Overwhelmed with recently inherited Photo colection

[HeritageMom]

Hello to everyone. What a fabulous website! I stumbled across it looking for some information regarding my digital photos and just read through this thread with great interest as I'm going through the same thing...I just recovered my deceased mother's albums and photos and I've begun the tedious process of rescuing the photos out of the sticky albums, scanning them all into my computer, and restoring the ones I can.

Two things I wanted to tell you all about-

The Pampered Chef sells these "brown plastic scrapers" with their stoneware that make the PERFECT sticky page album photo removers! They are about 2 inches square and they have a slightly "sharper" edge on one side and are excellent for getting under the tips of photos and then easily removing them. My friend swore by them and so I got some and YEP!!! FABULOUS. I think a set of three is less than 5 dollars.

Second, for those of you that posted about coffee table books and being able to create your own archival printed books, I've got GREAT news. I WORK for a company called Heritage Makers that allows people to create their own online account, upload their photo files, write as much text as they want to, and then PUBLISH Commercial Quality Hard Bound books!! Because you can upload any digital file that is saved in jpg format, you can ALSO do the "digital scrapbook" thing with birth certificates, ticket stubs, postcards etc as long as you save your finished "layout" as a jpg!!

We use a digital PRESS to print each book on acid free, heavy grade, glossy paper and double bind them with acid free glue AND sewn stitches. every page is customizable to the creator and you get to design you own covers too. We even give each book an ID# for reprinting or re-editing in the future...even generations from now.

You can see our products on my website and I'd love to tell you more.

But my MAIN intent was to thank you all for your information regarding preserving photos etc because I teach photo organization/preservation classes in my town and I'm always looking for more tips and hints! I can't wait to read through the forum completely!!

THank you!!

[Sheri Medford]

I too have a huge collection from the 1980 on up. I am scanning and will do storage, CD, and albums of the best of the best. But one thing I did that is my favorite creative project for my parents (years before photoshop) was dad made me a large shadow box (probably 3 x 4 feet) with a hinged glass door and lock. It had small sections that allowed small shelves (the depth of the box was about 4 inches) to put objects. Then I pulled out all the photos, newspaper articles they had saved ( yellowed with age, but in good shape) other items, old thread and thimble of moms, military metals of dads, a shoe, an old baby purse and shoe, a ceramic 1" doll with broken arms, and then filled the box with them, I also added some dry flowers (small bits only in a few places) It is wonderful, and tell their story, a love that lasted 65 years (so far). The photos are central to the display. That way it is on the wall, the most precious is always ready to view. and to pass on to other generations. Question: Is there a special glass or other ways to make the photos and other things (like telegram and love letters) from decaying? Or is a tight glass covered box enough? We have it on a wall out of the sun with a small light to display it. Is that okay. It only takes a day to do after the shadow box is bought or built.

[Sally Jacobs]

Dear Sheri,

I love the idea of the shadowbox, can you post a picture of it? It sounds like such a beautiful tribute and clearly a family treasure that many people can enjoy.

From a preservation perspective, wood is a poor choice for long term storage. Wood has chemicals, colorants (stain) and clear coatings -- and many of these can interact with treasures and cause damage. Metal shelving with a baked finish is the safest storage because you don't have the wildcard factor that you have with wood. But preservation is a balance test. Would a metal shadowbox be an OK substitute? Not really. Too cold, if you know what I mean. So while I can't recommend wood shelves for long term storage...I'm not going to tell you not to use this incredible display piece.

And display is important. Treasures should be appreciated and enjoyed. The stories they hold need to be shared with others. Otherwise they have little value.

Here are some maintenance tips and improvements you can make:

1. Gently dust the objects on a regular basis (thread and thimble, military metals, clothing, ceramic doll)

2. If you like, you can replace the glass you have with UV coated glass or plexiglass.

3. I strongly recommend that you to replace the paper originals -- photographs, letters, and telegrams -- with copy prints made from a scan. Or even just color photocopies. You want to share these items, but you also want them to be readable for as long as possible. Once you've made copies you can keep all the orignals in a high quality archival box ($20 or less) and put it in an interior closet. Interior closets are the part of your house with most stable temperature and humidity levels.

However, I also understand the power of the original, actual, authentic artifact. In that case, I still recommend that you *still* make a second set and put the *copies* in a good box in an interior closet.

I hope this sounds do-able. I try to be as pragmatic as I can with family collections. Best of luck to you, Sheri. Please let me know if you still have questions.

Warmly,

Sally

Sally Jacobs, Archivist