Posted By:
hankronI think a lot of people who are restoring items have no understanding or appreceation of the material.
For example, an old news service photo will was a 'behind the scenes' production item used in publishing. It originally would often have funny cut edges, and various cropping marks, ink highlights, production marks, stamps and tags put there by the photographer, editor and/or printer. It's a historical artifact, and all its imperfections are what it is and tell its story. If a large nice photo is torn in half or has coffee stains or housepaint on it, I understand that some restoration can be appropriate. But, if someone say about a 1917 Harry Hooper photo, "Let's crop the edges so they are sharp, and get someone to remove all that original production writing on back and crop marks on front," they have no business owning the thing much less restoring it. The photo isn't a kit car.