New products

2. Remove the protective backing from the Label -Saver whille holding by the pull tab. Keeping the pull tab to the left and carefully positioning the Label-Saver so there is ¼t to ½I inch of gIass between the pull tab and the label, japply the the Label-Saver as you would applv a decal to glass, rolling it on from one side to the other.

3. Apply firm, even pressure over the entire area of the Label-Saver that is in contact with the label, especially at the lefthand edge.To ensure good contact, you may want to use a hard smooth object. such as the back of a spoon, and rub over the entire surface.

4. Holding the top and bottom corners of the pull tab, begin peeling back the Label-Saver, slowly and evenly. Note that the Label-Saver works by removing the printed surface of the label, separating it from the adhesive-bonded back.

While I have not tested Label-Saver myself, I have seen a label that has been removed using this product. It does just as it claims, the front of the label was in perfect codition and laminated. The label appeared to be about ¼ of it's original thickness. This is probably due to the comments in step 4 above. The cost is $49.95 for 100 Label-Saver Sheets. Label-Saver is offered at www.wineenthusiast.com, a link to the page offering the product is included here

Dear Pat:

Creative Memories has developed an entire product line devoted to helping people preserve their photographs and memories. Much research has been conducted to ensure that all of the products meet the standards created by the Wilhelm Imaging Research Associates for the preservation of color photographs. Wilhelm Imaging has literally set the standards that are utilized worldwide for the preservation of color photographs, and Creative Memories is the first company to achieve their seal of approval on its products.

While our main market is the photo enthusiast, many hobbyists are coming to realize the high quality of our archival products. Scrapbookers, journalists and artists use our products to safely store their treasures. All of the papers used are acid and lignin free, and buffered. To be considered acid free, a product must have a pH balance of 7.0 or greater. All of our papers have a pH of 8.0. Acid is used in the paper making process and will cause paper to crumble over time. Additionally, the lignin in the paper has been purposefully removed to prevent the papers from turning yellow over time. Lignin is a by-product of tree pulp that is present in all paper unless purposefully removed. All of our plastics are polypropylene, no polyvinylchiorides (PVC). When present in plastic, PVC forms a chlorine gas over time that prematurely yellows paper. Additionally, PVC can cause photographs to cloud over, and in some cases can actually fuse to the surface of the material being preserved (photograph, label, etc.).

We offer a variety of album styles in sizes 8 x 10, 12 x 12 (most popular), and 12 x 15. For labels that you intend to keep and never trade, it's suggested that you permanently mount them to pages using adhesives (in the form of photo splits, tape runners or tape). These adhesives will never yellow, lose their tackiness, nor harm the label. For those labels that might be traded someday, several sizes of plastic sleeves are used that are adhered to the pages. The labels slide easily into the sleeves and are clearly visible for your enjoyment until such time that you want to trade them. Each page can be covered using plastic page protectors. They are sealed at the top and bottom to prevent contaminants in the environment from touching the pages or labels (including less than clean hands). Anyone can page through your albums and you don't have to worry about your labels being soiled, ripped, etc.. These page protectors are highly recommended for pages where labels have been mounted directly to the page to provide additional protection.

Additional products include clear plastic photo corners. I've found that these are good for holding a plastic sleeve in an album which lets you take the whole sleeve in and out fairly easily and quickly.

Unlike photographs, many labels have an adhesive on the back where they were attached to the bottle. Unfortunately, I cannot protect the label from this adhesive. The acid and solvents used in the adhesive may eventually bleed through the paper and cause it to yellow. The paper itself will eventually yellow as well because it contains acid and lignin. However, this process can be slowed by safely and carefully storing them in a safe environment such as the albums I have described above.

One last and very important product...pens. We offer archival pens whose ink is fade-proof, acid-free and water-proof. These are Pigma Pens by Sakura. These same pens are used by the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Library. Ball point pens and most markers contain acid and solvents that eventually will bleed through a page or photograph. Pigma pens are excellent for adding a notation about a particular label.

For more information, please call either Tom or Mary Alice at (314)-966-3727 or email:, tscherrer@msn.com

         Open spine 8x10                      $18
         (Open spine means the back of the pages show)
         Bookshelf 8X10                       $28
         
         Open spine 12X 12                     $23
         Bookshelf 12x12                       $36
         (A black leather album  in 12 x 12 is available for $55.)
        

         Openspine 12x15                      $27
         Bookshelf 12X 15                     $40
       
      
        
         
        Rlefill page packs consisting of 15 pages each are:
          8x10      $10.45
          12x12     $11.85
          12x15     $13.20
         
         Page protectors come in packs of 15:
           8x10    $6.45
          12x12    $7.15
          12x15    $8.00
         
         ADHESIVES
         
         Photo splits (500 per box)      $3.85 per box ($41.85 for 12 boxes)
         
         Tape runner (43 feet of double sided tape with dispenser that is sectioned into very 
         small segments to enable the user to utilize as little or as much as needed)      

         1 Dispenser                 $5.75 each                  ($64.00 per dozen)
        
         Tape runner refill          $4.35 each                  ($48.50 per dozen)
         
         Photo tape (81 feet of clear double sided tape with its own dispenser,
          torn off by the user in desired lengths).  $8.OOea or 2 for $14.00
         
         PLASTIC SLEEVES
         
         Clear plastic sleeves:
         3.5 x 5 inch       (24 sleeves/pack)                      $4.80
                            (48 sleeves/pack)                      $9.25
                            (96 sleeves/pack)                     $16.80
         
         Purchase higher quantities in multiples of 24 for $3.92
         each (example 5 packs of 24 would run $19.60)
       
          4 x 6 inch          24 sleeves/pack                       $6.00.
                              48 sleeves/pack                      $10.15.
                              96 sleeves/pack                      $18.90
         
         Purchase higher quantities in multiples of 24 for $4.41
         each (example 5 packs of 24 would run $22.05)
    
         5 x 7 inch           50/pack                                 $15.00
                              100/pack                                $28.35

         8 x l0 inch          50/pack                                 $20.00
                              100/pack                                $37.75
        
         One black Pigma pen in either fine tip br calligraphy tip   $2.70
         
         A set of 6 pens in either tip with a variety of colors runs $16.00.
         
         Prices listed do not include Tax of 6 725% nor shipping

I received samples of all materials and all appear to be as advertised. Since between my label collection and the ABA label collection I have over 20,000 labels already in albums, it would be cost prohibitive for me to switch, but this might be just the thing for a new collector.