Alteration vs. Conservation Defined

[Leon]

I am fairly positive some cards were kept pristine by being lost and/or not handled. However, I don't think that number scratches the surface of how many we see today. Apparently there are more high grade vintage cards being made every day.
IMO, There was no need to try to redefine what the hobby already accepts and doesn't accept, concerning alterations, and I told Brent that. He should also, immediately, distance himself from any known card doctors or trimmers (really from day one but it seems that ship has sailed). It is a shame too because I still feel PWCC is doing some great stuff that will help the hobby mature.
People have also taken a lot of things out of context. Brent feels trimming is bad. He feels flattening a card and trimming it is bad. He feels using a solvent is better than water as water can be more damaging, he states. I told him that the hobby has tacitly accepted water but nothing else. SO there you have it, a conversation that probably didn't need to happen but ...it has.

Originally Posted by irv

I've asked this question naively a few times how cards stayed so pristine that are 50 to 100+ yrs old, and although I have been told cigar boxes and in between pages of large books/encyclopedias, I have a hard time accepting the fact that so many back in the day were treated like this.