Programme restoration

[Mtbhull]

Does anyone have any advice re rusty staples. I would be happy to take them out and replace with similar staples but the staples were different in the 50s.
So does anyone do this and if so what do they use?

Thanks

Martin

[slightfold]

I take out rusting ones and live without them! Many years ago the advice was to (carefully) remove all staples! No womb no cancer as the Americans say! Once they have started rusting, and certain ones are worse than others, they end up staining the paper, and left unchecked will form holes reducing the value and appearance. Stored next to another programme they can bleed onto that. I would not be arsed to replace one either. We collect paper and so need to store it dry to prevent it occurring in the first place. Hope this helps.

[Mtbhull]

Yes, thanks very much for this advice

[tackler7]

If you remove the staples replace them with cotton thread to keep the pages together - just thread through the existing holes.

[Tynie Topics]

Take the staple out, clean as best you can and then put back (or just leave them).

As long as the programme is stored in dry conditions (which I assume it would be), then the staple wont rust any further.
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/footballprogrammes/albums

[roughyedz]

Totally agree about removing staples , i spent several hours about 20 years ago now removing every single staple fraom all my programmes after coming to the same conclusion that "slightfold" has mentioned above , they serve no purpose at all apart from ruining a programme and the older they are the more rust you get , The Forest Ones in the late 50's and early 60's were a pain for rust as are the Wembley ones from the 30's up to the late 50's

[Tynie Topics]

The staple is an intrinsic part of the programme IMO, it holds the thing together and I would never deliberately remove a staple without very good reason, and I avoid buying programmes with them missing unless it’s a rarity!
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/footballprogrammes/albums

[slightfold]

I agree that the staple is an intrinsic part of the programme, as is the ribbon in VIP issues, and any inserts! The original post sought opinions on rusty staples so that is what I have tried to do. Nowadays I never remove good ones as a preventative measure. The real problem is storage, or more accurately where the programme 'lived' before you got it, which caused the rust to happen in the first place.The question is surely how to stop it and to prevent its effect on the paper.
The cause is moisture in the air, the warmer the air the more it holds. When the temperature drops, at night usually, the excess which the air can no longer is finely deposited everywhere in the house.It's the same mechanism why it rains. The colder the spot (the staple because it's metal) the more the moisture is attracted to it. Oh, and add in dust which the moisture helps stick and you have aging and worse if in sunlight.
For me I store programmes flat, same size together inside these double sealed click lock freezer bags. Then into boxes, so no moisture, no dust and no light, voila. Maybe this is way is not so good if you need continual access, then binders if they properly protect and of course if you have the wall space

[Tynie Topics]

Agree. I’ve never had a staple rust “on my watch”, ones that come to me already rusted are stabilised by simply keeping them in the house which is centrally heated, they haven’t deteriorated any further. They are kept in plastic pockets in binders, or simply in cardboard storage boxes with lids or plastic tubs.

Where you may run into problems is when you store programmes in the loft or in the garage or unheated outbuilding where, as slightfold describes, moisture/dampness can be present and the staples will probably rust over time, even on modern stuff. However I’d expect most of us wouldn’t consider storing the better parts of our collections in these environments anyway.

I would never remove staples if programmes are stored in the right environment as there’s no need, but then it’s down to an individuals choice.
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/footballprogrammes/albums

[wandererpaul]

Agree with tynie, keep the staples in place for me too.

My collection is in a room where there's central heating, so no problem with them deteriorating. Any real bad ones have come out or taken out already.

Does taking the staple out devalue a programme in any way?

Say a 1920's Manchester United home programme had its staples removed, and was up for auction, then the same programme, with staples intact, was also up for sale at the same time, which one would be more desirable? Which one would receive the higher bid? Or wouldn't it matter and both are sold for the same price? You could say the same for any well collected team by the way!
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Not Forgotten; Allwright, Greechan, Hagan, Kennedy, Littler, Purver, Robotham, Saunders, Shields

[manchesterunitedman1]

wandererpaul wrote:

Agree with tynie, keep the staples in place for me too. My collection is in a room where there's central heating, so no problem with them deteriorating. Any real bad ones have come out or taken out already. Does taking the staple out devalue a programme in any way? Say a 1920's Manchester United home programme had its staples removed, and was up for auction, then the same programme, with staples intact, was also up for sale at the same time, which one would be more desirable? Which one would receive the higher bid? Or wouldn't it matter and both are sold for the same price? You could say the same for any well collected team by the way!

IMO

Re the MU remarks you made would make not a scrap of difference at all.

[wandererpaul]

manchesterunitedman1 wrote:

IMO Re the MU remarks you made would make not a scrap of difference at all.

That's a bit of luck then! I can start a table top sale then.
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Not Forgotten; Allwright, Greechan, Hagan, Kennedy, Littler, Purver, Robotham, Saunders, Shields