Do not give it to a historical society unless they have a lot of exhibits of photos. Many museums tend to leave items like this in storage for years where no one can view them. (When I worked as an assistant Curator, we had a wonderful collection of photos that showed the building of the Empire State Building. Based on the height, would could tell what month and year the photos had been taken. I was the first one to cataloged them and they had been sitting on a dusty shelf in a highly under used military related library for years. I doubt anyone's bothered to take a look at them since.)
Instead, scan each of the photos in (making digital copies is a good idea anyway since many photos fade or become damaged over time) and label them. This way, you have your own virtual copy of all the photos and you can sell the originals if you like. You can also give a CD to others and/or post the pictures online so a lot of other people can enjoy them. There are several blogs that specialize in blogging about old photos. I know they would love to see what you have. -Isabella > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:09:18 -0500 > From: "Land of Oz" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Subject: [h-cost] historical stuff (some costume related) > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain;charset="utf-8"; format="flowed" > > I inherited a crapton of stuff from my grandmother's house. It's been > stored dry, but not clean, in my brother's barn for about 10 years until I > brought it home last weekend. There was a lot more than I brought, but I try > not to think about that. > > The only interesting textiles I've found so far are a veil/scarf of some > kind - extremely fine black lace. It was wadded up in a wood box (like for > cigars, only it says candy on the lid) and a bag of hexagon quilt pieces > that I haven't looked at closely. I don't know if the lace is nylon or silk > - it weighs next to nothing and is fairly fragile. it's about 15" x 50" or > so and looks like it would have been for church or funerals. Oh - and a > tanned mink skin in a breadbag. > > The photos, however are a treasure. I have one large rubbermaid tote full of > albums going back to the 1870s - most of the people are identified, and > there is at least one photo of a child in a coffin. O.o There aren't too > many dates on the actual photos, however. There is a story inscribed on the > flyleaf about how that album was the only thing rescued from a house fire > when the dad broke a window from outside and reached in to get it off a > bookstand. > > There are two books inscribed to my grandfather in 1919 several years before > he graduated highschool. Both are military in nature and full of > photographs. I've looked them up on Amazon and they all seem to be in the > same condition as mine and are priced from $9 to $900. lol There are some > great photos of military uniforms of all kinds, and everyday wear of people > in Croatia, England and Germany (and prob. others). > > I also have my great grandfather's wood bound school slate and another one > from someone with the same last name (sibling?) and a tiny pair of leather > baby shoes with my dad's name on the bottom. > > What does a person do with this kind of stuff? I don't have infinite > storage. My brother kept it all, but didn't do anything with it either. I > doubt much of it has a lot of value to people who aren't related to the > family in some way. > > Denise > Iowa > > > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
