Looking for an album for remounting old photographs
August 1, 2011 3:00 PM Subscribe
I have a series of old family photographs (c1920-1950), which I have removed from sticky-backed albums for scanning. What would be the best way to store them which would preserve their condition?
I would like to mount them in an album, if possible, so that people could look at them. But I don't want to put them back in the sticky album, even if they would stay (they won't - the glue has dried). They were already moved from older albums into this album about 20-40 years ago.
I have seen albums which use small black corners to mount the photos without any adhesive on the photo itself - ideally, I would like to get one of these with acid-free paper and with some onion skin or something between each page for protection. But I don't know where to get them, or what they are called. Contemporary slip albums (where you slip the photo in a pocket behind plastic) would not work, as the photos are themselves between 4cm and 20cm large - with many only 6x8 cm.
Should I look in craft stores, or photography stores?
I am in Toronto, and I would prefer to buy something locally (so that I can look at it first), but I am also willing to order something off of the internet.
I would like to mount them in an album, if possible, so that people could look at them. But I don't want to put them back in the sticky album, even if they would stay (they won't - the glue has dried). They were already moved from older albums into this album about 20-40 years ago.
I have seen albums which use small black corners to mount the photos without any adhesive on the photo itself - ideally, I would like to get one of these with acid-free paper and with some onion skin or something between each page for protection. But I don't know where to get them, or what they are called. Contemporary slip albums (where you slip the photo in a pocket behind plastic) would not work, as the photos are themselves between 4cm and 20cm large - with many only 6x8 cm.
Should I look in craft stores, or photography stores?
I am in Toronto, and I would prefer to buy something locally (so that I can look at it first), but I am also willing to order something off of the internet.
If you are on a budget, then find a book at a thrift store that is printed on acid-free paper, then stick the photos in between pages in the book. You may have to tear out a few pages periodically to accommodate the thickness of the photos.
posted by markhu at 4:53 PM on August 1, 2011
posted by markhu at 4:53 PM on August 1, 2011
yes, please do not use any sticky back photo albums! they are a preservation nightmare. i just went through a couple of my old albums and removed all the photos. nothing that was that rare, but I didn't want them to be ruined. as it is there are lines of dried glue on the back of each and every one of them :(
posted by kuppajava at 5:41 PM on August 1, 2011
posted by kuppajava at 5:41 PM on August 1, 2011
Your best bet is to go into one of the craft stores. I doubt you'll be able to find one with the onion skin, but you can easily find acid free paper, the photo corners (you'll have to stick these onto the paper, but the glue won't touch the photograph) and sleeves to protect the paper. The album I ended up with was 12x12, and with 20 pages I was able to fit two shoeboxes of photographs.
posted by Nickel Pickle at 5:51 PM on August 1, 2011
posted by Nickel Pickle at 5:51 PM on August 1, 2011
Check out what Kolo has to offer. They aren't cheap but they are well made, archival (mostly) and have a wide variety of album sizes and page types.
Also, look into paper stores or scrapbooking stores. I like The Paper Source to fulfill all of my stationary, album and paper desires. Their brick and mortar stores are few and far between (none in Toronto, sadly) but they have good stuff and helpful staff.
posted by godshomemovies at 7:25 PM on August 1, 2011
Also, look into paper stores or scrapbooking stores. I like The Paper Source to fulfill all of my stationary, album and paper desires. Their brick and mortar stores are few and far between (none in Toronto, sadly) but they have good stuff and helpful staff.
posted by godshomemovies at 7:25 PM on August 1, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions.
I ended up at an art supply store - Curry's, the one by OCAD - where it turned out that they not only had photo corners at a good price, but also had archival-safe portfolio books - acid-free paper inside non-PVC plastic. (Apparently not all acid-free paper is archival-safe, so I wanted the kind specified as archival. Also, I know archivists aren't yet sure about plastic at all, but it would protect the photos better from basic wear and tear as people look at them, since they'll be in a house, not a supervised reading room.)
If anyone has any other suggestions about the preservation of photographs in particular, I would be happy to hear them. I have worked in archives briefly, but only with books and paper (and that's pretty basic - clean hands, 2b pencil for labelling, dryish environment, acid-free boxes, etc). I don't know what special care should be taken for photographs.
posted by jb at 2:02 PM on August 3, 2011
I ended up at an art supply store - Curry's, the one by OCAD - where it turned out that they not only had photo corners at a good price, but also had archival-safe portfolio books - acid-free paper inside non-PVC plastic. (Apparently not all acid-free paper is archival-safe, so I wanted the kind specified as archival. Also, I know archivists aren't yet sure about plastic at all, but it would protect the photos better from basic wear and tear as people look at them, since they'll be in a house, not a supervised reading room.)
If anyone has any other suggestions about the preservation of photographs in particular, I would be happy to hear them. I have worked in archives briefly, but only with books and paper (and that's pretty basic - clean hands, 2b pencil for labelling, dryish environment, acid-free boxes, etc). I don't know what special care should be taken for photographs.
posted by jb at 2:02 PM on August 3, 2011
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The people I know who have worked on project like yours ordered from Light Impressions. Perhaps browsing their stock will give you an idea of products to shop for locally.
posted by Squeak Attack at 3:14 PM on August 1, 2011