Bookmark Collector

After collecting all of my bookmarks into one area, my next step is to try and organize them. The biggest part of my collection (in terms of numbers) are the paper bookmarks. In many ways they provide the most confusion because of the sheer number of them all, and because there are so many duplicates.

I’m also interested in providing some protection for the more delicate paper items. Since the die cut bookmarks have such a wide variety of shapes, I know there will be a challenge trying to come up with a system that is flexible and yet one I can organize.

Several collectors have discussed their systems, and I want to reference them, here:

1. Lauren Roberts discusses how she displayes her bookmarks in her article “How do I Display Thee? Let Me Find The Way” on the BiblioBuffet website
2. The World of Bookmarks website has a page dedicated to storing and displaying bookmarks
3. Laine Fairly discusses her unique (and I’m jealous) way of storing her bookmarks in this post from her (unfortunately discontinued) blog Tales of a Bookmark Collector.
4. I also searched the postings of the Yahoo’s Collecting Bookmarks Group

I’ve decided that I’m going to explore a variety of options and see which ones work out the best. This will probably turn into a series of posts as I find new methods and materials to test.

To begin, I’ll discuss three different sleeves I bought from Metal Edge, Inc., an archival supplies company.

The first is from their Negative Preservers line and is catalog number V12012. It’s a 3 ring binder page and is typically used to store negatives from a film camera. There are 4 envelopes to a page, and the size is about right for 90% of the bookmarks that I have. It’s made from polypropelene, so the archival qualities are debatable. A package of 50 costs $17.15, which is $0.34 a page or $0.085 for each pocket. I used these extensively to sort out my paper bookmarks.

As you can see, there’s a slit at the top of each pocket for easy insertion and removal of the bookmark. This was a blessing and a curse, because the polypropelene is very flexible allowing the pages to flop over. The bookmarks would then easily drop out of the envelope through the slit. I had to keep them in a 3 ring binder so that they were rigid enough to stay upright, and if I ever tilted the binder, many of the bookmarks would fall out. I ended up puting a piece of tape or a label over the slit when I was done rearranging a page. So, I’m not convinced these are the best solution.

Another product I tried was from their Bank Note and Currency Envelope line, catalog number CE26. It’s made from 4 mil archival polyester. That’s 4/1000 inch think, not 4 millimeters. The size is 2 3/4 x 6 3/8 inch, or 70 x 162 mm. I like these a lot, because they are stiff, easy to get into (2 adjacent sides are open) and provide good archival protection. You can easily see both sides of the bookmark, and they stack very comfortably, either on their face or on their sides. They are expensive, costing $33.25 for a package of 100, or $0.33 a piece!

I put a lot of my smaller, antique paper bookmarks into these sleeves, and they look great. This is the smallest size they have, but I think I’ll try some others. They’re too expensive for the majority of my free paper bookmarks, but for the more expensive items, they are worth it.

The last item is from their Print and Negative Sleeves line, catalog number MS 210. It is made from 4 mil thick (0.1 mm) Inert Mylar D. The sleeve size is 2 1/2 x 10 1/8 inch or 64 x 257 mm. The sleeves are sealed on both the long sides, and are open at both ends, sort of like a tube. They cost me $35.05 for a package of 100, or $0.35 a piece. Another expensive solution.

I’m mixed about these. They are stiff and provide good, archival protection. They are a good size for several of my longer bookmarks. They show the bookmark well, and can be stacked in storage or for display. However, they are a pain to insert and remove bookmarks. They don’t stay open easily, and so you need something stiff to work its way into the tube. Either a stiff bookmark must be used (I would cringed when the bookmark was antique) or I started using another piece of archival cardboard like a spatula. I would slip the cardboard into the tube and position the bookmark. I would then remove the cardboard. I don’t think it was worth the extra expense.

So far, I like the currency sleeves the best. The negative pages worked well enough for some organizing and are cheap, but their inability to hold the bookmarks securely bothers me. And the long negative tubes are too much bother.