Collections Spotlight: Behind the Scenes

BY KATE TALLMAN, COLLECTIONS ASSOCIATE

Have you ever wondered how museums store their collections?

The Customs House Museum & Cultural Center acts as steward for over 22,000 objects, ranging in size from large farm equipment to delicate military uniform regalia. For all collections, the most important concerns are limiting temperature and humidity fluctuations, reducing light exposure as much as possible and preventing the introduction of pests to organic collections. The Collections Curator determines a housing plan for each object based on the size, shape and material of the piece.

Smaller objects, such as the ones pictured here, are kept in customized, hermetically sealed cabinets fabricated to maintain environmental conditions to the highest degree possible. Shelves and drawers are first lined with specialized foam sheets which absorb shock, reduce vibration and limit the objects movement within the cabinet. Like objects are often stored together in order to maximize space and facilitate research opportunities. Pieces like jewelry, which tend to get tangled or shift, are secured within a secondary housing created out of museum-grade materials. If more security is needed, PVC-free plastic bags are added as a final safety mechanism.

The introduction of man-made materials is heavily regulated due to the long-term damage these materials pose for museum collections. For this reason, adhesives are rarely used in collections storage and never come in contact with the piece itself. These concerns determine storage decisions as well. Man-made rubbers and plastics will release chemicals in vapor form through a process called “off-gassing.” This happens most when the product is new, but can continue for years. If you have ever noticed the smell of a recently painted room or a new pair of tennis shoes, you have noticed off-gassing! These acidic gasses contribute to the degradation of objects in close proximity, and if stored improperly, will hasten degradation of the offgassing object.

Many of these environmental effects take years before the changes are noticeable to the naked eye, but are often irreversible. In the focus of prevention over repair, collections staff carefully consider each piece as an individual, and as an element of the collection, when determining how best to care for and store each object.