I recently acquired a nice grouping. it included lots of papers and photos. i want to display them but im not sure if i should frame them or what. So i was wondering, should i just get some archival holders for ephemera or frame it or frame it with the holders. Any thoughts are appreciated. Also, hey are bending because of lack of proper preservation for many years so i am leaning toward framing them to have them not get any more folded.

thanks in advance.

 

-Dave

Photos can take up a lot of room, and then frames can get expensive. So is it worth the investment to frame them all?

 

I collect USMC photos. I frame and hang the portraits and unit photos. The rest, I store in a binder. I use acid free clear sleeves, on acid free card stock, with acid free corner tabs. I get the sleeves and card stock at Staples and the photo corners on Amazon as an add-on item. I then place the binder on a shelf in the moto room, where they can easily be pulled and enjoyed. I have several binders...USMC Photos/Post Cards...USMC documents...letters...Misc USMC Ephemera...and 'Groupings', an album with dividers that contains the misc paper items that came with groups I have displayed but would take up too much space to display with them. Cheap, safe storage option for paper...I believe I get 200-250 sheets of card stock in a package, 100 sleeves per box...total of $25-$30 and it goes a long way

It is worth the investment IMO they are mostly pretty small anyways. and there is less than 30 and i have a spot in my war room that is blank so, yes i am willing to pay for the 1 or 2 frames i need. But it also came with some photos of his civilian life and some Masonic items which i am going to put in a binder and use your advice for that.

Thanks for the tips.

 

-Dave

If they're small, you could do a collage. When framing, I use acid free matte board to create a buffer between the glass and image to prevent humidity damage. It's much cheaper to buy it buy the sheet, I get it at Michael's Crafts for 6 or 7 bucks a sheet, it's I believe 24" x 36". A little measuring and a razor blade, and you can make your own borders. And a sheet goes a long way. It also allows you to customize a piece with multiple spaces for photos so you can use a single frame and keep a group together, like I did with these Smedley Butler items...

I might try that but I got a lot of pictures to do it with so I'll probably get it done on a snowy weekend or something

 

-Dave

Agree with Brig on this one. When I have a grouping of paper/photos I only frame the best paper its ms and then augment with a few pictures....similar to what Brig did with that great Butler display.

I'm definetly trying this out.

 

-Dave

Great advice Brig.