www.kadenar.com

QUICK RESPONSE IS KEY

When it comes to salvaging photographs that have been damaged by water, sooner is always better. Mold and mildew will start to form on damp records within 48 hours. The best way to inhibit the growth of mold and mildew is to reduce humidity. Increase air flow with fans, open windows, use air conditioners and dehumidifiers. Moderate light exposure (such as open shades, or leaving the basement lights on) can also reduce mold and mildew.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND NEGATIVES

Do not attempt to pull apart photographs or negatives that have stuck together.
Soak them in clean water until they separate on their own. Rinsing and drying can
take quite a while. Newer photographs can be temporarily stored in a bucket of cold
clean water until you have time to work with them. Keeping them wet prevents
mildew growth because mildew can only grow on damp material, not wet. Freezing
is another option for temporary storage, but should not be used with photographs
that are over 50 years old. For older photographs, electronic restoration is your best
option.

Rinse them in more clean water as you go. Be careful not touch the emulstion
(image) side of the print while it’s wet. There are two acceptable drying methods:
spread out face up on a clean, dry, smooth surface or hanging on indoor lines with
clothespins. The first method requires more space, but is gentler to your photos.

COMPUTER DISKS AND TAPES

Disks should be rinsed in clear water, placed in a plastic bag and put in your
refrigerator. The next step is to take it to a professional drying center and have the
data transferred to a new disk or tape. You can call the Disaster Recovery Institute
toll free at 888-374-7845. Companies that are members of the institute specialize
in restoring computers and computer records after a disaster.

MORE FREE INFORMATION AVAILABLE BY PHONE & INTERNET

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) has an entire section
devoted to Disaster Assistance. http://www.nedcc.org/welcome/disaster.htm. You
can also call their emergency phone line day or night, seven days a week.
(978) 470-1010. This service is free.

Conservation Online (CoOL) http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/disasters/ is
packed with free information. The link above will take you directly to the section on
disaster recovery. CoOL’s main site has articles on just about every aspect of
conservation and preservation.

DIGITAL RESTORATION

Many independent camera stores contract with experts to restore damaged
photographs digitally. Rates vary based on the extent of damage and how much
work is required. Call your local camera shop or Jacobs Archival Services for more
information.

And remember — digital copies can serve as an excellent emergency backup. Just
be sure to keep a set in a different location than your house. A safe deposit box or
office works well. You can also send disks as gifts to family and friends around the
country. That way, everybody wins!

Sally J. Jacobs has a Master’s degree in Library & Information Science with a
specialization in Archives Management. She has worked on collections at the Library
of Congress, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the University of Wisconsin. Her
FREE monthly Ask the Archivist eZine includes tips on how to
organize, preserve, and enjoy
your cherished photographs, letters, quilts, and wedding gowns. It will even help you
with your “born digital” photos! Signup is quick and easy online:
http://www.jacobsarchival.com. Stop by the website and pick up some free preservation information. Your great-granddaughter will
be glad you did.

Don’t Let Your History Disappear!

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What’s that saying about good intentions?

My Grandma Anne, bless her heart, thought she was doing the right thing by putting our earliest family photos into albums. But unfortunately the albums she thought would protect the photos were actually destroying them slowly over time.

Those sticky magnetic albums so popular in the 1970s and 80s are a dangerous chemical sandwich. Photographs have acidic cardboard and glue underneath them, and then they are trapped under a volatile vinyl overlay. Honestly, it’s the worst possible place to store your cherished photographs.

But how to remove them safely? Just grab a corner and pull? Ooof! That doesn’t sound good. And what if they don’t budge? The Internet is full of home remedies. But there is only one safe method I’ve ever seen, and that is dental floss. I tried it and it works, but it’s a little awkward. And promise me you’ll stay away from mint flavorings and wax, OK?

As for the other home remedies, I urge you never to freeze or heat any photograph that cannot be replaced. And please don’t use strong solvents to dissolve the glue. They’ll leave behind a residue that can damage your photographs over time. Besides, it’s not always necessary to take drastic measures. When we’re talking about preservation, simple is almost always your best choice.

The perfect tool. Fortunately for me, I already knew about a nifty doo-hickey called a microspatula. It’s a stainless steel tool designed to help chemists scoop up powdered chemicals and put them in teeny tiny little vials. Nothing whatsoever to do with photograph conservation. And yet if I were to design a safe photo removal tool from scratch, this is exactly what I would create. And it’s what conservation professionals use to gently separate stuck items.

Success! I started the rescue with albums from my school days before I moved on to the antique family photos in Grandma Anne’s albums. My husband and I rescued hundreds of photos and not a single one was torn or damaged during the removal process.

Space saver. My rescue project got our irreplaceable family photos into a more stable environment to slow down deterioration, and that’s great. But it also freed up a bunch of space. By removing photos from their bulky albums and putting aside photos that we wanted to pass along we reduced the size of the collection by 75%! How’s that’s for motivation?

Don’t throw away information. If your albums have captions of any kind, be sure to retain the information. Grandma Anne didn’t include any caption information in her albums. Lucky for me (and my kids) my Dad was excited about helping me with this family history project. He made sure we recorded everyone’s name, their relationships to each other, the street addresses of all the houses, and — most delightful of all — the family stories behind the photos.

We swapped stories and reminisced while I worked my way through album after album. I was quite a site with my white gloves and microspatula, but Dad didn’t care. It meant a lot to him to know how much I cared about our shared family history. If you have willing family members, I highly recommend sitting down together with some family photos. Even if you don’t need to rescue the photographs, you can make sure the stories are saved. I promise you won’t regret it!

_____________________

About the author: Sally Jacobs has a Master’s in Library Science with a Specialization in Archives Management. She has worked on collections at the Library of Congress and the Wisconsin Historical Society, among others. Prior to starting her own consulting business, she was the historical image researcher for American Girl’s publishing division. These days she is dedicated to deputizing family archivists and teaching them how to properly care for their irreplaceable photographs and other treasures.

Like this article? Subscribe to “Ask the Archivist” and receive articles like this one free every month. Visit http://www.jacobsarchival.com and get a free copy of 8 Blunders People Make When They Scan Photographs…And How You Can Avoid Them when you sign up. And be sure to send your archival questions to ask@jacobsarchival.com.

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