Wow, isn’t she a beauty?
That lovely red album up there was created by my great-grandmother, Blanche Octavia Huband. The cover of the album is very worn, in fact, the front cover is completely detached from the spine, but the inside of the album is in perfect condition.
The photos are pristine. Many of them are 8x10s or 5x7s. They are a wonderful collection of the best photos of Grandma Ellis’ children, grandchildren, and other family members. It is exactly what a photo album should be – the best of the best, representing everyone you love.
Because the album is so well preserved and orderly, I will be scanning the photos in order and sharing the entire album one photo at a time in the order Grandma Ellis has arranged them in her album.
To that end, I’m going to be starting a new series of posts here entitled “Ellis Album”. This post serves as an introduction to that series. I think I’ll shoot for one post each week. I’m so excited to preserve and share this wonderful album. I hope my distant Ellis cousins will find it here and enjoy!
ps – Grandma Ellis was brilliant in her use of photo corners. She picked good ones, they still work and are still attached to the pages. ❤️
pps – I know I said I’m going to share every photo in the order she put them in the album, but I’m waffling on one thing, should I share the photos of living people…? (With permission, of course.) Or just acknowledge that I have skipped a photo(s) because some of the subjects are living and cousins should reach out if interested…? Hmmm…
Amberly, it’s lovely! What do you do with photos that are in a non-acid free album? Is this one acid-free or not? I’ve been scanning and putting them back in, but I know they will end up ruined. It’s so frustrating.
Thank you, Luanne! I’m not sure about this particular one. The photos are in such amazing shape that I’m leaning toward it being acid-free, but I need to test it to be sure. Years ago I had an acid testing pen, but I’m not sure what the current best method to test is, I guess I’ll have to figure that out. 😉
For now, I’m just scanning and returning the photos to the album.
The albums that I know are a problem, or are falling apart (more than just the cover being torn), are a different story. Those ones I am slowly taking the photos out. Unfortunately, they were taped in with cellophane tape so then I have to very carefully remove as much of it as I can without damaging the photos. So far, I’ve just been grouping them by person after they are removed and scanned, but I’m currently deep-cleaning/reorganizing my office so that I can get a better handle on proper photo/heirloom storage. It’s turned into a much bigger project than I was hoping for, but hopefully, I’ll be done (ish) by the end of next week. I hope!
And I agree, it is so frustrating.
I always assume that the old ones are not acid-free because people were so uneducated about that until recently. I might be wrong though. I need one of those pens!
I don’t know – it’s definitely something I need to brush up on though. I’m in serious preservation mode lately, and I need to make some decisions including how to handle this album.
I look forward to seeing these—sounds amazing!
Thank you, Amy! <3
My opinion: Either omit photos of living people or don’t identify them or their relationship to the ancestors in the photos. In either case, you are SO lucky to have this great photo album!
Thank you for the input Marian! That is exactly how I feel about it – lucky and blessed. I’m thinking I’ll just skip the photos of the living and box over them in the two page spreads and note how many photos I skipped so that distant cousins will be aware enough and can inquire about them. Hmmm, I hope that makes sense. 😉
I’ve been going through a family album for years! They are such treasures when we have them.
As for the ‘acid free’ or not… the easiest way round that is to put a sheet of acid-free tissue paper in between each of the pages.
Yes, that is exactly what I have done. I ordered a box from Hollinger and the right kind of tissue paper to put between the pages and around the album. It is fully digitized and now preserved. Such a treasure!! I’m so thankful for the good work of my great-grandmother. ❤️