Post on 13-Feb-2017
Tamara TalanskyKatelyn Uehling
The following is a record of the treatment of over 750 postcards completed at the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts in 2009.
Courtesy: http://maps.pomocnik.com/photo/statue-of-liberty-new-your-liberty-island-usa
In 2007 The Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island contacted the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts after a flood damaged their exhibit of Statue of Liberty Postcards, which were displayed on six large wooden panels at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Originally adhered to the panels with pressure sensitive adhesives, many of the cards were vintage, dating from approximately 1900 through the 20th century.
on 6 Panels
There were a total of 797 postcards, including 42 cards which had detached from the panels during the flood. They came to The Center already dry. Conservator Joan Irving wrote the condition report, treatment proposal, and project estimate for the project. Treatment began on the project in 2009.
The postcards were printed using a variety of printing and photographic processes. Some had
embossed or stamped designs while others were embellished with glitter. Twenty-four postcards were
silver gelatin photographs and one had a tintype set into a printed image. The collection had many
postcards which had been written on and mailed with postage, while others had no inscription or
postage. Some postcards were adhered with the text side up, while others were pasted face down.
Viewed as a simple mass treatment project at first, we found that many of the cards had their own
unique challenges. The primary condition problems were related directly to exposure to water and
high relative humidity. Some of the more extreme problems found included cupping, liquid stains, and
discoloration.
Fading of printing inks was also evident in several cards, caused by prolonged exposure to light during exhibition. Most cards also had mechanical damages including creasing at the corners, abrasions, and delaminating at the edges. Some severely damaged postcards required special treatment. Our goal was to remove the cards safely from the panels, stabilize them, and return them to the Statue of Liberty National Monument individually sleeved and in boxes.
When the panels arrived at CCAHA in 2007, they were assigned numbers “1” through “6”. The loose
box of detached postcards was assigned the letter “L.” Once treatment began, we assigned each
card a number based on their location on the panel. The project was overseen by Senior
Photograph Conservator Barbara Lemmen and Senior Conservation Assistant Anna Yates Krain.
Senior Conservation Assistant Jilliann Wilcox was involved early on in the project to help determine
some of the treatment methods, which were carried out by Conservation Technicians Jennifer
Blomberg, Tamara Talansky, and Katelyn Uehling.
It was requested that we photograph a subset of the cards throughout the treatment process as there were so many cards in the collection and photographing each card would be impractical. Before we began to remove the postcards, an overall shot of each panel was taken. We selected a representative grouping of 12 postcards from panel 3 to be our “target group.” This group was photographed at every stage of treatment.
Our first step was to consolidate areas that were detaching or unstable, (such as flaking media, tears,
cracks, and glitter) using local applications of dilute methyl cellulose. This was completed prior to their
removal from the panels. Four additional postcards with extremely flaking binders were consolidated
after removal from the panels.
Loosened cards with metal spatula
Removed cards with Teflon spatula
We removed the postcards from the wood panels mechanically. Originally, a piece of mat board was
adhered to the back of each object with a white tape. This board was slightly smaller than each card,
ensuring that only a small portion of the white tape would actually touch each object. A pressure-
sensitive adhesive was then used to attach this mat board firmly to the panel. We separated the mat
board support from the wood panel with metal and Teflon spatulas.
This left the adhesive on the mat board exposed on the back of each card. We then divided the postcards
into boxes according to their panel numbers, placing a sheet of glassine between each card to prevent
them from sticking together while in the boxes.
After we removed the postcards from the panels, we used a scalpel to remove the mat board, leaving
behind a portion of the white tape. The tape holding the mat board to the postcards turned out to be
two different types of white linen tape: pressure-sensitive and gummed.
We removed the carrier for the pressure-sensitive tape using a hot air tool and a micro spatula. This
process took up the predominant amount of treatment hours, as most cards had this type of pressure
sensitive tape.
When skinning occurred during the removal of the carrier, we reattached it with dilute methyl
cellulose before attempting to remove the carrier a second time. Most cards in the collection
exhibited no skinning, while on some cards it was evident on almost the entire perimeter. With the
tackiness of the adhesive and the heavy bond holding the cards to the panels, in some cases skinning
was hard to avoid when removing the cards from the panels.
The residual adhesive was reduced with a crepe eraser and local applications of Ethanol when
necessary. Since the adhesive permeated the coating and sometimes the top paper layer of the card,
the tape was very difficult to remove.
Both types of tape adhesive created brown and pink staining, or in some cases caused inks and images
to bleed. The staining was only evident on a portion of the cards.
To remove the carrier and residual adhesive for the gummed tape we used deionized water or methyl
cellulose poultices. We left the adhesive on postcards with gummed tape if it proved too sensitive to
detach while damp. Due to the extreme tackiness of the adhesive, skinning was hard to avoid on all
but modern glossy cards.
