Melissa-

I have had this situation come across on my current project of moving a 20th century history collection. We remove the object from the box because the cardboard is usually acidic and created an insert for it. Record and photograph the printed information on the box as the box may not survive as long as the computer. We try to store the box as it would appear on exhibit. That means that you should keep it in box form with a sturdy insert and do not collapse it. If the other packing materials are not important for the story of the object, you should just get rid of them, they will probably cause problems off-gassing and do not really tell the story of the computer.

good luck

Ashley

Ashley Koen

On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 3:08 PM, Barbara Hass <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

a surprise! who would know there is a cardboard museum!
http://www.provenceguide.co.uk/cardboard-and-printing-museum/valreas/tabid/8727/offreid/625fdbed-fde0-42a3-aa6e-096490c6c076/yesterday-and-today-info.aspx

it is in France. Maybe they can help you!

found by a web search using the terms

cardboard museum

Best wishes, Barbara, retired librarian

-----Original Message-----
From: Melissa Jolley <[log in to unmask]>
To: MUSEUM-L <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Mon, Apr 29, 2013 12:36 pm
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Preserving Cardboard

I recently received an early computer to accession into our collection. One of the interesting things about this artifact is that it has not been removed from the original packaging. The box has been opened but the computer does not appear to have ever been taken out. The issue with this is that the original packaging is a cardboard box with the computer packed in plastic and styrofoam . I'm considering removing the computer from the box but am not sure how successful storing the cardboard box on its own would be. Any thoughts on preserving cardboard or how detrimental leaving the computer in the box would be?

Thanks!

Melissa Jolley

Curator, New South Associates Inc.

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