[pacerr]

I just came across two boxes of 5x7 Kodabrom printing paper and a trashed contact printing light box. The 'use by date' is Aug, 1941. There were two dozen prints with them that seem to be from the late 50's or early '60's that were of nominal quality.

I've no reason to believe the contents are compromised other than by age. It would be interesting to explore contact printing from MF negatives today. If anyone's interested, PM me.

Half gross = 72. The single weight G-3 seems almost full. The double weight G-2 feels maybe a 3rd full.

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Last edited by pacerr; 04-09-2019 at 11:09 AM.

[Bob 256]

WOW! A half-Gross, that is antique! I would save your stock for use with some really old negatives to give them that real antique touch

Good luck with your find. If it was stored reasonably well, it should perform well. Lucky it isn't gloss or you would need ferrotyping sheets to sponge it on!

---------- Post added 04-09-2019 at 07:54 AM ----------

WOW! A half-Gross, that is antique! I would save your stock for use with some really old negatives to give them that real antique touch

Good luck with your find. If it was stored reasonably well, it should perform well. Lucky it isn't gloss or you would need ferrotyping sheets to sponge it on!

[tuco]

Great find. I tried printing on paper that was 15 years old. Yikes. The image was really flat and fogged a little. I can only speculate how fogged and what speed 78-year old paper is by now.

[Ontarian50]

Great find. I tried printing on paper that was 15 years old. Yikes. The image was really flat and fogged a little. I can only speculate how fogged and what speed 78-year old paper is by now.

Agreed. Unless they had better anti-fog additives back in those days, your paper is likely well beyond its "best before date".

When tossing out old expired paper, I've noticed it has taken on a less than white background, often going yellowish, pinkish, or outright grey. That becomes your base fog, and there's no way to print on it without your highlights being grey instead of white.

As for what 78 year old paper behaves like ... well, I suppose you can give it a try and keep us posted.

[pacerr]

As for what 78 year old paper behaves like ... I suppose you can give it a try and keep us posted.

Actually it's likely 3-4 years older than the 'use by' date -- but, hey, that's still only a few years senior to me!

Lots of folks talk about how expired photo materials behave but very few have actual hands-on experience. I closed out my B&W 'wet' darkroom about 35 years ago so I'll pass on this opportunity to further my own education . . . an' avoid the stains on my T-shirts too.

If anyone else wants to add to the current knowledge base, a couple of ounces of Dektol + fixer, some old negs, a spot of sunlight and a contact printing frame ought to get ya started on the road to fame and fortune for the price of shipping.

Age has its own rewards as well as a few 'foggy' deficits but ya gotta try it to appreciate it -- no doubt that's true even for photo paper! Gettin' old ain't for sissy's though!