Taking high quality images are important if the items get lost as well. I sold a group and the paperwork got tossed along with the box. It was long in the local dump by the time we realized the docs were never removed from the box! Luckily, I had high quality scans of all the docs and they're at least in images, even if the orignals are gone...

 

Dave