16 replies to this topic

[275 GTB-4]

We all tend to accumulate magazines. What is the best way to store tehm so they will last and not be eaten by silverfish or all stick together in a gooey mess?

Archive boxes seem useless as they are open to attack by vermin ...

Eucalyptus Oil stinks the house out!!

Lavender is to fiddly.....

HELP!!!

[Martyj]

Mylar (sp?) bags are quite common among magazines collectors of all stripes. They've been very effective preserving my old magazine in an area of my basement where I also store books, which have picked up a moldy smell over the years.

[D-Type]

The main problem is damp. I don't have that many so I keep them in the loft so they get baked in summer and frozen in winter but its basically dry.

I keep them in plastic trays 'liberated' from work. Each one takes a year of Motor Sport. I believe they are called magazine trays. As the air can circulate around them the contents don't get too damp.

Once a book or magazine picks up that musty smell, is there any way to get rid of it?

[Rob Ryder]

Originally posted by D-Type
Once a book or magazine picks up that musty smell, is there any way to get rid of it?

Send them all to me!!

[D-Type]

Originally posted by Rob Ryder

Send them all to me!!

Not on your nellie!

[WDH74]

Jeez, I've just been letting the zillions of old car mags sit around my room in stacks, IN THE OPEN AIR! Other than the fact that they start to bend near the binding from laying flat, they seem in fine shape- the very first issue of Classic and Sportscar I bought (June '88) is none the worse for wear than the last time I'd dug it out, a year or so ago. Frequent vacuuming helps, but no evidence of anything eating them (other than the couple of issues my cat got to).
As for storing them, I've recently begun sorting out this mess-I'm keeping C&S, MotorSport, and The Rodder's Journal, and need to store them. A member of another forum I'm on suggested Rogers Magazine Holders. They're long strips of plastic, about an inch and a half wide by thirteen long. There's a long slot about quarter inch wide running most of the length of the strip, with three hole punches on the other side. You open the magazine about halfway, and slip the pages through the slot in the plastic, gently sliding it down till it snugs up against the binding. The three hole punched side will be on the outside of the binding. Pick up a four or five inch D-ring binder, and away you go. Certainly not as elegant as having them bound properly, but I can get two binders, two packs of the plastick doohickeys, and bind up twenty odd issues for well under thirty bucks. The plus is, you can open the binder and remove just one issue to peruse, rather than having to go through a whole book.
-William

[Frank S]

I'd expect it wouldn't hurt to put whatever binder or bin you settle on into a plastic storage bag with a vacuum cleaner fitting. Advertised for clothing storage, the illustrations show compacted and air-deprived sweaters and whatnot. Presumably the continued absence of air will indicate a concomitant absence of vermin. Clear plastic, so contents could be determined before breaking the vacuum. Storage state reinstated simply and economically.

Costco was selling a set at about 30 USD: a regular, two or three mediums, and a large, I think I remember. Next time I'm there I'll investigate actual dimensions. Maybe buy a set. If they don't seem useful for automobilia storage, I bet one would be perfect for my annoying little dog.

[Ron Scoma]

IKEA makes cardboard magazine holders, they're 5 for $2.95, that hold between 6 (C&SC) to 24 (prewar Motor Sport) issues each, upright, on a bookshelf. For those of us who are anal-retentive IKEA also makes a very nice wooden magazine holder that can usually be had for $2.95. Unpainted and unstained beech these are ideal, they are the same size as the wooden ones but a bit more elegant. But if you have any sort of decent collection their cost really adds up.
I keep all printed matter in my heated, AC, and dehumidified house. I think paper put into an attic, basement, or garage is pretty much doomed.
Be careful with plastic bags as some of them leach chemicals. Go for archival quality. More expensive, but less than a copy of the September '34 issue that was ruined by improper storage.
There's a book called At Home with Books ISBN 0-517-59500-1 that has a nice resource directory. Essential for those of us who refuse to contribute to landfills....
Kind Regards,

Ron Scoma

[robert dick]

Just a remark :
A few year ago, the Bibliothèque Nationale/Paris made some “high tech” trials to conserve the old books :
In the Rhône valley there is a chemical extraction plant using supercritical (= pressure of around 400 bars) carbon dioxide to treat the used rods of nuclear reactors. In this extraction plant the old books were treated by supercritical CO2, with the result that the acids, which are responsible for the deterioration of the paper, were extracted but the smell of the old paper conserved (to conserve the smell was a very important factor in the treatment).
Of course this method is extremely expensive, too expensive even for an institution like the Bibliothèque Nationale, and not applicable for private use.

[Doug Nye]

The Collier Collection in Naples Florida has a wonderful consultant librarian who is one of the USA's very few licensed conservators acceptable to the Smithsonian. Ray demonstrated to me once his standard accession process on new acquisitions which began with close inspection for insect infestation, followed by careful cleaning. For starters a wipe over with a hardly-damp soft cloth certainly cheers up an old poorly-stored magazine. Ageing paper turns brown and develops brown patches known as 'foxing'. These are created by the acids within the paper itself as Robert has mentioned above. There are museum and library preservative sprays available on the open market - you can find them by a quick Google around the Internet (he said, having only learned of this activity from you chaps here at TNF over the past few months) - and they apply an alkali neutraliser to the paper which stops further acid deterioration in its tracks. You will notice how poor quality cheaper paper is more prone to acid browning than better quality gloss paper. Pre-World War 1 magazines have often survived far better than post World War 2 mags on austerity-quality 'furry' paper.

