I saw a really Great exhibit in Kansas City recently called Treasures
of the Steamboat Arabia.  A group excavated a Steamboat which went down
on the Mississippi in 1856.  They found a large amount of artifacts --
everything from CLOTH, SILK, CHINA, TRADE GOODS, PERFUME, MEDICINES,
and bottled FRUITS and PICKLES....all in very very good condition.  The
founders of this material had the good sence to go into dept, set up
the museum, and undertake the task of preserving what they had found.
They attempted to preserve a lot of things that many of you have asked
questions about...including food (from 1856).  I was impressed with
their opperation.  They have a web site at WWW.1856.COM (I haven't seen
it yet)and INFO. LINE (816) 471-4030.
By the way they have perserved an original part of the steamboat!
And they said they have so many shoes to clean and preserve that it
would take one person 15 years working 40 hrs a week to do it.
There is MUCH more I could say about it, but you will have to see it
for yourselves.
                             Lori (just a visitor)

You wrote:
>
>----------
>
>
>     I was recently asked about the most appropriate methods of
>     dealing with original food packaging and their contents in a
>     museum collection. We discussed the problems from a
>     conservation and human safety viewpoint considering such
>     points as: risk of pest infestations; unknown ingredients
>     particularly in medicines that could be harmful or have
>     decomposed over time into harmful substances; risk of liquids
>     leaking onto other objects; liquids corroding metal lids; etc.
>
>     In my experience, the debate over whether to keep original
>     packaging and dispose of contents has generally resulted in
>     either 1. contents being disposed of and the packaging (box,
>     bottle, bag) kept, or 2. the contents are stored separately from
>     the original packaging and safely isolated from the rest of the
>     collection.
>
>     The dilemma that this particular museum is now facing,
>     however, regards canned food from the 1920s and 1930s.
>     While the can does not pose an attraction for pests, there is the
>     risk of the contents having deteriorated over time and, perhaps,
>     the can exploding.  From a curatorial viewpoint, the original
>     labels and packaging are valuable resources, but the contents
>     can not be removed without altering the packaging.
>
>     How have other museums and living history sites dealt with
>     this problem?  Do you have canned food in your collection?
>     Do you use these on display or store them carefully and use
>     them only for prototype purposes?  Has anyone experienced
>     'exploding cans'?
>
>     Audrey Yardley-Jones
>     Conservation Co-ordinator
>     Alberta Museums Association
>     9829 - 103 Street
>     Edmonton, Alberta T5K 0X9
>     [log in to unmask]
>