The Motherload!

[Sean]

Well, a typical lazy saturday morning until my Wife's birth father shows up at the house carrying 2 large suitcases. He used to be into photography in the 1960's and 70's and asks if I want some paper he found in his attic. We take the suitcases into my darkroom (they were very heavy) and open them to find 100's of sheets of old paper. Maybe over 1500 sheets, many fully boxed and unopened. Mostly Agfa bromide papers. I have no idea how well they will print due to their age 1960's and 70's. He says they've been in a cool dry place since purchased and he forgot about them. So do I have a motherload of usable paper, or a mother load of nice antiques? I have attached a screen shot. Some of them were really neat, even little boxes of unopened medium format contact printing papers..

-edit he also gave me trays, bottles, and about 15 pounds of chemicals stored in glass jars..

 

[Francesco]

Fingers crossed Sean! I do have to say that the only paper I know that can last that long is AZO. So, if these are good it is something short of a miracle. Buona Fortuna!

 

[BWGirl]

Dang Sean!!

Even if some of the paper is "past its prime", it's still cool to have this stuff! I guess I would be experimentsing with it! The chemicals are probably a lost cause...even if they'd never been opened they are probably not good....unless, of course there's some of that mystical substance called RODINAL in there! hahaha (Let's see if Tom & Morten show up).

Nice! Have fun testing!!
Jeanette

 

[Sean]

I figure if they are not up to scratch I could still make some alt. proc prints with them for fun..

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Well, if you have some old Agfa Brovira or Portriga in there, that's worth saving. RC paper of that era would not be. Is some of it Kodak? Azo of course lasts, and Velox might be interesting, and Ektalure is also very nice.

If you see any fog, try keeping development time down to 1 min. or less and you can use benzotriazole or Edwal Liquid Orthazite as a restrainer.

 

[TPPhotog]

Did someone say RODINAL ?????

Sean I'd frame some of those box covers for the wall either way and if the papers good them wow yep you have a motherload. Wonder if I show my fatherinlaw this he will let me have his old negatives and slides from the 30's and 40's

 

[Sean]

Well, if you have some old Agfa Brovira or Portriga in there, that's worth saving. RC paper of that era would not be. Is some of it Kodak? Azo of course lasts, and Velox might be interesting, and Ektalure is also very nice.

If you see any fog, try keeping development time down to 1 min. or less and you can use benzotriazole or Edwal Liquid Orthazite as a restrainer.

Thanks for the info David. Pretty much all of the agfa boxes are Brovira, haven't had time to check the others. I might post an inventory later. The old AGFA logos are beyond cool, I might have to make an avatar out of one

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Oh, and it would be *really* special if there were any Haloid Industro or DuPont Velour Black in there.

 

[Nige]

hehe.. nice stash!

I was given some paper fairly recently including a box of Brovia... except the moment I picked it up I new all was not well.. very light... open it up.. one sheet left

Actually Sean, I thought of you yesterday... Bought another enlarger and was wondering if I'd passed you collection, if not size and weight! I picked up a LPL 7451 VCCE to make it 4 enlargers... 2 now have to go according to the Mrs!

 

[Sean]

Hey we're tied up now. I'm under pressure to sell one tho! hehe

 

[Sean]

A scan of the old agfa logo..

 

[bmac]

Man, All my father in law ever gave me was my wife Have fun playing with the motherload.

 

[bobfowler]

If the paper was kept in a cool place, you may be in luck. It'll probably have a bit of "cosmic fog", but even that can be dealt with. As for the chemicals... I bought a bunch of Perceptol that had been sitting on a store shelf since the 1970's, you know, those nice little cardboard cans with the pop tops. I paid a whole dollar for a half dozen cans, so I figured I had nothing to lose. I mixed up a quart and processed a test roll of Pan F+ - perfect!

 

[Konical]

Sean,

Even if the paper from a given box proves to be unusable, don't discard it. It should still be possible to fix, hypo clear, and wash it. It can be used for back to back mounting of other prints made on newer paper. Likewise, using the old stuff on the back of a mounted and matted print will counteract any tendency for curl.

Konical

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Sean,

I did in fact print some older Agfa papers a few years ago, and they did produce a slightly fogged print. With the right chemistry I'm sure you can make use of them.
The paper had, just like your paper, been stored in a 'cool' place. The prints looked cool the way they did, in my opinion, even though they were probably not tonally correct.

Good luck and have some fun with it!

- Thomas
Saint Paul, Minnesota

 

[DavidCummings]

You asked if you have a motherload of useable paper or a motherload of antiques. You have neither. You have a motherlode of one or the other. But I do hope it prints well.