How do you store and preserve old newspapers?
Question:while cleaning out the attic, we found some old news papers (circa 1940's). They were folded into plastic bags, placed in boxes and stored with moth balls. What is the best and easiest way to preserve these papers so that they do not disintegrate?
Answers:
Lets see, they lasted sixty years the way they were...
Light will disintegrate the paper. so will exposure to air. So, seal them and keep them dark. Get as much air out of the bags as you can, and low humidity would help. The real story is that there are acids in the paper, it is the cheapest paper available, so you won't be able to stop the decomposition. If you really wanted to, you could possibly soak or spray them with a chemical sealer, kind of an epoxy, Lucite, or polymer base. It would be quite expensive, and hardly worth the trouble. To give you perspective, the Declaration of Independence is stored in a vacuum container. No air, no moisture. Its still fading.
Good luck. My Y2K newspaper that I saved is doing well in a large zip lock in a covered art storage box. I put it in on new years eve, outside in the cold (low humidity) and I think my kids will get a kick out of it when they get it in many years...
Good luck.
P.S. don't touch it too much, oil from your hands...
Hi, call your local archives for newspapers,or even the newspaper office that puts out your newspaper,and ask them for advice. The National Archives would have that information.Bye
buy a scrap book and, acid and lignine free paper.put the articles on the paper and that will keep them from deteriorating more.
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