Hi All,
 
I am currently doing some work at a county museum that had about four feet of water in their basement/collections storage/exhibit gallery when Tropical Storm Ernesto rolled through.  They are still in the process of triage and the city has taken them out of crisis status too early which means they have to go through a bidding process for conservators.  In the mean time they are doing the best they can.  I have a couple of questions to ask on the behalf of their curator.
 
1.  Should you try to save/preserve waterlogged chewing tobacco wrapped in plastic and how would you go about doing that if you should?  I think its Coon brand tobacco.  Can you still purchase this tobacco?
 
2.  Is it alright to use a product called "Leather Therapy" on antique, brittle, and molding leather?  At the suggestion of a conservator, the leather objects (shoes, equestrian equipment, spice case) have been treated with a diluted mixture of water and Listerine.  Will the Listerine interact with the Leather Therapy?  Is the Leather Therapy reversible?  Come to think of it, with the amount of Listerine a volunteer was using, is Listerine reversible?  (those objects sure smell good, though!)
 
3.  They have six or seven antique scrapbooks from the 50s and 60s that were somewhat worn out before the flood and were completely waterlogged during the flood. How do we take care of them between now and contracting with a qualified conservator?  Is there any way we can dry them out?  Should we take them apart or try to conserve them all together?  I believe their importance lies in the fact that they were compiled by local citizens and are more valuable as whole objects instead of in pieces. Does that make a difference when they've suffered such damage?
 
Thank you,
 
Meredith
 
 
Virginia Beach Historic Houses
3131 Virginia Beach Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Phone: 757-431-4000
Fax: 757-431-3733
Email: [log in to unmask]
 

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).