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  • 1.  remounting photos in yearbooks, 1930's era

    Posted 04-02-2024 15:07

    Hello all! Thank you for your help in this question! We have several 1930's yearbooks, where the photos were pasted in.  Most of those pictures have come unglued and shifting around. The backs of the photos are yellowed with old glue, as are the very pages, which are basically newspaper.  I thought of wheat paste glue, but I wanted other peoples opinion of what should be used. TIA!



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    Alana Dunn
    Museum Director
    Eagle Museum of History
    City of Eagle, Idaho
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  • 2.  RE: remounting photos in yearbooks, 1930's era

    Posted 04-03-2024 11:36
    Dear Alana,
    Will you be able to contact a conservator to reattach these back? 
    Although wheat starch paste would be a good option, the moisture content and the condition of the photographs will affect the reattachment method and can result in accidental damage.
    If the reattachment is done by a technician, you may consider using adhesive corners that passed the PAT. Although there will be acrylic adhesive being placed in the original page, this method might be safer than applying any adhesive with a wet component such as starch.
    I hope this is of help and I look forward to other colleagues' comments on this.
    All my best.
    Luisa
     
     
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    Luisa Casella
    Photograph Conservator
    MAC, Fellow of AIC
    T: 585 281 3747







  • 3.  RE: remounting photos in yearbooks, 1930's era

    Posted 04-03-2024 17:28

    Hi Alana,
    As the acting C2C Care community monitor, I'd like to thank you for posting to the community. The caution about introducing moisture is important. The use of archival self-adhesive corners is a good suggestion if the supporting paper is stable and there is room. Are these yearbooks accessed regularly or often? The detaching adhesive gives you the opportunity to consider the long-term value and use of these books. Are they unique (no other copies available)? Perhaps scanning and providing a digital facsimile would work for long-term access. An experienced technician should be able to re-adhere these safely. You may want to check out some of the C2C resources, such as https://connectingtocollections.org/matting-and-framing-for-art-and-artifacts-on-paper/ to help inform next steps. 



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    Karen Jones
    Book and Paper Conservator
    Freelance/Private Practice/Self-employed/Independent
    Denver CO
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