Rinker on Collectibles

RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1750

The 2x2 35mm Slides Nightmare - Part II

I have no desire to know exactly how many 2x2 35mm slides I own. The number is in the tens of thousands. At the moment, they are housed in three stacks of archival file boxes containing packs of slides and filled or partially filled carousel slides trays, stacks of filled or partially filled carousel trays not in archival file boxes, slides in metal slide storage boxes, and numerous plastic boxes containing boxes of slides in Kodak packaging. The slides represent a 60-year accumulation.

I have chosen to ignore the financial costs – cameras, film, developing, projection equipment, and storage containers – represented by the slides. I have applied the same approach to all the objects in my collections. No collector thinks about cost. Justification is achieved by a simple “money well spent” mentality.

Before discussing how I plan to deal with my hoard of 2x2 35mm slides, I want to share how I resolved two key issues. The first was memories. Almost every slide evokes a personal memory, not just from the slide image but also the memory of when and why it was taken.

Memory is one of the biggest deterrents in downsizing. While an object may be neutral, the memories associated with it are not. They are often deeply entrenched in a collector’s psyche. Although memory is not totally destroyed when an object is discarded, it is lessened to the point where the object is most likely forgotten over time.

I resolved this problem by accepting the concept that most memories associated with my 2x2 35mm slides are personal. They are my memories; and, my memories alone. When I die, the memories die with me. My goal is to keep this in mind as I review each slide and make a determination regarding its fate. The obvious conclusion is that I will end up trashing between 70 and 80 percent of my slides. As one gets older, one realizes that some memories simply are not worth preserving even from an existential viewpoint.

The second is an acceptance that the color in many of the slides will have faded. Unlike black and white negatives and prints that will last for almost a century or more, color prints and slides are not color fast. Even when carefully stored, colors fade. Since most 2x2 35mm slides are stored in attics, basements, closets, garages, and other areas where humidity and temperature control are non-existent, color fading, especially on slides pre-dating 1980 is a given.

Thanks to modern computer software programs, color restoration is possible but expensive. When dealing with personal/family slides, the costs often do not justify the end results. Future generations usually do not share the same values associated with the images and the person who took or remembers them.

During my professional career, I used Kodak slide projection equipment. When I sold the assets of Rinker Enterprises, Inc., in 2010, I kept two Kodak slide projectors for future use. It was a wise decision. Each projector storage case still has an extra bulb.

Kodak made a slide stack attachment for its slide projectors that allowed a stack of loose slides to be shown without have to put them into a carousel slide tray. I have one but cannot find it. This does not present a problem since they are readily available for sale on eBay.

For those who have slides but no projector, try buying one online. If you have patience and a willingness to hunt, checkout the garage sale and estate sale marketplace. Old Kodak slide projectors are regularly featured in these sale venues.

Kodak was not the only company making slide projectors. Ansco, Bell & Howell, GAF, Sawyers, and Vivitar are just a few of the other manufacturers. Each developed its own slide tray system. Unless a large 35mm slide collection is stored in trays designed for one of these projectors, my recommendation is to stick with the Kodak carousel system.

If unidentified black and white photographs are a problem, unidentified slides are a catastrophe. Few individuals identified the location or individuals pictured in 35mm slides. The good news is that some developers, such as Kodak, did date stamp the slide mounts. Instant ancestors, unidentified individuals in 35mm slides, abound.

[Author’s Aside: When I acquired a large number of Prosser and Rinker family photograph albums in the 1960s and 1970s, many of the individuals who could have identified the people in the images still were alive. Alas, I only consulted a few of them. When reviewing my 35mm slides, I expect to recognize less than half the individuals pictured in them. When I cannot identify the people, I will discard the slides.]

I already am aware my collection contains images of my parents, my children in their younger years, my relatives, and friends. How many images have any meaning to these individuals and what number, if any, should be saved is the key question.

In December 2018 when searching for images of Hansmartin Hertlein, my brother in all but blood, I came across images of my father, mother, and brother Richard. My father and Richard died in 1966 before my children were born. My mother died in 1977. Harry Jr. was ten and Paulanne was seven. I selected a few images, had them scanned, printed out, and sent the prints to my children. I plan to discard the dozens of other images of my parents and brother based on the “enough is enough” premise. In the case of images of other individuals, I will set them aside to be returned to those still alive or the heirs of those who are not. I am a realist. I expect most of the recipients to discard them.

I stopped taking vacation photographs in the late-1970s. Why is a long story involving my Aunt Jeannette Davis and my attending one of her slide shows of a recent vacation to Africa. The slide show contained over 50 pictures of the same elephant she saw during her visit. There was no elephant part that was not pictured multiple times, including its unmentionables. Immediately after being forced to endure that hideous performance I stopped taking vacation pictures and refused to participate when anyone offered to share their vacation images.

Prior to my Aunt Jeannette’s presentation, I filled slide tray after slide tray with images of places I visited. These images are now 50 years old or older. In the case of my European images, many were taken before the reconstruction period following World War II.

My plan is to set aside groups of town views, place them in plastic sleeves or containers. and donate them to local historical societies. In terms of the East German and West German cities I visited before “The Wall” came down, I am considering a trip to Germany to deliver the slides in person.

I confess I have not reached a final conclusion on how to deal with the slides from the Institute for the Study of Antiques and Collectibles classes or my “fun” lectures. I will retain them for a few more years. I still hope that someone will agree to fund my goal of offering the Institute courses online. Some dreams die hard.

How I am going to handle the slides that I keep is my final concern. My initial plan was to pay a commercial firm to have them scanned to a disc. I found a firm in Altamonte Springs, Florida, whose prices were less than $1.00 per slide. I had the slides I had scanned in January 2019 saved on a CD.

Wait a minute! My new portable computer does not have a CD scanner. I had to buy a special attachment to be able to access my collection of CDs. The CD has been replaced by the thumb drive. The CD is as obsolete as the old 5 1/2” floppy discs and 3 1/2” hard discs. I have large collections of these as well. I also have a collection of thumb drives. To be honest, I have little to no idea what is on any of them. None of them are marked.

Is the answer to scan the images and send them into the clouds? Will there still be cloud sources in 50 years? Multiple new image storage opportunities will arise during the decades ahead. None will be able to guarantee storage in perpetuity.

In terms of modern digital images, they will never present a similar problem to that of 2x2 35mm slides. At some point, the internet accounts handling these images will disappear, either because the person who created them died or failed to renew the internet site license. Facebook gives the impression it will be around forever. There is no forever in modern technology.

How will the generations in the twenty-second century deal with images of their ancestors? They will not have to worry about them. There will be no way to retrieve them. The past will not be prolonged, it will be forgotten; as forgotten as the ancestors buried in graveyards throughout the world.

LANDMARK “RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES” COLUMN. This is ROC Column #1750. At one point, I considered this number as a possible end point for my column. Obviously, I have chosen otherwise. The target is ROC #1820, the 35th anniversary of the column that will take place in mid-December 2021. When I look at the date, I am frightened as to how close it is—only 70 more columns to go.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Selected letters will be answered in this column. Harry cannot provide personal answers. Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned. Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5955 Mill Point Court SE, Kentwood, MI 49512. You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker@aol.com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

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