Hello, colleagues,
In somewhat the same vein as the old bread question of a few weeks
ago, I have a preservation question about 30-year-old canned goods.
We have a set of groceries (four metal cans, a glass jar, a cardboard
jello packet, and a Beatles 8-track) used in the first demonstration
of a starburst-style barcode with computerized reader in 1970. These
were kept by the company responsible until 2003, when they were
donated to us. I have no idea what, if any, attempts were made at
preservation before we received them, besides that each was sealed in
an individual ziploc bag.
The Campbell's condensed tomato soup is rusty all over, has stains
all over the label and punctures in the can that are dripping a brown
powder (rust? soup?); the bottom of the can has corroded enough to
separate from the side. The Jolly Green Giant on the can of corn
niblets has brown stains coming up to his waist. The lemon Jello
packet has brown and grey stains and is disturbingly swollen on half
the box.
The most important aspect, historically and in terms of what we
really want to preserve, is the starburst barcode labels on the paper
labels of the cans and boxes, but I don't think the wrappers can be
removed from the cans at this point by steaming or razor blade or any
other method, and even if they were, they would still be punctured
and stained.
Is there any way to store these so they will at least remain stable?
Is there any method for removing the labels or contents? Is thorough
photography and then disposal my best option?
Thanks for any suggestions!
Ariel Weinberg
Curatorial Assistant, Science and Technology Collections
MIT Museum, Building N52
265 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge MA 02139-4307
tel: 617-253-3378 fax: 617-253-8994
http://web.mit.edu/museum
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