>Fellow list readers:
>
>Our museum was recently given a very large collection of 20th-century
>American political campaign items.  The donor was a delegate at 5
>Republican Party conventions and one of the things he brought home
>from the 1960 convention was a book of matches (snip)

>This is my problem:  what do I do with the matches?  The book is in
>such beautiful condition, I hate to remove the matches, but on the
>other hand, we're all a touch wary of live matches in our collection.
>  Has anyone ever read anything on this topic, or has anyone had any
>experience with, say, a matchbook collection in a museum collection?
>
>Thanks for your help!
>
>Christine Mouw

Chris,

Don't remove the matches, they're an integral part of the object.  If
they're paper matches from the late 1950s or so, I don't see a need for
immediate alarm.  We have similar materials in our advertising collection.
They are likely safety matches, which were invented to prevent your biggest
fear, (I assume) accidental combustion.  Your only concern is that your
storage temperature should not be so high that combustion could occur, and
for most museums that's not a problem.  As for the sulfur, again, safety
matches don't have enough concentrated amounts to cause any harm.  If
you're concerned about sulfur gas buildup, vented storage could help
prevent that if you've got lots (and I mean LOTS) of matches, but that's
pretty much all you'd need to do.  Adherance to proper storage,
temperature, and humidity standards appropriate for paper should keep the
matches safe.

Oh, and keep out of reach of children ;-)

Cheers,
HBC

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Henry B. Crawford        Curator of History
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