We have a fairly large ceramic collection (our area was home to several large potteries throughout the first half of the 20th C.), and we store our dinnerware on metal shelves lined with Ethafoam. Our shelf heights are set at 8 inch intervals, and we try to keep the dishes in a single layer (although that does take up a lot of room, so occasionally we do stack sets of dinnerware, with a layer of Ethafoam between each dish). I prefer to store the dishes upside-down, so I can see their accession numbers without having to handle the plates (assuming, of course, the rims are intact and uniform enough to bear the weight of the piece). I seem to recall seeing somewhere (possibly on this list) that vinyl and wax LPs were better stored on-edge rather than flat--has anyone tried this with dinner plates? ------------------------------------------------------------ Tim McShane, Assistant--Cultural History Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery 1302 Bomford Crescent S.W. Medicine Hat, AB T1A 5E6 (403) 502-8587 >>> [log in to unmask] 06/14/02 08:46AM >>> I am in the process of reorganizing and re-storing (not restoring) a collection of 18th and 19th century dinnerware, some sets, but mostly individual pieces. I am wondering how other historical organizations are storing their plates... looking for alternative solutions. We have 2 foot deep metal open-sided shelves, and the complete collection(including the plates) takes up about 25 shelves. Thank you, Andrea Mercado Volunteer, Museum of History and Industry, Seattle, WA. Staff, Birthplace of Seattle Log House Museum, Seattle, WA --------------------------------- ========================================================= 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).