Advice for glued binder of tobacco cards / New memeber

[winter15]

Hello all - As a new member I first wanted to thank all the knowledgeable members for contributing to an amazing site. I have been viewing for awhile and have learned a tremendous amount about tobacco cards. Thanks!

Second I had a question for all of the experts on the site. I have been given my grand fathers binder of tobacco cards. This has about 4 full pages of baseball cards (mostly T202 with some T205s, T206s and 4 T208 -1911 firesides). The rest of the book has pages of college, boxing, Indian and scenic cards. I am interested in getting the cards out of the binder and preserving them for my kids (I want to have most of the cards framed by category). All cards are held down with a small stop of glue on each corner.

Any suggestions on a preserver who could do this removal work? While I believe the non-baseball cards can be easy scraped off without too much damage I am concerned for the more valuable cards.

Thanks in advance for your advice and sorry if this is posted someplace else...i could not find it.

[Exhibitman]

Don't 'scrape' anything! Have the book looked at by a qualified paper conservator to determine whether anything can be done. If the paste is water-based it may be possible to soak off the cards. If the paste is oil-based, you probably do not want to touch it and instead to sell it as is.

[ullmandds]

How do u know theyre t208's?

[EvilKing00]

can you post some pics?

dont scrape or pull apart, soaking would be the best bet. There are step by step info in this forum. Just search "soaking"

[travrosty]

if you are going to have an archivist or specialist remove the glue on the cards, then do them all. dont scrape off the lesser cards because you never know what is lesser or a diamond in the rough. be careful, you have time on your side, they were in the album for 90 years, another year or so wont hurt them.

[winter15]

Here are a few examples of the pages... Which conservators are recommended by the members here? I have cherished them for a LONG time and I am excited to keep them in my family. Thanks for the advice.

[1880nonsports]

It appears you aren't planning on selling any parts of this (the value would be in the firesides) which is an excellent start. You also said you love the cards. A good middle. You are thinking of removing the cards (they don't appear to be breaking down and perhaps de-acidification might be a good idea) BUT that would be a sad ending. When deconstructed much of the "story" is lost and they just become cards - which isn't a bad thing - but they then are sorta just like any other group of cards. The "hands and eyes" of your grandfather are what it seems would be important to me. I always feel responsible to pass on anything I have acquired and not produced myself in the same condition it arrived in (unless the item is degrading) - especially something destined to be passed down in the family.....
no guarantees whether written or implied

Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level
and beat you
with
experience

[conor912]

I agree. From what I see, there is no reason to take this album apart if you intend to keep the cards in the family. For any that have fallen out, I would do what your grandfather most likely would have done and just glue those suckers back in.

[christopher.herman]

Post more pics/scans please; it's a work of art.
Unless there are one or two super valuable cards that make sense to remove, leave that album alone and treasure it with your children as a family heirloom.
-Christopher

Edited to add that I just noticed those t205 Cobbies. You may want to remove those and you could replace them with two less valuable cards.

[Matthew H]

If those are firesides, they're worth more then the Cobbs. I agree with others, if it were my heirloom, I'd have a conservator look at it to make sure it's stable, then I'd leave it alone. It's a really cool piece, better then the sum of its parts imo.

[Leon]

How do u know theyre t208's?

Same question here. Without seeing the backs couldn't they be E104 Nadjas or D359 Rochester/Williams baking?

[caramelcard]

I would guess they are E104s since you have cards from common issues in there.

Are your pages back to back? Cards on both sides?

From the looks of the paper and the remnants where the T51 fell out, it looks like those cards would be easy to remove as long as they are not glued back to back. If the glue is only in the corners, even better.

Robert

[jimm]

I'd leave it be, just as grandpa lovingly put it together, a nice piece.

[winter15]

Thanks for all of the thoughts. Great feedback. I will post some more pictures tonight. Two of the 4 T208s have "fireside" on the back (they are only being held in at the top). I can't access the other two. Thanks again.

[joeadcock]

Nice stuff.
Would be great to see other pieces of the album.

[Leon]

Thanks for all of the thoughts. Great feedback. I will post some more pictures tonight. Two of the 4 T208s have "fireside" on the back (they are only being held in at the top). I can't access the other two. Thanks again.

The T208s are great news for you, value wise. Count me in the camp of hoping you keep it the way it is or close to it...and also, as I mentioned on your registration email, I hope you collect with our little group and have fun with us. Whatever you decide, good luck with it all. LL

[T206Collector]

If these were mine, even if they were inherited and I wanted to keep them forever, I'd find Dick Towle (who sometimes posts on here) and have him work his magic.

You can read about him here:

http://www.sportscollectorsdigest.com/features/nerattowle

And I am sure you can find him by searching on here.

I once had an SGC 80 T206 Donlin batting that came from an album in which it had been glued/pasted. Towle was responsible for removing it, SGC didn't care, the card was no worse for the wear. Everyone was happy.

You'll find a lot of purists who want to preserve muck, grime and glue on baseball cards. But if you can remove the excess gunk without jeopardizing the fibers of the card with harmful chemicals, in a manner that is wholly undetectable for now and forever, then I say go for it.

You should at least be aware of this as an option. Whatever you choose to do.

[winter15]

Here are some more pictures. Thanks again for the insights. I am seriously considering building out a collection of T202 since I have such a nice head start and I think the cards are beautiful. Longer term possibly working on a set of T208s...only about 14 more to go but that will take a few decades and some $.

[sb1]

Leave it the way it is, your grandfather put it together like this.

BUT if you don't, you don't need Dick T. it's not rocket science anyone can soak cards out of an album, there are numerous how to do threads on here.