Some Common Enemies
This article originally appeared
in Exchange,
a newsletter published by the Wisconsin
Historical Society. (Volume 26, Number
3, May/June 1984) It is the 16th in
a series of articles titled Conservation
Corner.
The series features information about maintaining
an adequate environment for the storage and exhibition
of historical collections, employing proper collection
care techniques, and recording and cataloging historical
collections.
The article was written by Tom McKay,
retired local history coordinator for
the Wisconsin Historical Society.
To everyone who has accepted, as reported in this column, that tape is public enemy number one in historical collections - now comes the bad news. Tape is not alone. Many materials which are taken for granted in everyday use become the causes of damage to collections in local historical societies. Luckily, a few simple precautions can avert most potential damage from everyday materials.
Ordinary pins, staples, and paper clips are, in ordinary circumstances, innocent little devices, but not so in collection with historical collections. Most pins, staples, and paper clips are made of steel wire. Over the years they rust and, left in contact with collection items, they leave rust stains. Few stains are as irreversible as rust, and the majority of historic items with rust stains have received them from pins, staples, or paper clips. Good storage procedures such as those described in the article "Storing Your Collections: Following Through" should eliminate the need for steel staples and paper clips in collections of documents and papers. Likewise, the advice on attaching accession numbers to fabric items presented in the article "Tape" should reduce the use of pins. When pins must be used with fabrics for temporary purposes, be sure to buy stainless steel straight pins.
Worse than the pin is the pen. The pen may or may not be mightier than the sword, but few people will rip into their museum collection with a sword. Pens are so universally taken for granted that many people have used them to mark historical documents and papers without a second thought. An ink mark on paper is often irreversible, and historical museums must try to avoid any treatment of historical objects that cannot be reversed. As a further complication caused by ink, the marks may hamper conservation treatment of paper documents. Ink that cannot be completely removed may, nonetheless, bleed during immersion in water or other solvents and cause a worse mark.
Finding photographs with captions or keys marked on the surface with a pen is surprisingly common. Never write or trace on the surface of a photograph with any instrument. If a photograph needs a key to identify people or places, photocopy the photograph and write on that copy. The next person who uses the picture in an exhibit, publication, or slide presentation will thank you.
Rubber bands also manage to find their way into the wrong places. Manufacturers do not make rubber bands with the idea that they should last forever. A rubber band used to bundle historic items together gradually deteriorates and eventually breaks. The materials intended to be held together are loose and probably marred. Acid-free folders and boxes are the proper tools to keep historic papers together. Every good museum should be filled with food for thought. However, restrict other types of food. If you insist on a cup of coffee and a donut while cataloging artifacts or installing an exhibit, greasy fingerprints and all manner of stains will find their way onto your society's collection. Food crumbs also make ideal meals for insects and rodents. Unfortunately, they are rather indiscriminate eaters and will move on to a second course of historical materials when they have finished with the crumbs. Keep food in the kitchen or the volunteers' break room and be sure to wash your hands and clean up crumbs before returning to work with the collections.
Coffee breaks, rubber bands, pens, pins,
staples and paper clips are all so common
that developing bad habits around the
museum collection is easy. An old reprimand
we all heard as kids goes, "You wouldn't
do that at home, would you?" Those of
us who work with historical collections
sometimes need to remind ourselves that
even if we would do something at home,
we shouldn't necessarily do it in the
museum. |
