Hi Mark! When I buy a lot of postcards and some of them smell like smoke or mildew, I put them into an Ozone Chamber I built with an ozone generator that I purchased new on eBay for $44.00. It has a timer and a tube the ozone charged air is pumped through. The ozone charger looks like a big aquarium pump. I put the stinky postcard lot in a plastic bin and I attach the bin lid. I put the hose through a small hole I cut into the top. Then I plug in the ozone generator and turn the timer to the maximum, four hours and let it start pumping. I make sure the ozone chamber is set outside, usually on my deck, in the sun or if the weather looks like wind, rain or snow I’ll put it in my garage, far away from any plants, pets and people as ozone can cause lung damage with prolonged exposure. I let the ozone chamber sit for about a day or two and then I run the whole cycle again. This usually solves all odor problems and ozone is supposed to kill all bacteria’s and funguses like ‘foxing’ on the back of the cards. It works good and should kill any pests that live in paper environments like bookworms, ‘skin’ bugs in tropical regions, moths and silverfish. The postcards are sterilized with this chamber. I have never encountered postcards that smell “where the elephants go to die’ but anything that stinky should just be put in the trash.
Recently purchased a large collection that was kinda smelly. I used those Gonzo rocks (about $20 for two bags on Amazon), sealed the collection in with them for about a week and they smell remarkably better.
I know John from Popeyes postcards uses an ozone generator or degenerator for his smokey post cards. He has a good vodeo as well on how to take care of it. Thanks again for your awesome video keep up the great work.
Thanks for the shoutout! Regarding smells, here’s my worst ever experience: Went to an estate sale by individual where a young woman was selling everything in her late mother’s home which reeked of cat urine. I should have walked out right after walking in when that smell hit me. But, I was motivated by what turned out to be a great picking opportunity for vintage ephemera, so I powered through. Everything was for sale, even a large stash of older handwritten family correspondence the daughter had no interest in keeping (sad). Of course all that paper was super stinky. So when I got home I divided the paper into smaller bundles, put into freezer bags and sprinkled it all generously with baking soda - directly on all of it - and put the bags in my freezer for weeks. Would periodically give the bags a sniff test. The odor finally got absorbed by the baking soda and I guess the freezer “killed” anything else. The baking soda did no damage to the paper. I wound up making a big profit on all I got from that sale including the correspondence. But I didn’t know initially if I would be able to get rid of that horrible smell.
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Great video Mark!
Hi Mark! When I buy a lot of postcards and some of them smell like smoke or mildew, I put them into an Ozone Chamber I built with an ozone generator that I purchased new on eBay for $44.00. It has a timer and a tube the ozone charged air is pumped through. The ozone charger looks like a big aquarium pump. I put the stinky postcard lot in a plastic bin and I attach the bin lid. I put the hose through a small hole I cut into the top. Then I plug in the ozone generator and turn the timer to the maximum, four hours and let it start pumping. I make sure the ozone chamber is set outside, usually on my deck, in the sun or if the weather looks like wind, rain or snow I’ll put it in my garage, far away from any plants, pets and people as ozone can cause lung damage with prolonged exposure. I let the ozone chamber sit for about a day or two and then I run the whole cycle again. This usually solves all odor problems and ozone is supposed to kill all bacteria’s and funguses like ‘foxing’ on the back of the cards. It works good and should kill any pests that live in paper environments like bookworms, ‘skin’ bugs in tropical regions, moths and silverfish. The postcards are sterilized with this chamber. I have never encountered postcards that smell “where the elephants go to die’ but anything that stinky should just be put in the trash.
I get quite a few Bowling real photo postcards and they sell pretty well. Even some conferences or competitions
Recently purchased a large collection that was kinda smelly. I used those Gonzo rocks (about $20 for two bags on Amazon), sealed the collection in with them for about a week and they smell remarkably better.
I know John from Popeyes postcards uses an ozone generator or degenerator for his smokey post cards. He has a good vodeo as well on how to take care of it. Thanks again for your awesome video keep up the great work.
Thanks for the shout out Mark!
Any time!
Was just sitting down to watch this video and I get yet another inquiry on ESE shipment that hasn't been scanned. SIGHS. Okay time for the video!
I don't think I've ever seen a Bowling card.
Same here.
I have a couple.
Thanks for the shoutout! Regarding smells, here’s my worst ever experience: Went to an estate sale by individual where a young woman was selling everything in her late mother’s home which reeked of cat urine. I should have walked out right after walking in when that smell hit me. But, I was motivated by what turned out to be a great picking opportunity for vintage ephemera, so I powered through. Everything was for sale, even a large stash of older handwritten family correspondence the daughter had no interest in keeping (sad). Of course all that paper was super stinky. So when I got home I divided the paper into smaller bundles, put into freezer bags and sprinkled it all generously with baking soda - directly on all of it - and put the bags in my freezer for weeks. Would periodically give the bags a sniff test. The odor finally got absorbed by the baking soda and I guess the freezer “killed” anything else. The baking soda did no damage to the paper. I wound up making a big profit on all I got from that sale including the correspondence. But I didn’t know initially if I would be able to get rid of that horrible smell.
I'm pretty sure S.S stands for Steamship :o)
I find the phone faster I can take pictures and list all in one I can type fast on my phone and bam, there's the picture, no downloading or scanning