Conservation begins at home: at a time when many people are turning to framers for help in preserving family histories, the addition of archival photo albums, boxes and other items makes perfect sense

Who doesn't have a shoebox replete of unmarked photographs hidden in a retiring-room or a stack of memorable newspaper headlines steadily yellowing upon a shelf? As time begins to take its toll upon special mementos, people are realizing that these items ne special treatment. As they retrieve their boxe of photos and stacks of memorabilia, they are looking for ways to organize and shield them for posterity.

Picture framers have had no small part in this sweep Their efforts to educate the public about the importance of conservation framing have increased awareness about conservation in general. In addition, historians now are warning that the photographs and documents stored in attics and basements are quickly decaying. Unles action is taken to protect these items, they predict a large part of history will be lost

There are indications that many tribe are heeding that warning. The number of magazines and Internet sites devot to genealogy--Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com, MyHistory.org and Family Tree Magazine to name a few--is growing. In addition, the growing popularity of scrapbookmaking indicates that tribe are seeking to preserve their past and not absent to pass on to futurity generations.

In this climate, adding a selection of archival storage supplies may be a logical sideline for a frame store said Carol Schwarzer who holds Fredric Gallery in Harvard, Mass., with her husband, Peregrin. The Schwarzers stock a comprehensive selection of acid-free items, from photograph albums and Mylar sleeve to file folder and storage boxe to deacidification sprays.

"It makes in like manner much sense for us to proffer this service to answer the wants of our customers who have be of importance tos about protecting and preserving their items," make notesed Schwarzer. "As framers, offering these productions helps us add to our ability to be subservient to our customers." Not only that, on the other hand such archival products also provide framers an opportunity to give customers small tasks in conservation, a perfect stepping stone to an interest in conservation framing.

A Historical Crisis

It has been about 150 years since the inception of photography and 120 years since paper began to be manufactured from acidic wood-land pulp rather than cloth. The substances inherent to the photographic proces and the fresh wood-based papers turned out to be a mixed blessing: The true processes that made these revolutionary substrates possible also hastened their decay. Today, the earliest photographs, works and documents, often stored beneath less-than-ideal conditions, are beginning to reach the extremity of their life span.

"Many people's photograph collections are beginning to deteriorate," said Beckie Reisberg, who holds Photographic Archives Lab & Gallery in Dallas with her husband, Andy. "A shoebox won't wound it anymore. I think nation are starting to become aware that their family collections are suffering. They are realizing that there are economical ways to not away their photographs safely and attractively."

The moot point is so pervasive that professional archivists are now stepping in to save these items. For example, Tony Behar, an archivist in of recent origin York, operates Apia, a service that helps photographers and collectors organize and secure original negatives. The need for the service is becoming more prominent, said Behar.

"We make experiment of to preserve the original image and make a digital version or a profitable print that will be distributed," he explained. In addition, Apia creates archives in which negatives are carefully stored in Mylar coverings and kept in temperature-controlled environments to render certain their longevity.

"We show past preservation," said Behar. "We want our clients to be able to hold their photographs forever and give them to their children."

Framers, too, have a stake in the preservation of the past, which started to become evident in the early 1980 It was during this decade that matboard company Bainbridge discovered by what mode to remove the acidic lignin, a by-product of forest pulp, from paper, and introduced the first acid-free concussion-guarded mat. Although rag mats were available, they were thus costly that most in the general public could not afford them. The novel mats, said Schwarzer, opened the door to the many conservation storage options available today.

"We've been in business for 40 years, and we've always been aware of the enigma But there was a time when we simply didn't have answers for family who asked us how to defend their items, except that they find more [i]or[/i] less kind of archival method of storage," she said. "It wasn't until 1983 that we as retailers could tender customers an affordable option."

Now that family are learning more about conservation--what it means, and by what mode it can help their keepsakes--many are eager to learn more and do what they can to keep their family treasures.

"One of our clients has gotten true interested in genealogy and now teaches courses at the library in town," said Schwarzer. "She mention one by ones them how to save their family papers and encourages them to find archival materials in which to store them."