Great Read: The Museum of Obsolete Technology

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Alexander Stille is one of my favorite writers. Here is a link to the first essay of his that I ever read. I discovered it while I was in grad school over a decade ago, and I never forgot it. It's free to read, and I hope you enjoy it.

Free Online Essay:
Are We Losing Our Memory? Or The Museum of Obsolete Technology

This essay comes from a collection called The Future of the Past. I devoured the entire book earlier this year and I can't recommend it highly enough. It's a fascinating look at the big picture of historic preservation. If you like the free essay in the link above, you'll probably enjoy the entire book:

Discussion Topic: Do Replicas Count?

This was one of the most interesting points of Stille's book...

In China, it's considered preservation to rebuild crumbling treasures. Since the new parts are in the same style, they make no distinction between the original and the copy. Stille talks about how this cultural difference has caused problems when treasures go on exhibit to western museums. Westerners don't want a copy, they want what they consider to be the only authentic copy...the original.

What do YOU think?

• Would you feel cheated if you went to a museum that only had replicas?
• Would it make a difference to you if the reproductions were created using the same tools as the original?
• Does it bother you if your historic family photograph is a modern print from a recent scan and not the original antique?
• What is lost when you create a copy?
• What is gained when you create a copy?
  

Sound off in the comments section, below.

Oh, and feel free to leave your comments about Stille's Museum of Obsolete Technology essay if you like. I'd love to hear what you thing about it.

SLAIGAT: Using strong chemicals to clean photos

SLAGIAT = "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

In the past, conservators used poisons like cyanide and arsenic (!) to kill insects and other pests. Even though they didn't always work. Eeeek. After apologizing for preaching to the converted, a conservator on a professional email list had this to say:

More than one of the chemicals that were considered safe early in my career have been discredited because many existing "approved" fumigation facilities were, in fact, unsafe, because the chemicals affected the chemistry of objects over time, or because there is continued off gassing from the treated object.

What seems like a good idea today may cause real harm in the long run.

This is precisely why I never recommend chemical solvents to clean prints or film. Even though professional photographers do this regularly. My argument is this: It might look better today, but what will happen 10, 50, 100 years from now? Better safe than sorry.

This is also why I urge you to wear cotton gloves when handling photographs. That fingerprint might not look so bad today, but it could start eating into the emulsion one day down the road.
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Clickety Clack!

I have a weakness for obsolete technology in general, and typewriters in particular.

This is a marvelous video about a small family owned business, remarkable customer service and (of course) clickety clack:



Got a typewriter story or memory you'd like to share? Use the comments section!

How to organize pamphlets and protect them at the same time

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This video from UNC-Chapel Hill reveals a neat-o way to store fragile pamphlets upright on a book shelf. If you want to get fancy, you can scan the original cover and attach a printout to your new cover. You can even add an edge label so you will know the title without opening anything up. Why should you bother?

Less Handling = Less Damage

With this system, the pamphlet lives in a custom envelope, so it stays dust free. Why is it important to keep dust away? My years as an archivist and my former career in a used book store showed me that if you wait long enough? Dust turns into gritty dirt. And not only is dirt is more difficult to clean -- the grit can scratch and permanently damage your treasures as you attempt to clean it. D'oh!

Dust = Dirt = Damage

Another advantage of this system is that it protects ephemeral items from UV rays.

Light = Damage

Tag! I'm it...

10 Years Ago I..

1. Hand coded my first website.
2. Received my Master's in Library Science with a Specialization in Archives Management.
3. Began my job as Assistant Corporate Archivist / Image Researcher at American Girl.
4. Turned thirty.
5. Married the love of my life.

Five Things on Today's To-Do List

1. Wake up my kids, make them breakfast and pack lunches for them, walk with them to the bus stop.
2. Shower, make myself breakfast, pack my lunch, and catch the city bus to my day job.
3. While waiting for the bus, call my Mom to figure out what we're doing about Thanksgiving since the usual family hosts are escaping to Australia this year.
4. Write this post and (finally) update my Practical Archivist blog.
5. Find an open reel machine that plays 1/4 inch tape -- both 1/2 track and 1/4 track. (Figuring out exactly what that means was on my To Do list earlier this week. So was learning that nobody manufactures machines like this anymore.)

