Advice on mounting a WWII food ration booklet

Twin2

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
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I am currently working on a military shadow box and the customer has a WWII era food ration booklet that she would like to include. It is approximately 3 3/8" x 5 3/8" and 1/16" thick.

food_ration_booklet-medium.jpg


I would like to mount it so that all the edges show. Would I just treat it like mounting a book or magazine and use the 'book mount' technique (using the clear film Melinex #516), that has been discussed in other topics? I do have some mylar corners, but I think they might be more noticable than just using a piece of clear film to totally cover the front of the booklet.

I also plan to scan each type of food stamp that is still in the booklet and then print those copies and display them underneath the ration book.

Thanks for any suggestions that you can provide.
 
You can secure it to a sheet of board, with strips
of Japanese tissue that are secured to the back
of the board, along its lower edge, and which
come through the pages to the top, where they
pass behind the upper edge of the board, where
they are secured to the back of its upper edge.
One strip of polyethylene can be used to hold
the cover shut. This strip, too, can be secured
to the back of the board. The support board can
be fitted into a hole in the back mat, where it
can be secured with linen tape, at its margins.


Hugh
 
Hugh, you even lost me on that one.

In class you bounce along talking a mile a minute and gush so much information....

I thought you would be very tight lipped in person... because here you give us 103 words...

I have to do a similar book, and I was just going to band it (except for front cover) with a large poly band to the back of a support 4-ply rag, with two, Japan hinges micro tacked to the two end to prevent slip....

am I wrong?
 
Sorry, that must have been one of the longer
sentences written in English. The idea is to use
tissue that is interleafed into the book in
a number of places and which extends out of the
top and bottom of the book, to hold the book.
They do so by wrapping around a support board and
being secured to its back side. The idea, here,
is to spread the support and keep it gentle. Since hinging may affect the value of ephemeral
items, a support strip was suggested for holding
the cover shut.

Hugh
 
Thanks Hugh. That makes a whole lot better sense. I like the look of the tissue interleaf more than I like the gloss of the mylar.
 
So, Hugh, you would use strips of Japanese tissue in various pages of the booklet, not just just open the cover and place strips of tissue across the first page you come across? How big of a support strip would you use to hold the cover shut?


Originally posted by Baer Charlton
Thanks Hugh. That makes a whole lot better sense. I like the look of the tissue interleaf more than I like the gloss of the mylar.
Wouldn't the tissue interleaf be hidden from view by the front cover of the ration book? So does it matter if you use strips of tissue or strips of mylar interleafed between the pages? Wouldn't you still need a piece of mylar to hold the cover in place?


Sorry, I don't think my migraine is helping me think today :(
 
Karen,

Sorry about the migraine.

First, the Japanese paper is going to be "softer and gentler" than the mylar, on the pages.

Then I guess a 1/4" strip of maylar to keep the cover closed would be all you need.
 
Another alternative would be to wrap the whole booklet in a piece of color-matched Stabilitex or Crepeline, and secure that fine mesh fabric's edges to the back of a slightly-under-sized alphacellulose board backer using acrylic medium.

That makes a good overall support, it would be inconspicuous, and the alphacellulose backer may be glued to the background board that shows in the frame.
 
Thanks for the clarification, Baer. I was guessing that the Japanese tissue would be 'softer and gentler'. Where would you suggest placing the 1/4" strip of mylar to hold the cover closed without being too conspicuous? Should I run a strip horizontally across the top edge and another one across the bottom edge?

Your suggestion sounds good too, Jim, but I don't have any Stabilitex or Crepeline on hand and I'm not sure I'd be able to colour match it well enough. I'll keep that option in mind in the future, though.

Thanks for all the suggestions!
 
Another question, which will most likely make me appear stupid is... Are Zen Mulberry strips the same as Japanese tissue? My local supplier carries these strips as well as Hayaku Japanese Hinging paper (which I already have but is gummed, so I wouldn't think it would be suitable to use in this case).
 
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