Does anyone out there have preserves in their collection?  I read the
posting a while ago regarding the last jar of peaches from gettysburg, but I
need a little bit of a different solutuion.

We have about 20-30 jars of various preserves (jelly, beans, pears, etc)
that were made by the last family member who lived at Cherry Hill. THe jars
date from the late 1950s to early 1960s. We would just pitch them, but our
collections policy states that everything in the house in 1963 (when the
last family member died) is part of our collection. We can deaccession
things if they no longer have interpretive value (ex. crumbled celluloid --
which is also a fire hazard) or are dangerous to other parts of the
collection.

The preserves have been stored in the basement and I need to move them out
of that space.  They seem to be in ok condition and are in a variety of
containers some with rubber rings and glass lids with bails, others in more
modern containers with a metal lid and ring.  some have lids that have come
off--but have a quite thick layer of wax that seems to be providing an
airtight seal.

My questions are:

When do I need to be concerned about the stability of the contents?
Is there anything I can do to prolong their lives?
When should I deaccession them?
What kind of environment should they be stored in?  We have a new
collections storage facility but I am somewhat hesitant to keep them there
in case of offgassing, etc. Are they hazardous to other objects and/or
people?

Thanks!

Erin Crissman
Curator
Historic Cherry Hill
523 1/2 South Pearl St Albany, NY 12202
phone.   518.434.4791
fax.     518.434.4806
email.   [log in to unmask]
website. www.historiccherryhill.org

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