Advice and Suggestions on Preserving WWII Photographs

[VintageJess]

Hello ladies and gentlemen!

I am new here to the forum. Sorry to jump right in with pestering questions, but I would greatly appreciate any and all help.
My husband is extremely fortunate to have all of the original WWII photographs of his paternal grandparents. (His grandmother was a WAVE, and grandfather served in Third Armored Division.) We have probably about 75 photos--everything from formal uniform shots, to photos of his grandfather landing on the Omaha beachhead, him goofing around with buddies, the village families his grandfather stayed with, etc. What is even better (to me, at least) is that his grandfather wrote full details on the back of almost every picture--names, dates, locations, etc.
Most of the photos are 3x5s although some are wallet size. On the back of all of the photos is a four digit number and a stamp that says "Passes for Personal Use Only Not For Publication, a date, Theater Censor, E.T.O.U.S.A. and then a number. On the back of the wallet size, it has a little Velox signature.
Most are in fairly good condition, but the reason I am writing is that they seem to be starting to curl pretty badly. Up until now, we've just get them stored loosely in a photograph box. (I know, I know--I'm sure that is horrible!) That is how his grandparents gave them to him and he hasn't done much to preserve them yet.
Which brings me to my question--any suggestions on what steps we can take now to attempt to preserve these? I would love to be able to have them in something where you can still read the notations on the back. But my main concern is just preventing any further damage. Is converting them to digital a good idea? Are there specific vendors or historians that handle such things?
We are a military family and I'm a stay at home mom, so unfortunately we don't have tons of extra cash to spend, but we would be more than willing to to pay to preserve this special part of our history.
Also, any recommendations for preserving audio? My husband spent time "interviewing" both grandparents about their WWII days so that we would have their stories after they passed on. Right now they are just on cassette tapes, but they are obviously a real treasure to us. We know nothing about audio--again, are there people who specialize in preserving audio histories?
Thank you for your time and expertise. This is really a wonderful place!
Sincerely,
Jessica

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Hiya Vintagejess,..........

As to your precious photo collection, I would recommend a nice high - end photo album with ACID FREE PAPER. The reason I yelled that is because that is of the utmost importance when trying to preserve images on paper. Also the fact that when mounted in the album, your photos will be pressed flat which will prevent curling. Also keeps them away from harmful UV light rays which will cause photos to fade.
As to the audio archives,....I'm not too sure, but I think there is software available, (and hardware) which allows for transfering analog audio to digital (CD) format. Others here in the lounge would know more than I do about this subject. Hope I have been of some assistance.

 

[VintageJess]

Thank ya kindly Major! This gives me a good foundation to move from!
I appreciate it!

 

[Salv]

Preserving audio

If you can burn CDs on your computer, and most recent computers have this facility, it's quite easy to get the audio onto CD yourself.

You'll need:

• an audio-in port on your computer - this is basically a microphone socket, and will probably have a microphone icon over it;
• a cable to connect your casette player/hi-fi amp to your computer - the easiest way is to connect the headphone socket on the casette player/amp to the microphone socket on the computer using a 3.5mm mini stereo audio cable like this:
  
  
  
  google for Mini-Stereo Audio Cable and you should find hundreds;
• software to convert the incoming audio signal to an audio file on the computer. There are plenty of free programs around, both Mac and PC -Audacity is very popular and there are Mac and PC versions available, but google for free audio recorder for more. (Personally I'm a Mac user and I use Sound Studio which was bundled free with my computer when I bought it a couple of years ago.)

All you do is connect the casette player/amp to the computer, start the recording application on the computer, then play the tape. When the tape is finished you'll have an audio file on your computer that you can then copy to a blank CD-R. Make a few copies of it in case you ever lose or damage one, or if you want to give them out to other members of the family.

If you think this may be beyond your computing capabilities how about making a tape-to-tape copy and sending it to a volunteer Lounger to do it for you. I'm in the UK, but I'd be happy to make some CDs for you if you can post me a copy of the tape and some blank CD-Rs. (Don't send the original in case it gets lost in the post, or in case my tape player chews it up...)

Let me know.

 

[Mojave Jack]

Hi, VintageJess, and welcome to the forum!

Major Danger is exactly right on the best course for your photographs. I would recommend going through the Hollinger Corporation, which has the best prices for archival quality supplies. You can buy them one or two at a time, rather than in large quantities as a museum would. You can find their internet sotre at: Genealogical Storage Products. The albums are not particularly important, it is the polypropylene sleeves that are a must. Photographs should be isolated from touching any kind of paper, unless that the manufacturer of that paper ensures that it has passed the Photographic Activity Test (PAT). It's much easier just to avoid storing your photographs in any kind of paper product.

Conversely, if you are in an area of high humidity, plastic sleeves can cause ferrotyping, where portions of the plastic stick to the image surface. If you use plastic to store the photos, try to keep them somewhere where the humidity is as close to about 45% as possible. If that's not possible where you are, you may want to use a paper storage medium, but make sure you get materials that have passed the PAT. It's not enough that materials are labeled as "acid-free." The terms acid-free, buffered, and pH neutral are often used almost interchangeably , but different materials require different storage methods.

Here's some guidance for photograph care. Bear in mind that these are intended for museums, so they sound a bit extreme. I would recommend digitizing them, as well. Photographs will not last forever, no matter what you do to preserve them, especially since most of us can't afford temerature and humidity controlled archival spaces!

For your audio recordings, I would recommend getting in touch with your local university history or museum studies departments. They often have local history projects, including oral histories, and may transfer, copy, and archive your tapes for you. If you can't track them down locally, try contacting the University of Florida's Institute on World War II and the Human Experience. They collect and preserve WWII history, with a focus on oral histories and other personal memoirs and materials. Dr. Oldson could give you some guidance on where to go in your area for help.

If all else fails, you could contact the Army Museum System. They may have programs for reprodcuing and preserving personal memerobilia, or may be able to put you in touch with someone who is doing that, such as local museums, historical societies, or veterans' groups.

Sorry, I ran on a bit! I hope this is helpful!

 

[VintageJess]

Thank you much!

Salv and Jack,

I somehow missed your responses until now! :eusa_doh:
I cannot thank you enough for sharing your knowledge and your offers of help! I plan to get to work right away on some of your suggestions. I'll keep you posted...

With much gratitude,

Jessica