Marine Corps uniform

[Randall C Colvin]

A customer brought in a Marine Corps uniform(wool) from the WW I era. Jacket, pants and cap (or cover if you prefer). I have 3 questions: Is there some protocol as to how the uniform should be presented in the frame? The brim of the cap needs cleaning and it appears to be leather - any recommendations there? Lastly, I suggested she have it dry cleaned to prevent moth damage(a little is showing already) but she does not want to do it so what about placing moth balls within the uniform or is there some alternative? I'd also welcome any suggestions as to ways of mounting this. She wants the pants inside the jacket - that is, not showing.

 

[Mary Beth van der Horst]

I think just sealing the frame up properly should keep most moths out. Having just finished reading a bunch of framing books, what jumps out to me is the wool and leather. Both are protein based materials that don't react well over time to alkaline buffered materials. That means you should take effort to source a nonbuffered rag mat for them to be in direct contact with. I think unbleached muslin may be a safe material too if you end up having to do a fabric wrapped mat. There are lots of different techniques you could combine for mounting. Depending on how brittle the uniform is, you may want to look into making your own padded hangers to support most of the weight rather than sewmount everything, but I imagine you will probably still have to stitch a bit down to control it.