PRESERVATION AND CARE
OF PHILATELIC MATERIALS
MAIN HOME PAGE

Welcome and Introduction

APS Seal. Thank you for visiting the Website of the Preservation and Care of Philatelic Materials (PCPM) Committee. The PCPM Committee is an official standing committee of the American Philatelic Society. The PCPM Website consists of this Home Page and 30 subsidiary pages, as detailed below. The members of the PCPM Committee are as follows:

Roger Rhoads (Chairman)
Alan Warren
William Souder


The objective of the PCPM Website is to present, at least in summary form, the major issues relating to the care and preservation of philatelic materials and to identify additional sources of information providing even more depth of coverage than is possible here. In addition, we are presenting a list of archival suppliers and a bibliography of references germane to the subject. We hope that you will find the information presented useful and that the information will enable you to give the best of care to your philatelic materials.

Acknowledgments


This web site was originally designed and written by the late Russell V. Skavaril, past Chairman of this committee. Russ held a PhD. Degree and was Professor Emeritus at the Ohio State University. His PhD. was unrelated to philately or the subject of this committee, however. The following acknowledgments refer to the material he placed here.

We gratefully acknowledge permission given us by Mr. James E. Kraemer to use the research material of Mr. Kenneth Campbell, research material which Mr. Kraemer originally published under the byline of Mr. Campbell in The Canadian Philatelist Campbell (1993a, 1993b, 1993c, 1994a, 1994b, 1994c, 1994d, 1995a, 1995b, 1995c). Much of the information presented on this site comes from the latter research. Other significant sources are identified within the various pages subsidiary to this home page.

We also wish to express our thanks to the following individuals for the assistance and/or information provided in connection with this project: Wesley L. Boomgaarden, Brian Nelson Burford, Richard A. Colberg, James N. Francis, Thomas J. Homa, Gini Horn, John M. Hotchner, Azeezaly S. Jaffer, John Jonus, Janet R. Klug, Brian Krasinski, Robert E. Lamb, William E. Souder, Doris Wilson, Michael Rogers, Thomas O. Taylor, Ann M. Triggle, Lois Evans-de Violini, and Kathleen Wunderly.

You can reach the Chairman of this committee via e-mail at rrrhoads@aol.com.


Last updated: May 23, 2001
Organization And Structure Of This Site

We have constructed and organized the PCPM Website according to the following Table of Contents. If you click on any one of the headings in the Table of Contents, you will be taken automatically to the corresponding subsidiary page and presented with the detailed information corresponding to that heading. At the end of that detailed information, you will find three links:
  1. A link to take you forward to the next topic in the Table of Contents.
  2. A link to take you back to the immediately preceding topic in the Table of Contents.
  3. A link to take you back to the Table of Contents in the Home Page of the site.
Note: The first link, of course, is not available from the last subsidiary page; and the second link, similarly, is not available from the first subsidiary page. Otherwise, all three links are available at the end of each subsidiary page.


Table of Contents


(This link will take you to the APS Home Page.)

1. A Brief History of Paper Manufacturing 2. Composition of the Postage Stamp and Factors Involved in the Removal of Stamps from Paper
3. The Mechanism of Paper Deterioration 4. Environmental Factors Affecting Stamps and Covers
5. A Short List of Items to Avoid 6. Proper Handling of Stamps and Covers
7. Books: Binding, Inks, and Storage 8. Dry Cleaning of Stamps and Covers
9. Wet Cleaning of Stamps and Covers 10. Dealing with Scotch Tape
11. Chemically Altered Stamps 12. Sizing, Toning Paper, and Determination of Paper Grain
13. Adhesives 14. Glue Sticks
15. Stick Notes ("Post It" Notes) 16. Taggants and Chemical Additives
17. Tagging Colors Varieties, and Tagging Changes Over Time 18. Plastics
19. Stamp Hinges 20. Transparent Envelopes
21. Stock Sheets 22. Corner Mounts and Stamp Mounts
23. Dry Mounting 24. Encapsulation
25. Photographic Materials and Albums 26. Watermark Detectors
27. Paper and Wax Seals 28. Conservation Materials
29. Archival Suppliers 30. Available Publications and Bibliography


End of Preservation and Care of Philatelic
Materials Committee's Home Page