Hello list, Thank you for your answers. I find the humidity issue interesting for this reason. The photos have been in a trunk, outside on a porch, in Oregon, for probably 50 years. If any of you know about the Pacific Northwest, low humidity is *not* a problem!! Its actually incredible that these photos are in as good a condition as they are considering where I found them. I wonder if placing them on a rack over some warm steamy water would hurt? JB Wilson in mostly damp Oregon :-) ------------------ > Reilly (Care and Identification of 19th Century Photographic >Prints) says that this is caused by low humidity and is a serious >problem. He doesn't say how to resolve it though. > I suggest getting the photos into proper humidity (Reilly says 30 >to 50%) and leaving them there for a while. The curl may go away >and if not the photos will be better able to take straightening. Do >not be in a hurry! > >Date sent: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 23:04:51 -0900 >From: JB Wilson <designs@hevanet.com> >Subject: [VINTAGE-PHOTOS] Old Photos - Curled >To: VINTAGE-PHOTOS-L@rootsweb.com > >> Hello list, >> Does anyone know of a way to flatten or straighten out old photos >> which have become curled up on the edges? These are on photographic >> paper circa 1907, sepia colored small photos which have not been >> stored properly and have become curled at the edges. I would like to >> straighten them out and store in acid-free sleeves. Any suggestions? >> Thanks bunches. JB Wilson, Beaverton, OR :-) >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ JB Wilson, Beaverton, OR, USA "Searching for the Living, Honoring the Dead" <designs@hevanet.com> Researching: Kangas, Eskola, Mattson/Matson, Makkonen, Aho, Runtujärvi, Barnes, Benedict, Crandle/Crandall, Miner, Ufford, Berry & Williams NY/PA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My opinion is that I'd place them in archival sleeves and lay them flat and place something heavy over them to see if they would "uncurl" or perhaps there is acid free tissue paper that could use to wrap them in while being pressed flat. Marti

I don't think you ought to force them flat. The most common type of Victorian print was made from albumen (egg whites). This is a thin surface on the top of the print that contains the actual photo. Forcing it flat will certainly crack that surface. Albumen has a wildly different water content than paper and you have to accommodate that difference. If any of you remember the behaviour of a bimetallic strip (high school physics lab?) you will realize what's going on and why photos curl. If you are going to flatten them, do so slowly (over weeks or months) and control the humidity. Date forwarded: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 00:44:57 -0700 Date sent: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 23:44:36 -0800 From: Marti Roe <martiroe@pacbell.net> Subject: Re: [VINTAGE-PHOTOS] Old Photos - Curled To: VINTAGE-PHOTOS-L@rootsweb.com Forwarded by: VINTAGE-PHOTOS-L@rootsweb.com Send reply to: VINTAGE-PHOTOS-L@rootsweb.com > My opinion is that I'd place them in archival sleeves and lay them > flat and place something heavy over them to see if they would "uncurl" > or perhaps there is acid free tissue paper that could use to wrap them > in while being pressed flat. Marti > > > ==== VINTAGE-PHOTOS Mailing List ==== > List problems? Contact the Vintage-Photos -List Mom > kathleenburnett@earthlink.net Use Kathleen as the subject line for > your post To learn more about my world visit > http://dwp.bigplanet.com/kburnett > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy > records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >

Ha! One should always ask the circumstances before offering advice!! You may have too much humidity. Which way are they curled: pic in or pic out? Try to get them into an environment with 30% relative humidity and see what they are like after a month. Date forwarded: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 23:36:40 -0700 Date sent: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 22:37:51 -0900 From: JB Wilson <designs@hevanet.com> Subject: [VINTAGE-PHOTOS] Old Photos - Curled To: VINTAGE-PHOTOS-L@rootsweb.com Forwarded by: VINTAGE-PHOTOS-L@rootsweb.com Send reply to: VINTAGE-PHOTOS-L@rootsweb.com > Hello list, > Thank you for your answers. I find the humidity issue interesting for > this reason. The photos have been in a trunk, outside on a porch, in > Oregon, for probably 50 years. If any of you know about the Pacific > Northwest, low humidity is *not* a problem!! Its actually incredible > that these photos are in as good a condition as they are considering > where I found them. > > I wonder if placing them on a rack over some warm steamy water would > hurt? > > JB Wilson in mostly damp Oregon :-) >