Oldest Good Paper (1947 Velox F2)

[Thomas Bertilsson]

OK, so I bought five boxes, 144 sheets each, of Kodak Velox paper, expired in 1947. Three boxes at 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 (6x9 basically) and two boxes of a bit larger paper. The boxes themselves are in PERFECT condition and I got them for about $3 a box plus shipping. Yes, it was flea-bay, but the seller seemed genuine, not trying to get rid of junk.
So, for the heck of it, not knowing any better, I opened up one of the small boxes (two boxes of F2, so one less wouldn't matter...) and thought I could make some 6x6 contact prints on it. So I did. Guess what... It worked great! Like other papers that old, there is a bit of fog, but beyond that the grayscale is near perfect, good rich blacks, but highlights a tad dirty. So I guess I'll get me some benzotriazole.
I'll post a print here when I get my scanner up and running again. I'm currently repairing water damage in my basement and don't want plaster dust in all of my equipment...

I'm interested in hearing if you have any similar experiences. I seem to remember someone posting a print made on really old Azo in the galleries a while back.

- Thomas

 

[Andrew Moxom]

Thomas, as you said, using benzotriazole is the way to go to see if you can stop the fogging.

Sorry to hear about your water damage, but let me know if you need any help with it?

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I know Azo has a very long shelf life also- I think some folks have reported getting good prints off Azo as old as the 1920s.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Velox

Thomas-I have some of the dame paper and it prints just fine...lots of fun. I did
a show with that size prints and it had great presence....
Best, Peter

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Print Scan

Hey everybody, I've had a busy day, but here is a scan of the print in question. I don't know if it's apparent on the screen or not, but I have shadow detail down to base fog level. Amazing stuff. I wonder what this was like fresh!

Link to image in APUG Gallery

- Thomas

 

[Stephen Frizza]

i store old papers as I find them and have them listed in my lab services guide,
I find many kodak papers form the 1940's through to the 60's print perfectly.
I test each box as I receive it and all but one box (0ut of about 20 have been fine). I just hope one day someone asks me to print their exhibition on these materials.

~steve
The Lighthouse Lab