>Edith Serkownek education curator at Warren County
>Historical Society wrote:
>
>From: Edith Serkownek <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject:      Product Packages and UV Window Film
>X-To:         multiplerecipienctsoflistmuseum-l
>              <[log in to unmask]>
>
>Our institution has a fairly large collection of products from a general
>store which operated in the 1920s.  Unfortunately many of the paper and tin
>packages still contain their original contents.  I am concerned about
>possibly attracting pests into the collections with this material and the
>"leaking" which has begun in many of the paper packages.  Many items are
>currently on display.  Does anyone have a policy on the care and/or disposal
>of package contents at their institution?
 
This is an interesting problem - how do we deal with industrial and
manufactured products which still have their original contents?  I have
encountered the problem in an archaeological context, in a government museum
with a CRM mandate.
 
In 1853 several expeditions of the British Navy
were searching for the Franklin survivors in the central Canadian arctic.
Captain
John Kellett established a 'storehouse' of supplies for use by the
searchers.  This storehouse was a stone structure, stocked with tinned
goods, clothing, stoves, etc..  In the time since 1853 the roof has fallen
in and polar bears have sampled
the tinned goods, but the structure and contents are in pretty good shape.
 
With increased tourism in the north,  the Gov't of the NWT was
concerned with the preservation of the site from vandalism and looting.
Archaeologgists from the Canadian Conservation Institute and the Northern
Heritage Centre
stablized the structure and built a floor over the permafrosted contents.
The materials which were easy to remove were collected and brought to the
museum in Yellowknife.
 
The tinned goods were large (about 2-3 kilos) cans of the top soldered type.
 (The lead from the solder on similar cans probably contributed to
Franklin's failure.)  I had a chest freezer full - they were rusty and
leaking.  The contents were full of anaerobic
bacteria and toxins which had built up over the 100+ years.
 
The cans were a favourite souvenir of arctic visitors.  Some had been
presented to Princes Charles and Phillip during some of their visits prior
to 1980. (But comments on the royalty are part of another discussion, I
refrain from expressing my opinion on THEM!)  Some of the museum's tins were
sent to CCI, where they were autoclaved and
emptied.  The ultimate grossness of the job prevented us from doing all the
cans.
 
As far as I know, several of the cans still sit in that freezer.  The bulk
of the cans still sit in the permafrost.  Tick... Tick... Tick...
 
As for policy which reflects this experience - it was covered under a
statement about hazardous materials.  (We also had radioactive ore samples)
The Conservation Policy covered artifacts which posed a threat to staff,
visitors or other collections/objects.  Such artifacts were treated in order
to render them harmless or deaccessioned in an appropriate manner.
 
___________________________________________________________________
 
Barbara J. Winter                                            tel: (604) 291-3325
Department of Archaeology                              fax: (604) 291-5666
Simon Fraser University                                   email:  [log in to unmask]
Canada  V5A 1S6
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