Help Me Save This c. 1900 Photo Album

Moved this subject from the "Trade Cards" thread, where Pat and I were discussing first, how to preserve the contents, and second, how I might save at least the cover of my grandmother's post card album so I could keep it all together as one piece of family history. The black pages inside are crumbling every time I open it and the little corner slits in which to seat the cards are starting to break.

So I took some pictures to illustrate how the album is constructed to see if trying to keep the cover for use with new "guts" will work.

The album measures about 9 x 11.25 x 2. I assume both front and back boards are some kind of thick cardboard, covered on the exterior by a thick paper with the look of faux alligator (in 3-D!) This paper extends around the entire book including the spine and is folded over the edges and glued pretty firmly to the base.

Inside, both front and back boards are covered with what feels to me like a fabric (but could be just a different kind of paper) that extends out from the bound pages and does not continue across the spine of the cover. It's glued to the boards, although the glued has failed on the corner of one board (which is how I could see inside.)

The pages are sewn in groups to a canvas-like strip that runs down the spine but is not (or is no longer) glued to the spine part of the cover paper.

Here are the pictures:

 

BTW, I just realized that I called it a "Photo Album" in the thread title even though the title on the front of the book is "Post Cards" (and most of what is inside is post cards.) The pages have multiple slits to allow for variations in size and orientation, so it could certainly have held both.

 

Hi Bakersgma,
When I click on your photos the whole screen goes a light gray but no increase in size.
Is it me???? photo albums from the early part of the century had different slits since photos were different sizes by then as well as landscaped and portrait orientation.
greg

 

Hi,
Forgot to add, after removing the sewn in pages you could glue the metal part with rings from a new folder into the old spine. I saw where someone had riveted one into an old folder. I bought a package of the old black photo corners to hold paper currancy onto pages with the mylar sleeves. God I miss having spell check it makes me feel stupid. lol
greg

 

Hi greg!

I don't know what to say about the pictures. For me, clicking on the first brings up a "slideshow" sort of page, as I have found when viewing pics on other threads. They are "large web size" inserted as thumbnails, so they get much larger.

Do you know what kind of glue would have been used to attach metal to paper?

 

Hi,
I would use Gorilla glue to glue a piece of cardboard to the metal spine and then use Elmers to glue the cardboard to the paper. That way it would be reversable. I am old
school about things like that. Using the "newer" glue to new things. Old things need tried and true glues.
greg

 

Ah. I get it. Thanks.

 

Can you remove the cover by cutting the front and back like this?

 

I'm thinking that the next step would depend upon what's going to be inside. There are different types of new albums available, and each would probably need a different approach.

 

I believe that is definitely possible to do (from what I can see without completely loosening the "wings" that are glued to the inside of the boards.)

Pat - I'm going to go back to the art and frame shop next week to take a closer look at the choices they have available. I wasn't all that sure the person who helped me find the right section of the store understood what I was looking for.

 

You might want to look in a store that sells scrapbooking supplies like Michael's for albums, especially if you'd like to do creative things with the placement of the items and decorations surrounding them and/or use decorated paper for the pages.

If you go the album page route, in addition to the corner holders that Greg mentioned, there are clear plastic holders that are nice because they don't obscure what's under them.

Or if you'd prefer something simpler, Staples and other office supply stores have binders and pages with sleeves that can hold postcards and other items.

Whatever direction you go, I'd make sure the inner materials that will be touching your items are archival.

 

We have a similar situation with some of the photo albums in our tiny-museum collection, but not the cover separation issue. I took the following steps with our albums:

1) I scanned each page, so I could record the placement of the photos/postcards on each page and the sequence of the photos in the album. There were also brief descriptions under each photo and I didn't want to risk losing that identifying information
2) I did a high-resolution scan of each photo individually, so visitors could see the detail without handling the originals
3) Because the lignin in the black-paper pages is damaging the photos/postcards, I encapsulated each photo between (removable) pieces of Mylar, but left the top edge open so I could remove the photo if necessary. I then used small pieces of narrow double-sided tape to adhere the Mylar pockets to the original location on the page.

 

Oh I like that pocket idea! Thanks, morgen!

 

HERE are some instructions for making pockets for your postcards or photos. I use 1/4" wide double-sided tape.

 

Wow! That is quite a site. Excellent instructions.

 

Morgen, great ideas. I can see how photocopying the pages first could be very helpful.

Bakers, if you wanted to use something like what Morgen suggested but ready-made, in the past I've used archival pockets that are self-adhesive on the back. Here's something similar to what I used...

http://www.amazon.com/MOUNTS-Clear-...m_sbs_p_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1TJVFK3BD5E6P1M1ZC7C

 

Thank you both for your great advice and technical know-how!

I'm starting to think this project will turn out to be easier (and better) than I ever thought.

 

I hope you have fun with it.

 

I'm already having fun!

I was just flipping through to make sure there aren't any "outsize" cards (which it turns out there are) and realized that in the midst of the cards from my grandmother's grandmother's (my 2X great-grandmother) cross-country trip to visit her brother here in Seattle in 1909, there are a bunch from an earlier trip in 1903!

 

Excellent!

For the larger cards, I don't know if there are self-adhesive pockets available, but there are "continental" clear postcard sleeves that are larger than regular size.