Photographic materials

Salvage without delay these historical photographs:

• Wet collodion photographs (ambrotypes, tintypes, pannotypes, and wet collodion glass negatives). Salvage first and air dry immediately. Both immersion and freezing will destroy the emulsion.
• Daguerreotypes. Salvage and air dry.
• Nitrates with softening emulsions. Freeze immediately and make arrangements to freeze dry. Emulsions are water soluble and could be lost.

Other photographs should be kept wet in containers of fresh cold water until they are either air dried or frozen. If allowed to partially dry, they will stick together. Pack them in plastic garbage pails or in garbage bags inside boxes. Keep to a minimum the immersion time until treatment or freezing.

• Prints, negatives, and transparencies. Salvage color photographs first, then prints, then black and white negatives and transparencies. If facilities and personnel are available, air dry. If not, pack and freeze.

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