A quick warning about storing old photos

I kept my great-grandmother's wedding portrait from 1912 in a cardboard box in my attic in Atlanta for years. I finally moved it to a proper acid-free box and the difference in how the paper feels is huge. The old box was making the photo brittle. Has anyone else found a good way to protect really old family pictures?

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3 Comments

anderson.sandra6mo ago

Brittle" seems like a strong word for a photo in a box.

1

anthony_wells6mo ago

Old photos get brittle for real, the paper just dries out. I had some from the 80s that cracked when I tried to flatten them for scanning. Keeping them in a stable box helps, but avoid attics or basements where the temp changes a lot. A cool, dark closet is way better for the long haul.

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rivera.keith5mo ago

Depends on the paper though. Most consumer photo paper from the last few decades isn't gonna shatter like a potato chip unless you're digging it out of a flooded basement. I've got shoeboxes full of 90s drugstore prints that are still perfectly flexible. Maybe the real issue is how they were stored before you got them.

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