Five Snacks I Enjoy

1. Curry chips
2. (Very) dark chocolate
3. Nicoise olives
4. Salami and cheese
5. Homemade popcorn ...the best thing about not replacing our broken microwave!

Five Places I've Lived

1. Chicago, IL
2. Glencoe, IL
3. Madison, WI
4. Arlington, VA
5. Dublin, Ireland

Five Jobs I've Had

1. Short Order Cook (a.k.a. hamburger flipper)
2. Pasta Maker
3. Staple Puller*
4. Historical Image Researcher
5. Audio Archivist

*Worst. Job. Ever.

Five Blogs I Tag

1. Family Matters (Denise Olson)
2. Family Oral History (Susan Kitchens)
3. Tracing the Tribe (Schelly Talalay Dardashti)
4. Shades of the Departed (footnote Maven)
5. Heart and Craft of Lifestory Writing (Sharon Lippincott)

Assuming tag-backs aren't allowed, I want to be sure to mention two of my favorite bloggers, Lisa of Genealogy Gems and Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective. Thanks for tagging me and getting me out of blogging retirement!

Learning to date old photographs

[NOTE: This post originally appeared one year ago, July 30, 2007.]



Last year, Randy over at Genea-Musings found this wonderful photographic treasure in his Aunt Geraldine's papers. He asked for input from readers to help date this pair of cased photographs. Randy's post contains some great resources to help you date old photographs, so be sure to stop by. It's nice to have resources pooled together like that. Thanks, Randy!

Dating old photographs is a very effective way to help identify who is in the photo. If you can narrow it down to a decade and you know your family tree, it's much easier to figure out who is pictured in an unmarked photograph.

Here are two great books that will help you date your photographic treasures.


Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs
by Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective

As far as I'm concerned, Maureen Taylor is the Supreme Maven of Photo Dating. Lucky for us, she shares her expertise in easy to understand books written with genealogists in mind. This updated version of one of her classics is a must-have for every family archivist.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Every single rating on Amazon.com is 5 out of 5. Here's the first review, click here to read them all.

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A beautiful and useful book, January 5, 2001

By	Mark Howells (Puyallup, Washington State, USA) - See all my reviews

This book is an outstanding way to expand your family history skills through photo research. It provides step-by-step advice on how to identify ancestors in photos using their poses, clothes, studio props, and other information.

After giving a history of photography with emphasis on identifying types of photographs by era, the author provides chapters such as "Looking for Clues", "Identifying Costume", and the very important "Identifying the Photographer". The book also gives detailed information on how to build your own family photograph collection including the use of photograph worksheets and proper labeling.

The photographs used to illustrate the book are simply glorious. It is a visual treat to follow the pictorial examples given to explain the text. Each photo is an exquisite specimen of how our ancestors faced the camera.

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Oh, and don't forget to visit Maureen's Photo Detective blog.


Dressed for the Photographer
By Joan Severa

If you're serious about dating photographs, there's another book that will make your task much easier. You don't need this book if you have an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of costume. What's that? You don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of costume? Yeah, me neither...and I sourced historic photos for over six years. It takes a long time to build that expertise.

Once again, family historians are fortunate that an expert has shared her knowledge with the rest of us. Joan Severa is a former costume curator at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Joan's book, Dressed for the Photographer, is PACKED with example photographs and arranged chronologically. The images are large enough for you to see the detail, and the book is printed on high quality paper (that's why it's so pricey). Joan points out all the hallmarks to look for when dating a photograph, including clothing, jewelry and hairstyles. She also does a fantastic job including photographs of regular working people, not just the wealthy. Amazing book. Nothing else like it out there.

Purchase these recommended books from Amazon.com:

[Photo Credit: Randy Seaver, Genea-Musings blog]
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Dating British Photos:

Reader Andrew Millard left a helpful tip in the comments section about a web site for dating British photographs:

http://www.cartes.freeuk.com/time/date.htm

Andrew says: "It has a wide range of dated photographs that you can compare to your own undated ones." Thanks again, Andrew!

Other articles you might enjoy:
5 tips for preserving your one-of-a-kind family photographs
Where should I store my family photographs?
What to keep? What to toss?
Flash drives are NOT for long term storage
Why do archivists wear white gloves?