Soaker enthusiasts and glue experts unite!!

[JollyElm]

If you're not familiar with the 1967 Laughlin World Series B/W set, let me sum it up this way. Early on, Mr. Laughlin must have realized the cool set of cards he was producing (and mailing out) were much too thin, so his solution was to actually glue/paste one print sheet right on top of another (same) sheet to thicken them up. He then cut the print sheets into individual cards. Sort of the double-decker bus theory of printing.

Nowadays it's virtually impossible to find any of these cards still adhered together. What you do run across are individual cards slathered in glue/paste on one of their sides, front or back, like so...

laughlinglue1.jpg

laughlinglue2.jpg

So here's my question. Since the mucilage covers the entire side of the card, I'd love to eliminate it. Does anyone know whether or not this can be done?? Most of the traditional ways of removing glue (using alcohol, heat, or freezing the item to flick it slowly away) won't work here. The glue/paste is much too pervasive. I'm left with my last option, soaking.

• Does anyone have a clue whether or not this particular (1967 era) glue/paste is water soluble?

• Do the brush strokes and color point to a specific brand/type of glue/paste, like rubber cement or the type of paste we used as kids in school?

• If there was actually a way to remove the glue, would it even work here? These cards are on pretty thin card stock(?) with no gloss or anything else to separate the surface from invasive contaminants. Would putting them in water lead to a quick ruination?

I know a sure answer would come from experimenting on one of my cards, but I really don't want to ruin any of them. Does anyone have any real world experience with this particular scenario? Not guesswork, but an actual solution...or am I just f*cked?