Photo Archival Sleeves

[Fred Schneider]

Let me add a little something to what Ed has already said ... his statements
are on the mark but require just a little extra.

Films coated on cellulose nitrate base were available into the 1950s ... as
long as both nitrate base and cellulose accetate base stock were available
at the same time, those on acetate were marked "safety film" in the margin
while nitrate base stock was not identified in any way to disclose its
flammable nature.  

Nitrate film stocks ... used for most railfan images in the 1940s and
earlier ... is highly combustible. It must be allowed to breath ... the film
must be stored on edge, in paper sleves, preferably loosly stored, and
having the top edge of the envelope slit open helps as long as the film
cannot be contaminated with dust.  If improperly stored, nitrate films can
rapidly decompose into a jelly like mass that tends to have some of the
characteristics of dynamite.  Films that were not properly fixed and washed
only make the problem worse.   

Sheet films (4x5, 5x7, 8x10 and so forth) used a much thicker base which
tends to exacerbate the problem.  I remember an old photo studio/camera
store/novelty store in Lancaster that closed the studio part of the business
in 1940 (their best cameraman was prone to consume combustible liquid
refreshments and replacements were not easily found in WW2).  All of the
films were stored in the worst possible way ... when I saw them in 1965 they
were stored flat in boxes stacked up five feet high ... the lower ones
contained film that had decomposed to the point where spontaneous combustion
was not an improbable consequence.  Of course, all the weight didn't help
the glass plates either.   There was enough film in that stairwell to lift
the roof off the building and land it 300 feet away in Penn Square.  It is
now in a local hysterical society, perhaps in no better storage conditions.


There are chemical flotation tests which will identify nitrate base stock.
There is also a simple means ... a small string sized piece of film cut of
the end of a negative and ignited with a match in an ash tray will smolder
and go out of its own accord if the film is sodium acetate.  It will burn
like a fuse if the film is sodium nitrate.  In large does, combustion is
very fast.  I've been told by a projectionist in a movie theater that he had
some experience watching an 800 foot long reel of 35mm motion picture film
(20 minutes to the reel) vanish into a cloud of highly toxic gasses in
seconds.  Caution:  The fumes from burning sodium nitrate are toxic. 

Now that I've shared the skit out of all of you,  you should be aware that
roll films were always thinner and therefore breath much easier that sheet
films.  I would not worry too much about small quantities of  roll films
except to insure that they are stored vertically and can breath.  Most
people age 60 and under never used any non-safety film.  Those of you who
amassed large collections in the 1930s, particularly those who acquired
other peoples collections in addition to their own, might wish to consider
storage in fire proof vaults. 

Kodak dealers (at least those classified as stock house dealers) can sell a
book published by Kodak on the care and preservation of films.    

		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Edward H. Lybarger [mailto:twg at pulsenet.com]
		Sent:	Monday, February 14, 2000 10:46 AM
		To:	pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
		Subject:	RE: Photo  Archival  Sleeves

		As long as the word "vinyl" doesn't appear anywhere, they're
probably OK.  I
		use primarily polypropylene, though polyethylene works but
is softer.
		Plastic is fine for safety film stored  in air-conditioned
environments
		(excessive heat can cause the negatives to ferrotype to the
sleeve).  If you
		have any nitrate negatives (nitrate-based film not sold
after about
		1950-51), they should be kept in buffered paper so they can
breathe.

		I like plastic because I can see the negative easily.

		-----Original Message-----
		From: owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
		[mailto:owner-pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org]On Behalf Of
Jim Holland
		Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2000 8:21 PM
		To: PRCo -- WP -- JTC -- The Big *3*
		Subject: Photo Archival Sleeves


		Greetings!

			Plastic sleeves specifically for storing photographs
in various sizes
		are on the Market.
			I notice that Avery, an extremely well know paper
products company,
		sells *Heavyweight Sheet Protectors* and the box says that
they are
		*Archival safe; Won't lift print; Acid free.*
			The box says nothing about photo usage - just paper.
Would it be safe
		to store photographs in these sleeves?  They seem
considerably less
		expensive than a comparable product sold in photo shops and
are
		available at places like Staples and Office Depot.

		James B. Holland
		------- -- ---------
		        Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo), June of 1949 --
June of 1953
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