Binding runs of magazines - or even incomplete but large collections of same - is by far the best method of conservation and preservation for many years, simply by protecting them from further damage. It can be expensive but it really need NOT be. It's a matter of shopping around for a local jobbing binder who's willing and enthusiastic and competent enough to take on the job for you. I even have bound 'Motoring News' volumes which if they fell on you in bed would kill you stone dead. Our local binder hates doing them - it makes his arm sore from having to reach down inside the big volume to stitch the spines - but it's the only proper way to keep them...though it does make future photo copying of individual pages pretty darned difficult.

Some great clear film cover protection products are now available on the market - and when I can unearth the leaflet from the manufacturer of the stuff I use I'll post it here...sorry for this rather inconclusive end to what was meant to be a helpful post...I thought I had the identifying leaflet to hand - and I don't. Darn it.

De-acidification - however - is the real key to long-term legible preservation.

DCN

[Roger Clark]

I agree with Doug about binding. A local binder will do a good quality job for £12 a volume. A year's Motor Sport, or six month's Autosport (50s and 60s) fit comfortably into a volume. Later Autosports need four volumes a year.

[2F-001]

I've had a lot of magazines bound in the past and it certainly makes them easier to store and refer to at home - but to take stuff to show and share (or copy) is a pain. I've not had much bound of late for a variety of reasons... I can't really afford it (I agree it need not be an expensive process, but right now I can't afford it - two different things altogether!)... also there hasn't been so much of late that I'm utterly convinced I want to keep (maybe I just read the wong stuff!). With more recent stuff, magazines that are flush thermo-adhesively bound ('perfect' bound - is that a misnomer, or am overly cynical?) are a different prospect for binding into volumes, with the danger of losing too much of the 'gutter' margin.

I had a load of binding done by a chap named Malcolm Green (?) (who believe is/was a dealer too) in the UK whom I found via Frank Stroud at Chaters. Does anyone know of Malcolm and if he is still around?

I have a fair number of 'Car + Driver' from the sixties - which I collect and keep partly for general interest, but principally for the wealth of Chaparral stuff in them and also as examples of editorial design and layout (a component of my 'professional' life). In the latter consideration, each one is an interesting artifact in it's own right - aside from the content, the feel and presence of the individual issue is a part of its aesthetic and 'ergonomic' (not precisely the right term) qualities along with the layout, typography (my 'thing' really) and presswork. I know the whole volume is a body of work, the the single is issue is how it was ushered into the world. For that reason, too, I'm reluctant to bind them. I appreciate that this particular bibliographic fascination is somewhat off-topic, but I'm sure I'll not not be alone in this interest.

I'd be interested in others' views of Car + Driver, as it isn't so often referred to here. But I guess a new thread would be best for that...

I've also heard that binding up into volumes greatly reduces the monetary value of magazines, but this I'm not so fussed about that.

(Whilst I do have this 'other' outlook on books/magazines as artifacts, or works of design or communication, or however one describes it, it tends to be confined to examples where the subject/content is interesting to me.)

[2F-001]

If you have collections of individual pieces, such as magazines, letters, photos, promo pices, bills etc that are particulary precious to you, you can get archival boxes - like smart file boxes but made from, and lined with, acid-free paper. This doesn't address the problem of acids and stuff in the item itself, but as Doug point out older stuff is often on better stock to sart with, and every little helps.

Xeroxs and laser copies are the devil to deal with... especailly older ones which fade away. Put photocopies into plastic sleeves and the image migrates onto the plastic... what do you chaps do with that stuff? Are more recently created ones any better?

[275 GTB-4]

Originally posted by 2F-001
If you have collections of individual pieces, such as magazines, letters, photos, promo pices, bills etc that are particulary precious to you, you can get archival boxes - like smart file boxes but made from, and lined with, acid-free paper. This doesn't address the problem of acids and stuff in the item itself, but as Doug point out older stuff is often on better stock to sart with, and every little helps.

Xeroxs and laser copies are the devil to deal with... especailly older ones which fade away. Put photocopies into plastic sleeves and the image migrates onto the plastic... what do you chaps do with that stuff? Are more recently created ones any better?

Thanks 2F for the hints.....

For photocopies etc you can get COPYSAFE plastic pockets that are mean't for ring binders (stops the migration!)

Cheers

[Ray Bell]

Racing Car News used to supply binders for serious collectors of the magazine... these had frames across the top and bottom of the spine with wires to contain the magazines.

This method enables you to remove any issue you may want to copy or take somewhere on occasion, and I've been using it since 1972. My magazines have had a serious workout in that time, constantly being referred to and also enduring many house moves.

I'd recommend this style of binder for magazines, but they don't address the acid content issues, and you still have to be careful in the handling of the pages.

[Ron Scoma]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
Racing Car News used to supply binders for serious collectors of the magazine... these had frames across the top and bottom of the spine with wires to contain the magazines.

I have seen many old copies held like this with wires that have rusted and stained the magazines.
I guess stainless steel would solve the problem and shouldn't cost more than a few dollars per year, if that, for protection.
Cheers,

Ron Scoma

[Phil Harms]

I store my Speed Age collection in sheet protectors. Be sure they are non-PVC and archival quality. All issues fit in the 8/5 x 11 size except for 1951 fit OK. Those I have had to slit the end of the protectors.