I just want to store a magazine, not preserve the Jefferson Memorial. . . .

November 20, 2005 7:54 AM

How does one preserve old magazines? Maybe frame them? Other storage options . . .

While preparing for an unrelated home repair, my husband and I were going through a bunch of boxes he'd stashed under the stairs when we moved in. In addition to a bunch of old family photos, we found two LIFE Magazines from the 60's -- one of them is the one with Jackie, Caroline, and John-John on the cover after JFK's death. They're not in mint condition, per se, but we would still like to preserve them (maybe frame them, but definetly keep the damage from proceeding, at least). My Googling has turned up a bunch of annoying crap about magazines that are about presevation -- homes, public buildings, history . . . but nothing so simple as what to do with a cool, old magazine. (Oh, and if you know the price range for your suggestion, please include that as well. Linkage is good too. Yum.)

posted by Medieval Maven to home & garden (6 comments total)

The search term you need is "archival storage." Here are a couple sites to start with, a museum/library one and one for collectors. Basically, you're concerned with preventing wear, blocking moisture, and making sure surfaces that contact your magazines are low-acid. Most normal paper and envelopes have a high acid content. Over time ( a long time, but still) the acid breaks the paper down and causes it to become brittle and dark.

These are by no means the only sources (this is a big industry). Also, I'm not a librarian myself. Some of the MeFibrarians may have excellent specific suggestions.
posted by Miko at 8:07 AM on November 20, 2005

Look to the comic book geeks for your answer.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:08 AM on November 20, 2005

If you really want to do it right, I'd get an archivally safe envelope or box from say Light Impressions, Demco or Talas. If you keep the magazines in a box or envelope and put it in an area in your house that is not damp, or too hot or too cold, I think you'd be doing more than enough. Also, you'd be able to access them more easily than if they were framed. It would be much cheaper than framing them. Finally, framing them could lead to fading of the covers.

If you do decide to go with framing, you can take them to most any framing shop or art supplies store. Be sure to ask for archivally safe or acid free matting and backing and check to see if they offer UV-blocking glass, which, in theory, should diminish fading.
posted by Uncle Glendinning at 8:14 AM on November 20, 2005

An archivist would remove the staples, and put the magazines in acid free folders with thin sheets of acid free paper between the pages, or with each page in an acid folder of its own. This does make it more difficult to read through and enjoy them.

At the very least, the staples should be removed before the paper is soft and brittle. If they are already old, I still remove the staples.

Have you thought about scanning the magazines and printing them on archival paper for display? It's difficult to know how long you will be able to keep digital images, but archival prints are not that expensive.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 8:29 AM on November 20, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

Your best bet would be to look for a mylar sleeve that's Life Magazine size. My pragmatic approach, though, would be to not waste too much time or money on preservation, because old issues of Life magazine aren't worth much on the collector market. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's valuable or worth preserving, and I don't think I'd bother unless there's some sentimental attachment.

A quick look at eBay's closed auctions for that particular issue shows that the magazine you're trying to preserve commonly sells for less than $5, and that's when it does sell. That edition isn't worth any more than the cover price of the latest issue of Maxim, and I seriously doubt that the replacement cost is going to suddenly skyrocket after being in the collector market for 40 years.
posted by MegoSteve at 1:28 PM on November 20, 2005

If you want you can make your own archive envelopes, with tyvek home wrap and label tape.
posted by hortense at 2:19 PM on November 20, 2005