Advice on preserving and storing damp cards etc

Question

Further clearing of my late parents' house has uncovered more treasures! There is an old wooden writing case that held, amongst other items: my paternal grandmother's Christening and Confirmation certificates, my father's and uncle's school reports, a postcard my uncle wrote from the 1951 World Scout Jamboree in Austria and several old photographs.

Also found were were two old postcard albums, mainly cards sent to my maternal grandmother pre-1914. At first I estimated there to be about 200 cards but after flicking through the first album there could be 500 or more.

The problem is everything is slightly damp and musty having been left in an old garage, possibly since 1983 when they last moved house. Is there a way to carefully dry all this without the aroma of damp card pervading my house?

Keeping this amount of material might prove difficult in the long term but I want to review it all before deciding on what are important records and what may be of interest to a collector.

Answer 1

Considering the age of the documents, you definitely need the assistance of someone who is well versed in preservation if intend to keep these long term.

Just a note, I am not an expert on Historical Preservation, but I have done this process myself on the advice of a local preservationist for some of my own family documents, heirlooms, and keepsakes. Your mileage may vary - no warranty expressed or implied!

It is very possible the albums themselves are the source of the odors. If the postcards themselves are not wet (I am hoping the use of "damp" does not mean water damaged?) you could remove the postcards and place them into individual zip-lock bags and then freeze them for 72 hours. This will help to kill any active mold that may be present and causing odors.

After 72 hours, remove the postcards from the freezer and immediately remove them from the zip-lock bags (leaving them in the bags straight out of the freezer will attract moisture). Lightly brush each one with a natural bristle brush to remove any possible traces of mold. Once they are cleaned, you can then place them into archival sleeves (avoid your typical PVC sleeves at all costs).

Comments

Thank you Steve, I will try the freezer treatment over the next few days. 

No, the cards were not water damaged, just been in a less than perfect atmosphere for several years.

It will take some time to treat all the postcards, then sort them into chronological order, but it might provide some useful family information. For instance it should be possible to tie down a change of address to within a few weeks as my grandmother's friend (fiancé?) wrote very frequently.

From a previous album, in much better condition, I identified a hospital stay, probably with TB. When researching family history it certainly does pay to check every possible document.