Somewhere in the early to mid 1990's I had gathered the story of one branch of my family. The McBees. Along with the story I had gathered photos from the mid to late 1800's, identified many of the subjects in them, and was looking for some way to safely keep and display them. (Identifying the subjects in these photos is a story for another day.) Of course frames with UV glass were potentially the safest place but impractical in practice considering the number of photos I had. Boxes of them, boxes and boxes and boxes!
A concern at the time for most genealogists when trying to preserve these pictures was exposing them to light. The concern was so great we were careful not to photograph or copy them. No one even had scanners yet! Even so, all three mediums required a bright flash of light that was believed to cause the photos to fade faster. The practical solution seemed to be a scrap book.
In most craft stores the selection of photo albums was limited to what I have always called sticky pages. Remember those? We all had them and just try taking a photo out of one of those things now. I knew I was not going to put my 100+ year old pictures in one of those! These horrible photo albums were beginning to be on their way out but real scrap booking materials were not easily found, unless you knew someone, which I did not!
It seemed to me these photographs were a work of art which is what led me to a local art store. There I learned that some people were preserving photos and making scrap books. Nothing like what we do today, but I found a source for acid free paper which was huge! I had read about acid free paper some where. Ah, but how to bind the acid free paper? The beautiful embossed leather albums from the early part of the century were no where to be found. But in the art stores I learned that people were making the actual album covers too.
After a nice chat with the sales lady where I obtained loads of information (no they did not have a class for this) I returned home armed with my acid free paper More, I had silk paper and very heavy card board for making the album itself. Did I forget to mention that my instructions also included 'sewing' the binding of my album together?
This was an arduous project and frankly it was a bit of a lonely project. My immediate family understood why it was important to me because they understood the genealogy work I had done. Beyond that small circle I think my friends believed I had slipped a cog. They certainly had no interest in joining me and 'having fun'. . But, once completed it was to me a great accomplishment. One I might attempt again....some time. But not too terribly soon.
The boxes and boxes of pictures remained in their boxes for several years. It is just as well that they did. Today I have no worries about scanning a photo. That is likely the best image that will ever be preserved as long as it is well backed up. Of course new photos are already digital! There are far more beautiful papers, great layouts, ways to embellish and journal. Oh, something else I didn't have back then ... the Internet of course! No email, no Google, no Facebook, no blog. I actually believe a lot of us were facing the same challenges and opportunities alone back then. Well, the rules have changed now!
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