How to store paper collections

I have a collection of travel brochures and booklets from the 1920s to the present. Right now they are just in boxes. I'd like to find a way to store them so they aren't just randomly lumped together. Maybe I haven't asked the right questions, but I can't find anything on Google to help. Any collectors here with advice?

 

I did a search on storing paper ephemera. Here are a few of the results, including one from the Library of Congress. I'll be interested to see what others here say about it. I have some of these sorts of things but haven't done anything special.

http://www.loc.gov/preservation/about/faqs/paper.html

http://www.ephemerasociety.org/news/news-caring.html

http://unfacilitated.preservation101.org/session5/prac_paper-doc_man.asp

 

Hi Bev,
If we all do as the sites say we will all be broke in a few weeks. The fastest way is to keep them in Mylar sleeves which have holes in the edge and keep them in three ring binders. It is IMPORTANT to use Mylar and not the cheaper plastics which give off fumes and break down. I have a few which fold over and open for larger booklets. I just put them with the fold where it is on the paper. I like to look at them occasionally that is why I use the binders. If I was going just to store them I would use the archival boxes but they are expensive. If they were very valuable documents it would be worth the price. Otherwise I do not have the money to "do it right". Oh course it works for me, you have to decide what to do. I can not tell you which is best just this works for me. I would be interested in otherways which people suggest.
greg

 

Pick the coolest driest place in your home....and if they're in a box, put it in a sealed plastic bag , and always keep it off the floor.

 

It all depends on how careful you want to be, and what you want to buy. The sites I linked mostly talk about proper care and storage conditions. The Library of Congress one included a link to the following page, which I should have included:

http://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/paper.html

And this one is good, although it's talking about photos rather than the types of things you are talking about.
http://www.archives.gov/preservation/family-archives/storing-photos.html

There are different types of Mylar (which is a brand name owned by the DuPont company). The real generic term is polyester film. According to this old article, not all Mylar is archival quality. http://cool.conservation-us.org/byorg/abbey/an/an13/an13-5/an13-507.html

They recommended using Mylar D, which apparently is no longer being produced by that name by DuPont. Other names for polyester film of archival quality are Melinex 516, Melinex 456, or SKC type SH72S.

 

Hi Fig,
I have not checked prices lately but 5 years ago I bought an archival box for some letters and photos from WWl it was 5"x9" and it was $31 and change. I ordered 100 Mylar sleeves from a company selling archival material and paid 12 bucks that was 20 years ago. I have a few of them left. Now I am concerned since they may not be the right ones. They still look clear and are flexible. All my newspaper clips I do with Maalox and club soda even the ones I did 40 years ago are fine.
At least they are kept clean no added rips or stains. Oh by the way I use the Maalox on cardboard covering the wooden backs of frames to keep it from harming the photos. The only thing I had done professionally was a large vellum land grant receipt from 1848. It has a stamp embedded with a tiny piece of silver to pay the tax. That was 25 years ago and was over 325 dollars.
greg

 

Greg, If the company was selling archival material I would imagine they are the right type of plastic.

Fig

 

Business liquidators and local auctions are always selling filing cabinets. The price is often almost paying you to take them away. I think someone gave me mine.

It came with heaps of paper file hangers or whatever they are called. I kept my ebay lots in it in listing order when I was selling, now I am not it's just sitting there but I think something similar would be fine for what you describe.

 

Hi AF,
I have absolutely NO ROOM for a file cabinet, perhabs a couple of inches for an old oak one
greg

 

I toss mine where ever they land

 

u do what ??

 

Well, I toss in various boxes but then they get lost in the hoard.

 

Davey - I gotta ask - what is the significance of the $1 bill? Or is it just because it's an American dollar?

 

I store mine the same way. Most of what I have are bills my uncle brought back from Europe after WWII

 

Aha. My husband looks at his coins. I'll have him start checking bills. Of course, we know if there are two in a row with the same number we're in trouble....