Howdy do! I have not been spending as much time on the family tree research as I had been, but when I dove into the dump that was my office earlier today, I found a tub of folders filled with pictures and document. I was shocked to find that many of them had started to stick to the inside of the folders. I immediately panicked. Well, wouldn’t you?
So, I spent the afternoon worrying about this and I came up with an absolutely brilliant plan. Brilliant I tell you. I have this really nice expensive laminating machine up on the closet shelf with boxes of laminating plastic. I will laminate all of those old documents and photos from the early 1900s. Go me!
Idiot!
Well, I am not totally without a clue and I have learned many valuable lessons in my travels. The most important one being that if I think the plan is brilliant, there is generally a flaw. So I did what any self-respecting person would do–I went to one of the groups I belong to on Facebook. Yeah, I know…but it turned out to be the right move.
I popped over to “Trees Between You & Me” and asked the pros if I had in fact come up with a brilliant plan. Bottom line–not so much. Turns out, if I had jumped into the frying pan I would have damaged my photos with the heat and the plastic laminating materials I have are not acid-free. Hmmm…who woulda thunk it?
So, the lovely Pat offered a link that explained about Preserving Old Photos and Documents so they will actually hold up over time. Polyethylene. I know, right! Using this wonderful type of plastic will protect the photos and documents from the nasty elements of our environment and keep them safe for generations to come.
So, thirty minutes later, after a foray into the wonderful world of Amazon.com, I have ordered three different sized plastic bags and a ream of acid free paper. Because I also discovered that the smart thing to do is to scan in all your documents before you pack them away and then print copies out on acid-free paper. Woohoo!!!! Brilliant!
Research Note:
The picture included with this post is of my great-grandparents, John Henry Baar (born: 17 Mar 1899 in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States) and Pearl Harrison (born: 15 Jan 1899 in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States).
Journey of the Heart 