Soaking (water only) - 1915 Cracker Jack?

[Belfast1933]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Hey, guys.... gentlemen...


Not long ago someone told me that a relationship isn't about what all a couple has in common, or what the both of them like and agree upon. A relationship is built upon the two hating the same things. That's what an ex-wife told me not long ago... and it makes some sense.

OP Jeff texted me and sent me before and after pics before he posted them here. To me, the card looks better now. I had previously, and off the board, sent a bunch of info on drying a card after its soaked ("allowing a card to dry" is a more accurate phrase.)

Time out for a definition: Altered. A ball card becomes altered the moment it is taken out of its original packaging and the card then is exposed to sunlight or fingers or anything else-- it then has become altered, or so it seems according to some of us.

Ya know, there could have been something in that dirt that was, in the long run, more harmful to that card than water. Thank goodness that's now gone.

I'm about to get to what I want to say. But one more meandering thought. I wonder how one side of that Cracker Jack card got so dirty over the past 110 years, yet those corners seem so firm and free from dings or wear... HAD to be by spending a majority of its life with flour past on its back while it was pasted in an old scrapbook.

The point>> I quickly noticed missing letters on the back. From the few comparisons I made between the presoak and post soak images it seemed that whatever was missing after the soak had not been there before the soak. But I did this comparison in a rush during lunch, squinting at the images with tired eyes. Can someone with better eyesight and an unbiased approach look to see how many letters got washed away in the process. The issue isn't how many letters are missing post soak, but rather how many existing presoak letters are now gone. I've seen where a soaked card seems to have been rubbed with undue vigor. I have an open mind about how hard Jeff rubbed, and if that did happen was it done immediately after immersion, or did the card set in the water a fair amount of time for the dirt to loosen and fall away.

So will some eagle eye sighted and fair-minded person count how many additional letters are missing, and report back to us, please?

Dr. Geisel's story about those Star Bellied Sneeches comes to mind.
Haters gonna hate.

What truly matters is whether Jeff is satisfied with his result. He likes the postsoak card better, I think. He learned A LOT. I think he'll cautiously do it again one day, just in the right (his definition) situations.

Good take, Frank… and for me, trading a few extra letters (since several were scuffed away already) is worth the trade to have lost the big ol’ dirt stain.

I doubt I’ll do too many washes but in this case, I prefer the “after” results.