Storing Wartime Documents

Apologies for a late entry but now found the document I thought I had.

I went to a number of The British Aviation Preservation Council’s excellent “Stopping the Rot” conferences. The sixth (East Midlands Airport 18/11/95) included a presentation/paper by Peter Elliott, RAFMuseum entitled “Care and Conservation of Documents and Photographs” – I remember it well!* It runs to 5 A4 pages, realizes that many of the audience have to work on very tight budgets and includes useful addresses and some suppliers.

I know BAPC do have spare copies of SOME of the books made up of each STR and would perhaps supply one for a modest charge.

I would suggest e-mailing BAPC Secretary Brian Dixon at: [email]secretarybapc@blueyonder.co.uk[/email]
He will be very busy preparing for the next Council meeting on 22nd November so don’t be suprised if it takes a while for him to reply. If they have none left I would be happy to provide copies of the five pages with the Secretary’s “ok”

Roger Smith.

* I remember it well as, having listened to the speaker talking of storing documents in cardboard boxes, I asked for advice on preventing rodent attack. My question was listened to in amazement and I didn’t really get an answer and the subject was exluded from “questions from the floor” 🙁

JDK- thanks for the link to the AWM archival site.

Thanks! But it was Paul’s advised link, not mine. 😉

Stable conditions is the other critical item; so not too dry as well as not too damp; most docs have some moisture content, and you want to retain that, but erring towards dry is better.

If you have items like newspapers and wartime rationed paper, then you may be unable to preserve the original properly; making a copy while you can is smart. With digital cameras and scanners at the price they are, there’s no reason not to make digital ‘photo’ copies, and keep printed versions and digitally archived ones too. Cue remarks on digital degradation…

I think the point about storing them against acid free paper is key. I have an art print which was mistakedly framed with a non-acid free mat by the framer- amazing the damage it did in the 10 years it was in the frame (of course your source material may not be acid free to start with).

JDK- thanks for the link to the AWM archival site.

There is quite a lot of information on the Australian War Memorial website about conservation of wartime documents for the general public, follow the link below.

Cheers Paul

http://www.awm.gov.au/aboutus/conservation/documents.asp

Thanks for the quick responses.

On the Antiques Roadshow, they often talk about wrapping cloth and paper items in acid free paper and storing them out of light/heat/damp.

Do a google search for archival supplies, or ask a museum for suggestions.
To protect prints from sun damage, use UAV-proof glass…your local framing shop should be able to get some.

Good question Exdigger, Sorry I can’t help. I do have some manuals and smaller manuals from watime but not sure the”correct” way of storing them. I currently have the smaller ones in paper envelopes. Hopefully you get some feedback form others with the best ways of long term care of these items..

papers

Hi folks;
I keep my documents and such in a 1942 field map holder,
though it made of heavy canvas it keeps them flat out
of the sunlight plus keep’em in a cool place.My fav is a
nazi 1939 auto club map of germany ,blue cover with
the nazi flag and eagle.I’ve never seen anything else
like it.anyone else got something novel?:D