what kinds of containers do archival collections arrive in?




There is no limit, amazingly, to the variety of containers in which people store collections and in which they are donated to the archives.  This week is the first time I've received a flash drive in a VHS videotape case, although I have received information in a wide variety of containers over the years. Sometimes they are taped or stapled to containers. Here are some of the containers I've experienced: boxes-wooden, cardboard, plastic, decorative and plain, handmade or purchased; envelopes of all shapes, sizes, and materials-paper, plastic, carboard; photographic storage containers, a wide variety, including slide carousels in boxes, plastic pages for negatives of all shapes and sizes, and wooden boxes for glass-plate negatives; bags of all kinds, shapes, sizes, and material- shopping, garbage, clothing bags, and food storage baggies, as well as  plastic wrap and tin foil; luggage and briefcases; milk crates; desk organizers and portfolio file carry cases, both the kind you carry by the handle or mounted on wheels that you pull; plastic storage tubs of all kinds and sizes; diverse office file cabinets; in purses, wallets; in or pinned to clothing; wrapped in sheets; and in mill or feed sacks.  I'm sure I'm forgetting some. It's always an interesting experience opening archival donations containers. I do so with both excitement and trepidation and often fear damaging my fingers. 

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