Panel4
Surfaceclean
Consol. Mend Wash H+F Other
1 tear x
11 x x
29 After H+F x
42 After H+F x
33 tears X last
50 last accretion
71 tear last
75 photo
83 photo
89 photo sc
114 photo
140 photo sc
141 photo sc
Due to the diversity of printing methods, several postcards required extra attention. After the tape and
adhesive was removed, Barbara Lemmen checked the boxes to determine which postcards needed
further treatment and created a log for each box documenting the necessary steps. This slide shows
the log for Panel 4. Representative groupings of postcards were documented photographically before
and after each of these additional treatment steps.
•Aqueous Cleaning
•Dry Cleaning
•Adhesive/Accretion Reduction
•Humidification and Flattening
We began our additional treatments with surface cleaning. Some of the postcards which required
further treatment were 24 photographic cards. These showed signs of minor silver mirroring and
cracking of the gelatin binder at the comers. We separated them into four groups: Aqueous Cleaning
(with solvents); Dry Cleaning (with grated and sold white vinyl erasers); Adhesive/Accretion Reduction;
and Humidification and Flattening.
Adhesive/Accretion Reduction:
1:1 Solution of Deionized Water & Ethanol
The gelatin emulsion of each was surface cleaned using swabs with a 1:1 solution of deionized water and
Ethanol. They were then immediately placed in a humidity chamber, and dried between mat board and
non-woven fabric.
Adhesive Reduction Using Heptane
Testing with Ethanol and Water
When the photographs exhibited a sticky residue on the gelatin binder, the adhesives and other
accretions were removed with dry swabs and local applications of Heptane. Surface cleaning was tested
with grated and solid white vinyl erasers on many cards in the collection, but carried out on only a small
percentage of them. Since the dirt was embedded, dry cleaning could not reduce the grime in most
cases. Six representative postcards were documented before and after treatment.
Next we addressed cards which required additional tape removal and mending. Small pieces of older,
pressure-sensitive clear tape were removed from several postcards with heat and mechanical methods.
We mended tears and creases with methyl cellulose and wheat starch paste, reinforcing weak spots in
non-image areas when necessary.
Approximately 10% of the collection had local discoloration and liquid stains. Prior to immersion these
postcards were surface cleaned with grated white vinyl eraser crumbs, and then humidified between
Gore Tex fabric, under Plexiglas. We performed spot tests on many cards using water and/or 4% methyl
cellulose to determine their stability to immersion, resulting in a group of 14 stained postcards to wash
in calcium-enriched deionized water.
They were dried between non-woven fabric and blotters. Stain reduction was moderate to very
successful. Twelve representative postcards were documented before and after treatment.
•Photos
•Stable/Easy
•Unstable/Clay-coated
•Embossed/Glitter
Our next step was to humidify and flatten approximately 20% of the entire collection (150 cards). These
were postcards with significant planar distortions. This was the case for almost all of Panel 6. We
separated all cards needing humidification into piles or groupings according to their condition: Photos;
Stable/Easy; Unstable or Clay-coated cards; Those with Embossing or Glitter.
These groups were relaxed in humidity chambers with wet blotters and flattened between non-woven
fabric and mat boards. Cards with the most extreme distortions were pressed in felts. This also included
cards which were embossed or embellished with glitter.
We had to re-humidify and flatten two batches, or two chambers worth, of those cards which were
extremely distorted. Some of the most misshapen cards still retained some distortion after
humidification and flattening. Twenty-four representative postcards were documented before and
after treatment: 12 with glitter or embossing, and 12 without.
The final treatment dealt with the additional consolidation of four postcards. Two of these cards
exhibited extreme flaking on the surface, which required more aggressive techniques. When these cards
had arrived at CCAHA, they were already fully fractured and had suffered substantial losses.
•2% Methyl Cellulose•Burnished with Teflon-tipped Tool
The first postcard was a photographic tintype which was consolidated with a 2% solution of methyl
cellulose, followed by using a Teflon-tipped burnishing tool.
•5% B-72 in Acetone •10% B-72 in Acetone/Ethanol•Burnished with Teflon spatula
The printing inks of a second postcard were severely flaking and cracking due to its contact with high
relative humidity and the drying that followed while at the Ellis Island Museum. With the help of
Senior Conservator Soyeon Choi and the stereo microscope, we were able to work toward the proper
treatment. After several attempts to consolidate the card using various binders and application
techniques, it was determined that the appropriate method was to consolidate by coating the surface
with 5% B-72 in Acetone and 10% B-72 in a 1:1 solution of Acetone and Ethanol. It was then burnished
with a Teflon spatula. This ensured that the media would stay in place.
•Humidification & Flattening•Sizing with 1% Methyl Cellulose
Finally, after being humidified and flattened, two additional postcards were consolidated overall with
dilute methyl cellulose since their printed surfaces were slightly friable.
Once we had completed all treatment on the postcards, we housed the collection in clear polyester sleeves and archival boxes. Using a permanent black marker we wrote the location number of each card on the upper right corner of the enclosure. The location number was then erased from the postcard before it was inserted into the sleeve. Once sleeved, the cards were placed into two alkaline postcard boxes with archival corrugated dividers every few inches to keep the postcards upright. Additional boards were added to the back of each box to ensure a secure fit. The cards were shipped back to the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island on March 15, 2010.