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Keith O'Leary I didn't wanna leave everybody hanging and I'll keep looking because I haven't found what I'm looking for yet, but all my ACCs make reference to soaking cards off album pages (46, 53, 56 and 60).
1946, page 104 - "From the start, people began collecting advertising cards and soon such collecting became almost a universal hobby. While some kept their cards loose, in boxes, the usual custom was to paste them in the large old scrap books of the day. Today, these old scrap books furnish possibly three quarters of the supply of the cards. The first problem is to get them out of the albums so they may be sorted and classified. The albums themselves are worthless. Some cards can be easily removed from album pages, others defy all efforts and usually emerge somewhat damaged in the process. Such conditions must be considered in placing a value on stuck down cards. Warm water soaking will remove most cards without damage.
Dealers in antiques, old books, and similar collector's items are most likely to find these cards. Most of them prefer to pass them on to collectors "as is" - by the boxful or album. Only a few care to clean, sort, and price singly. Some dealers with a large counter and mail trade can do that with profit."
1953, page 83 - (talking about albums) "Everything depends on the percentage of "good" cards. As a rule, 90% of the value is in 10% of the cards. An experienced person can "price" an old scrap album in a few minutes, but it may be necessary to handle many thousands of cards to acquire the necessary experience. Some discount is usually figured for the damage that almost always results in soaking cards off album pages. The albums themselves are worthless."
1956 says about the same thing as 1953.
1960, page 14 - "Some deduction must be made for stuck down cards as all cannot be removed without damage, especially where unsoluble glues have been used."
What I was looking for was something I think Scott B made reference to...toulene. I remember reading it and it stuck in my mind. Maybe someone can help me out here...is it another older publication I'm thinking of and not the ACC? It mentioned the cleaning virtues of the chemical and how readily available it is at any local hardware store. I'll keep looking.