3 Simple Tips for Displaying Your Collection
3 Simple Tips for Displaying Your Collection
One of the highlights of owning a nice collection (or even a beginner-level collection) of Civil War memorabilia is displaying it. Having a case set up somewhere or even an entire room devoted to the collection is a great way for you to enjoy it and also show it off to family and friends. There is nothing wrong with this at all, but there are a few things to keep in mind when you are creating these exhibits, in order to ensure that your collection stays in excellent condition. Here are 3 tips for displaying your collection that will help you care for your artifacts well.
1. Rest Your Collection
This is likely something you’ve encountered in museums in the past. You really enjoyed seeing a specific object on exhibit a couple of years ago, but when you return, it’s no longer on display. This can happen as part of changing museum themes and also in order to rest the item. This is something especially crucial for objects made of silk (ex. old flags), any paper materials, photographs, fabrics, etc.
For these items, just being exposed to sunlight and the artificial lighting in your home is destructive. Paper can turn yellow, inks begin to fade, and silk starts to break down and crumble. Rotating items from exhibit allows them to “rest” in their (hopefully) archival storage boxes which keeps them stable and away from any light sources. It’s also important to monitor your humidity levels in your home to make sure that they are optimal for your collection.
2. Museum Quality Cases
There are a wide variety of “exhibit” cases on the market that range from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. Cost issues aside, the most important thing to look for when selecting a case is if it is museum quality. Does it have halogen lights? Then it is not museum quality. Halogen lights are extremely destructive to artifacts through the intense light and the extreme heat they put off. No two ways about it, avoid halogen lights like the plague.
Another thing to look for is if it has UV blocking lights and/or UV blocking glass. UV is a terrible thing for collectibles of any kind. That will fade, yellow, crumble and disintegrate all sorts of fragile and paper objects. It will cost more, but it is worth it for your collection in the long run to seek out cases that mitigate UV light.
One other thing to consider is where you put your cases. Are they in a room facing the sun? Not good. Does the room have fluorescent lighting? Also, not good. However, you can remediate that by adding UV light filters to your fluorescent light fixtures, and UV blocking blinds or films. Again, this is another reason why items should be rotated from exhibit.
3. Display Stands and Other Props
Recently, I saw in a Facebook group someone who was showing off their new exhibit case full of photos and other Civil War memorabilia. While everyone commented how nice everything looked, my eye was immediately drawn to a Civil War kepi that was being displayed in a Riker mount. This hat was flattened like a pancake into that mount. Now, I don’t know if it was original or not, I am assuming it was as it seemed everything else in the case was. This is probably the LAST way you would ever want to store something like a kepi. A hat is a 3D object meaning that it is meant to have height. In order to fit into a Riker mount box, it has to be completely flattened to less than 1 inch tall. Because these are made of old and fragile textiles, they will stay in the squashed shape and will likely tear or fall apart if you try to “fix” them by returning them to their proper height. If you have something like this in your collection, it is perfectly acceptable to display it, but it should be in the open in the case and the interior of the hat should be supported with balled up archival tissue. Alternatively, you can store it on a specially made museum quality hat stand. But please do not squish things like this to fit into a Riker mount. Even if you purchase one that is like that already, please take it out of the case and store it on tissue. Continuing to press it down is not doing it any favors.
It’s quite common to use stands and other props to hold up items within cases. Typically, there is not much to be concerned about here as long as the items being used as props or shelf liners are archival. Acrylic stands designed for museum exhibits are perfectly fine. One thing to watch out for is how you line your cases and how the items are arranged in cases. For example, if you have a period newspaper don’t put a big piece of rusty metal on top of it like a bayonet. First of all, the bayonet is going to leave an impression on the newspaper and dent it, second of all, it will transfer rust and discolor the newspaper. Just don’t do it. A lot of this is common sense. Heavy sharp objects should not be laying on fragile objects. And to go a step further, no items should be “stacked” in your exhibits. Each item should rest on a stand or the shelf itself without leaning on or laying directly on another object. This will ensure that they do not damage each other. And it will also make for a much cleaner exhibit rather than a cluttered case of a bunch of stuff crammed together.
