Common Three-dimensional Objects
Enameled pins from the Northwest Folklife Festival in Washington State, housed in a polyester enclosure with lifting handles.
Conservation staff decided to house the objects first by individual submission from a particular event, then by state. Individual boxes or fitted enclosures were created for each item or small groups of similar items. These individual boxes or fitted enclosures were then housed in standard sized “exterior boxes” using care to fill void spaces. Where feasible, the Conservation staff created standard enclosures for recurring types of 3-D objects, examples of which include T-shirts, baseball caps, and buttons and pins.
T-shirt housing
The Local Legacies project received over 50 t-shirts and sweatshirts as submissions. For housing, each shirt was laid flat, wrapped around a 1.5 inch thick pillow of batting and acid-free (approximate pH 7.0) tissue paper so that its logo or image was clearly visible, and wrapped inside a second layer of tissue paper before being placed inside a shallow four-flap box.
Left: Tee shirt halfway folded and in box. Right: Tee shirt folded in box.
Baseball cap housing
Baseball caps are another common item in the Local Legacies collection. In order to provide the hats with proper support, they were each given a padded half-sphere attached to an acid-free board upon which to sit. The padded supports were created by carving a core of closed-cell polyethylene foam, wrapping this core with batting, and sewing the resulting half-sphere inside a circle of muslin. Staff then used a hot-melt glue to adhere the muslin form to its base.
Left: Baseball cap. Center: Baseball cap and packing material. Right: Baseball cap in custom housing.
Button housing
More than one hundred souvenir buttons from seemingly every local cultural event in America were received as part of Local Legacies. To provide the buttons with padding and to keep them in place within their boxes while allowing easy access, they were housed using closed cell, cross-linked polyethylene foam layers. Each button had at least one foam layer beneath it, as well as a foam layer placed snugly around it with a cut-out of the button’s shape.
Left: Storage box for metal and enamel pins. Right: Storage box for pins.
Pin housing
To prevent tarnish due to handling, metal and enamel pins were placed inside pockets of clear polyester so that they can be easily seen and manipulated without direct contact. The pockets have been sealed on three sides and have one open side with a dust flap. To prevent sliding inside the protective pockets, the post of each pin was placed through the center of an extra sheet of clear polyester that just fits inside the pocket. Many of these pockets were also fitted with thumb-sized lifters along their sides for easier removal from their boxes.
Thin and flat objects
For items that are nearly flat but are not suited for map case storage (such as bumper stickers and souvenir fans), the standard housing constructed allows enough depth around the object to prevent damage from pressure, and enables viewing of any relevant information. This type of housing includes a solid layer of backing material (like buffered corrugated board), one or two layers of support material (such as more board or closed cell cross-linked polyethylene foam) that was cut out with the shape of the object to be housed, and often a layer of protective clear polyester film. The object was often secured using photo corners or polyethylene straps.
Left: Bumper sticker in storage box. Right: Paper fan in storage container.
