How to store old nitrate negatives, not "safety film".

[Loren Sattler]

I have two batches of negatives that I inherited in the 1990's. One group is from the 1910's and other from the late 1920's thru the early 1950's. Most of these are not marked "safety film". The first group have some historical images of the monument at Put-In-Bay, Ohio under construction and images of the dedication ceremony circa 1914. I printed a group of these in the 1990's and donated several of the prints to the historical museum at Put-In-Bay. The later group are family images inherited from my mother. I have printed a group of these and shared them with the family. I have not yet scanned either group.

After reading some posts here I am nervous about storing these old negatives. I hate to have to destroy them but I fear a fire. Are there readers here that can offer expert advice on hot to handle these safely? Please advise.

 

[Kino]

When you say "batches", how much are you talking about?

In any event, try this site for information: https://filmcare.org/index

Should you decide to freeze the material, be sure to allow it to come to room temperature before taking it out of the storage container or condensation will form on the film and cause problems.

 

[mshchem]

If you have a lot ( dozens, hundreds) of rolls you need to careful. Think fire hazard.

My house has an attached garage, two cars, probably 100 L of gasoline.

Don't get complacent. I doubt that it's all nitrate.

 

[Kino]

If you decide you can't handle storage, offer the material to a State-level historical society or museum; just don't randomly destroy it without making a concerted effort to have it preserved.

If you run out of luck locally, contact the Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division; they might be interested and do have the proper storage facilities.

https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/

Use the "Ask a Librarian" link on the page...

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

The Eastman Museum people are among the top experts when it comes to nitrate films.

I'm sure you could ring someone and get a useful answer:

https://medium.com/george-eastman-museum/protecting-nitrate-film-heritage-3ec058660d5b
https://www.democratandchronicle.co.../rare-nitrate-film-housed-rochester/83149750/

 

[VinceInMT]

Storage is governed by the National Fire Code. More on that here:

https://blog.ansi.org/2018/08/store-cellulose-nitrate-film-nfpa-40-2019/#gref

 

[Loren Sattler]

VinceinMT, wow your link took me to an ANSI site that wants $58.50 for a pdf copy of the storage standards for nitrate film. Here is a link:https://webstore.ansi.org/Standards...20.1730576840.1640486442-107599317.1640486442

 

[Kino]

This is a free publication for handling motion picture film, but the concepts for storage and handling are pretty much the same.

https://www.filmpreservation.org/dvds-and-books/the-film-preservation-guide