How to protect old vintage newspapers and keep them safe, organized and protected. Old newspapers typically become yellow and brittle with age, but with the right preservation techniques you can slow the inevitable aging process.
By Lori Ferber
One of the toughest
challenges is the preservation of old newspapers. That’s
because time, humidity and sunlight are the arch enemy
of newspapers. Not convinced? Try this simple
experiment. Leave a copy of your local newspaper outside
in the sunlight for just an hour. It won’t take much
longer than that for the newspaper to show major
yellowing and damage.
Some newspapers will
deteriorate faster than others. For instance, oddly
enough newspapers made before the late 1800’s often hold
up better than more current newspapers. The reason is
simple, prior to that date newspapers were often
produced on paper that contained rag linen content
rather than traditional newsprint since they contained
virtually no acid, chemicals or wood pulp. The most
common result of exposing newspapers to sunlight,
moisture or extreme change sin temperate is that they
turn yellow, brown or brittle. In our opinion here is no
perfect way to stop the deterioration of newspapers.
Like the aging of humans, time will take its toll
regardless. However, with proper techniques you can slow
the aging process – at least in newspapers!
The best way to preserve newspapers is to store them in
a flat open position. The reason for this is that
newspapers tend to experience the most deterioration
around the folds in the paper. The folds often become
brittle and yellowed with age. This is common, and
expected over time, but storing the paper flat reduces
the pressure on the folds thus cutting down on the level
of deterioration you would find in the folds. Constantly
unfolding and closing a newspaper to view it, also harms
the newspaper so this is yet another reason for storing
them flat.
If you use a plastic sleeve to preserve your newspapers,
be sure to purchase one that is large enough to hold the
newspaper comfortably. Damage often occurs when trying
to squeeze newspapers into small sleeves. Also, as we
mentioned earlier, never laminate the front page of a
newspaper – that immediately and drastically reduces the
value of the newspaper to collectors.
As experienced and knowledgeable dealers in
political memorabilia, Lori and Steve Ferber have been
providing helping collectors acquire and preserve unique
and intersting political memorabilia items for over 35
years. They operate a popular collectibles website at
www.loriferber.com.
