Hi Kim, Sounds like a great collection. It would be best to start assessing the condition of the boxes..any that are in poor condition could be discarded. If you have more than one of the same, keep at least one example. Hat boxes are very collectible so perhaps the remainders could be sold? Or given away to another non-profit organization that may have a use for them? Or re-used for some other purpose? It can be difficult to make decisions such as these at the get go, and may just be something that needs to be researched over time, as you are still becoming familiar the collection. The initial weeding out of the boxes should be fine. Do the best you can to store and preserve the remaining boxes. Pam In a message dated 1/26/2006 9:56:40 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Hello all, We just received a fairly large collection of mid-20th century ladies hats. Many of these hats came to us in hat boxes, but the problem is that 2-4 hats are inside each box. Most of them cannot be authenticated as "THE" hat that came in the box, because labels don't match, etc. I am planning to remove the hats from the boxes and place them in acid-free storage boxes. But what do I do with the hat boxes themselves? What do you do at your museum? Do you accession the empty boxes separately and take up double the storage space? Or do you pitch them? Does it matter if you can match the hat up with the correct box or not? Do "orphan" boxes matter? There are quite a few boxes in this particular collection -- so we aren't talking about one or two. Storage space -- like always, everywhere -- is limited. I also have this question about shoes that are or aren't in their original boxes. Do the boxes themselves matter? Usually if the boxes are identified with a local department store, I have been keeping them and accessioning them as their own artifacts (that goes for shoes, hats, clothing boxes, etc). But if the box comes from a major department store that could have been purchased in town or across the country, do I want to keep that? Incidentally, I can't ask the donor. She is suffering from dementia in a nursing home, and the hats were brought in by her son, who has no more information to provide... Any advice is greatly appreciated. Kim Kenney ========================================================= 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).