Hi again, They are curled in. Any suggestions for how to obtain/maintain a 30% humidity? I really appreciate the list and all the suggestions! Thank you all! JB Wilson :-) ------------------------- > 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 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 >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 :-) >> > > >==== 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At a seminar on conservation, I once heard that old curled/rolled photos could be put into a homemade humidity chamber. Take a 5 gal plastic pail and put water an inch or so in the bottom. Place a grill or grate above the water line and then stand the photo the pail and put the on. Check every few days, it might take a few weeks or maybe even 2 months but we were told they would unroll. One of the articles below explains that the paper and emulsion expand and contract at different rates-thus the curling. Interesting article under 'museums & galleries commission' then 'photographic materials' http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/genpub/ The NARA site says never to force a rolled photo to unroll, as once the emulsion cracks it will always be cracked. http://www.nara.gov/arch/faqs/aboutph.html The Minnesota Historical Society PDF on photographic materials http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/genpub/ http://aic.stanford.edu/treasure/photos.html JB Wilson wrote: > Hi again, > They are curled in. Any suggestions for how to obtain/maintain a 30% humidity? > > I really appreciate the list and all the suggestions! Thank you all! > JB Wilson :-) >

Hello list, I just wanted to thank all of you for the many ideas for uncurling my photos. Fortunately there are only a couple that I must deal with. I was pleased that my inquiry resulted in such a educational and spirited discussion. I think I'll try the least invasive (below) first and go from there. If and when I get them straightened out, I'll post to the list. Thanks again to all for your sage advice. JB Wilson ------------------ >At a seminar on conservation, I once heard that old curled/rolled photos >could be put into a homemade humidity chamber. Take a 5 gal plastic pail >and put water an inch or so in the bottom. Place a grill or grate above >the water line and then stand the photo the pail and put the on. Check >every few days, it might take a few weeks or maybe even 2 months but we >were told they would unroll. > >One of the articles below explains that the paper and emulsion expand >and contract at different rates-thus the curling. > >Interesting article under 'museums & galleries commission' then >'photographic materials' >http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/genpub/ > >The NARA site says never to force a rolled photo to unroll, as once the >emulsion cracks it will always be cracked. >http://www.nara.gov/arch/faqs/aboutph.html > >The Minnesota Historical Society PDF on photographic materials >http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/genpub/ > >http://aic.stanford.edu/treasure/photos.html > >JB Wilson wrote: > >> Hi again, >> They are curled in. Any suggestions for how to obtain/maintain a 30% >>humidity? >> >> I really appreciate the list and all the suggestions! Thank you all! >> JB Wilson :-) >> > > >==== VINTAGE-PHOTOS Mailing List ==== >We have over 223 members of the Vintage-Photos Mailing List. Posting back >to the list helps the whole group, not just one person. If we work as a >team, >we'll succeed as a team. >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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~