Featured Family Album of mostly tintypes - questions

I just purchased a 6x4" family album with mostly tintypes. I have done zero research so far but I think most of the photos may be from between 1860-1870. Just took some photos which I'll share a few of the better ones here. My questions are:

1. Do you usually leave all the photos in the album, or take them out? For albums that are falling apart, I generally remove the photos after taking a photo of all of them in the album. This album is a little better than most that I've purchased, but many of the photos have some dust/dirt on them. So I thought maybe the album itself may be causing some of that. So is it usually better to remove photos from these 19th century albums, or the reverse? If I do decide to leave these in the album , how do you safely store the album to prevent further damage?

2. How do you remove dust/dirt from the photos? Compressed air? Is there an alternative method? I don't wipe.

3. Do you know what causes the brown spots on each of the white pages within the album that hold the photos? I see those spots in every 19th century album I have.

4. Were the 6x4 size albums designed just for tintypes, or CDV's and tintypes?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm think I'm becoming a bit enamored by tintypes

 

I'd leave this album as is. There is no benefit in plucking it apart.

Look at Foxing and more, here ...
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/c/caring-for-your-books-and-papers/#:~:text=Foxing,food stains and squashed insects.

 

Smiling wasn’t a thing was it!

 

They all look like desperadoes.

 

People had to sit in the same position for a long time, smiling would give them a terrible cramp.

 

1860s-70s sounds about right, based on the hairstyles and dresses. The image of the little boy and dog looks much later. Is it a tintype also?

 

Smiling wasn't a thing because people didn't have the benefit of modern dentistry.

Debora

 

I almost remembered... how to conserve tintypes... https://capc-acrp.ca/en/news/2019/a...t=A tintype may be stored,a mount or lie flat.

 

I'm going to amend my comment above. It's the benefit of orthodontistry that makes us less reluctant to smile.

Debora

 

The albums were designed for CDVs, I think. But people also put in tintypes of that size, since they fit. And people even inserted small cards of other types. But I beieve they were intended for CDVs.

 

It is a family so I would keep it together. If you sell it you should put where you bought it. You might check the backs of the photos. You might get lucky and get a surname or at least first names. This family has very distinct facial features that someone might recognize.

 

Agree. Together they tell a story.

Debora

 

Love the one with the woman with a comb and jewelry

 

She's much more prosperous looking than the rest, isn't she?

Debora

 

Thank you for the replies. So the consensus appears to be leave them in the album. Which makes sense as they survived there for a loooong time, plus it maintains provenance/relationship with the other photos. In fact, after going thru the album again, it appears this family updated the album periodically as there are some photos that look like early 1860s to me, and there is at least one that appears to 1st to 2nd decade 20th century (the boy on the porch with dog). I originally thought that image was older but was advised the boys clothes are newer. Which is interesting because it looks like this family album of tintypes has a rather large range of age, which I believe is common for tintypes. I'm beginning to wonder if they used the same traveling photographer (many photos make me feel like it is a family living in a less urban more rural area) or a local studio during this time span. Pretty cool. Lastly, unless I hear otherwise, it appears compressed air is my best/safest option for cleaning these images up a bit? I will remove a sample of the photos to see if I can find any family names, etc., so I can research this family! Thanks again for the feedback.

 

Thank you! Interesting, that link quotes "You can use a clean soft brush to remove dust from the tin type.", while another website said not even a soft camera brush should be used to remove dust... I'd love to use a clean/soft brush, but now I'm con flicted

 

Google conservation agencies bulletins, they are the pros. Canadian Conservation and the Nat'l Park Service have scads of on-line bulletins for all sorts of material. But even the experts can disagree, and treatments that were considered safe today could change tomorrow. https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute.html https://www.doi.gov/museum/conserve-o-grams