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?

[laughlinfan]

Only the first two of my set have started duplicating! If they weren't a little unpredictably sized, I would say you should just try to grab a front and back for each! Since Bob was an artist, I am guessing there was some type of glue that was common for (professional) art projects 50 years ago. Not sure what that would be!

Good luck!

[steve B]

Maybe LePages or some other Mucilage. Plant based, so probably water soluble, although some glues like that aren't soluble after they dry.

If the stock isn't coated on either side, I wouldn't expect to remove it all without damage.

It might be worth running them past a paper conservator. They'd have the experience to know how much can be removed and it may not be all that expensive.


To me this also brings up some interesting questions.
Were they originally ever issued not glued together?

I could see saying that glue removal and re-gluing with an archival type glue would be best, and return them to a restored state closer to "as issued" Most modern archival stuff is easily reversible.
Or.... buy some mucilage if it can be sourced, and reglue as original?

[steve B]

https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wi...pes_and_Hinges

[JollyElm]

Hey, Steve, thanks for the link. I should point out that when I used the word 'mucilage,' it was really just conversational, as a synonym for glue or paste. I have no clue whatsoever what type of adhesive was used on these cards.

[steve B]

It was a really common glue at the time, so there's a good chance that's what it is.
I might test one with a bit of water on a Q-tip. Just dampened there's not really enough water to do damage, but enough to see if the glue will dissolve.
I've heard of using vinegar on it, but I'm leery of using an acid on cardstock that may already be acidic.

A couple thoughts that are stretching things a bit.

I believe some mid 60's Topps have glued on fronts, At least from the side they look like they have different layers. I haven't ended up with one bad enough to try disassembling it yet.

My one week of temp work with American publishing involved jigsaw puzzles which were paper glued to cardstock. You might find a bad 70's jigsaw and try with one of those. I don't recall the glue used.
(I also did Return of the Jedi Presto-Magix, so if you had a kit, there's a very slim chance I helped pack it. )*

Surprisingly, many old postcards are laminated layers. And lots of dampness can make them separate very cleanly with no hint of adhesive. Very strange.



*But I only lasted a week. Having worked in the print shop, I was way too fast for the presto magix assembly line. basically collated something like 1000 sets before break and spent the rest of the day just putting a set into the right place in the box. YAWN... Everyone hated me. When we'd finished the order I had to un-collate a couple hundred stacks... Which made the supervisors hate me. So they moved me to a puzzle press with a couple old Potugese ladies who were insanely fast, and would deliberately go extra fast even when they knew a few pieces had escaped the box when they came down the out put chute. Puzzle Die cut, border scrap removed, puzzle pushed down a chute that had a brush inside that took it apart.
I wasn't able to keep up, which was no fun.

Friday I got a check and a "I don't think you're happy or working out here so go be free speech"

[JollyElm]

I decided to dive right in (pun intended) to see if there was any hope of a good outcome. Took the worse-shaped one I had with glue/paste on the reverse and soaked it. I figured what's the worst thing that could happen, it's already in terrible shape. Well, that adhesive remained completely, utterly fixed in place. Not a single speck of it came off or dissipated in any way, shape or form during my Q-Tip work...but the cotton end started turning pink with the red print found on the back of the card. At least the answer is now clear. That's some permanent ass adhesive Mr. Laughlin used. The only thing left to see is how much of the ink will come off onto the paper towels the card is now sandwiched between as it dries. Oh well.

[Gorditadogg]

Ah well: nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[JollyElm]

And a final postscript to the story. The card continues to dry between paper towels (replaced a couple of times a day), and there is none/zero/zip/nada ink appearing on them. Perhaps I was a little overzealous with the Q-Tip in the red ink area, and it caused a tiny bit to bleed into the cotton. It probably looked a helluva lot worse due to it becoming diluted in the water. But no black or red ink came off onto the paper towels. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

[dealme]

I have a 52 Bowman Willie Mays that was laminated when I purchased it. The whole process might be worth its own thread, but for now, the results might be helpful. I successfully removed the plastic with an iron, but there was still a gooey residue left on the card. I didn't have much luck with rubbing alcohol and q-tips, but I have had some success with electrical contact cleaner and q-tips. The contact cleaner evaporates very quickly, which I think is beneficial. It might be worth a shot.

Cheers,
Mark

[ALBB]

Double dutch bus..

.dance hit song by in 80s .... sung by ............I forgot !!