Seeking Cloth Tape

The dyes used in cloth typewriter ribbons are held in place by fats & waxes (e.g., neatsfoot oil,mineral oil, oleic acid, montan wax, paraffin wax, etc.) so it is not surprising to find that they have bled over time.

Modern plastic typewriter ribbons don't have that problem, but I have no idea how long accession/catalog numbers would remain on cloth tape.

Writing numbers out by hand may not be as neat as typewritten numbers (I'm one of the few people who can read my writing) but they should last longer if good inks are used.

Jack

Thompson Conservation Laboratory 7549 N. Fenwick Portland, Oregon 97217

503/735-3942 (voice/fax)

If nobody else can read the numbers, they are just as useless as fugitive ones. And it happens - we have numbers on things in our collection that are virtually unreadable due to poor writing, and others that are readable but can be read in more than one way, resulting in much lost time and in the risk of lost information about the item. Sometimes I think disappearing ink would have been a mercy!