Finding odd techniques opening prior framing

[RozR]

Ok. I wanted to title this cotton balls and lollipop sticks... but thought it sounded a little wierd... but these are things I found in the last 2 days in prior framing jobs for customers.

Wondering if anyone knows why they were used, as follows:

1. Lollipop sticks - stapled to the inside rabbet of moulding - seems to keep from slip-sliding around... on all sides of moulding. Hmmm?

2. Cotton balls - these were lightly taped with artist's tape to the backside of a mat/sandwich consisting of cut mat board, gloss photo paper, 2 layers of photo film (with imaging on - very beautiful at that!), backer mat board - and then these cotton balls and an added piece of mat board on the back. I thought maybe to keep the 3 layers of photo/film from sagging to the back? Hmm, again?
:confused: :confused:

[Frank Larson]

Hmmmm...I hate to admit it but I have been know to cut a frame a little large accidently and then line the rabbet with matboard to make the glass and mats fit without falling out on one side. I never thought of lollipop sticks. I'll remember that for next time. ;)

I think you called it on the cottton balls. They problably used cotton because it's "archival".

I don't get to take much art apart so I don't have much to share. There was this one time when someone brought an ugly piece in to reuse the rather nice frame and I found a really nice etching behind the ugly art. It was obvious the etching was what had been framed originally and someone had reused the frame before. The customer ended up keeping the etching in the frame and purchasing a new frame for her artwork. We were both happy!

[EllenAtHowards]

My two favorite weird things found in old framing are: 1) hinged with band-aids (but only from the top... they had standards) and b) each side hinged with 1/2 of the custom frame shop label... at least you know who did the work! hahahahahaha

[Linda Foote]

Recently a customer brought us a big, beautiful, gold, carved frame to have us replace the mirror in it that had been broken in a move. When we opened up the back we found a thick wad of crumpled paper towel masking taped to the middle back of the mirror. :confused: :rolleyes:

[Mitch]

I recently opened the back of a 40 year old framing package to find the mat package was held in place with matches - wooden kitchen matches, glued to the edge of the rabbet with white glue. Probably one of the first uses of Elmer's Glue.