Conservation Treatment of The Parent Trap 1961 Film Poster, in the Former Capitol Theatre

Detail of The Parent Trap poster, before and after conservation treatment.

The Parent Trap, a beloved Disney film starring Hayley Mills, Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith, was released in 1961, and movie-goers in London, Ontario, Canada must have had the chance to see it on the big screen at the Capitol Theatre at 204 Dundas Street. A large poster advertising the film is one of the few remaining artifacts of the Capitol’s heydays left in the building, and it recently underwent conservation treatment to preserve it for display in what is now part of the City of London’s City Planning Offices.

The Capitol Theatre, London, Ontario, Canada, c.1970. Photo by Victor Aziz, via Barb Trudell Dunbar

The Allen Theatre opened at this location in 1920, and became The Capitol Theatre in 1924. For 80 years, films were shown in the theatre’s auditoriums, including many of the biggest blockbusters to come out of Hollywood, and Londoners lined up on the street for admission. However, after the slow decline of movie theatres in the city’s core, the Capitol closed in 2002. In 2008 a deal was reached between the building’s owner and London City Council, and plans were made to demolish and rebuild both the Capitol and the adjacent Bowles building, restore the heritage facades, and lease the buildings for use by City offices.

During the reconstruction of the buildings, the large, brilliantly coloured Parent Trap film poster was discovered intact on the interior eastern wall of the theatre, in what would have been the lobby. Somehow this ephemeral printed paper advertisement survived the massive construction project and remained adhered, as firmly as the day it was put up, to the plaster interior wall of the building, although it was covered again during the rebuild and remained hidden until 2019.

The Parent Trap poster, before conservation treatment, in the Boardroom of the London City Planning offices.

The buildings, occupied by the City of London Planning Services (now City Planning) Offices since 2010, underwent another, smaller renovation in 2019, which saw the front room of the Capitol re-fitted for use as a board room. Although city staff were aware of the poster previously, it was at this point that the decision was made to take the opportunity of this renovation to make the poster visible again. A window frame approximately 5x7’ was built into the current wall to reveal most of the large film poster, one of few remnants of the building’s original purpose, still affixed to the original plaster of the building.

Before Treatment - large gouges.

Before Treatment - holes and abrasions.

Before Treatment - construction markings.

Before Treatment - plaster splatters.

The poster, while still vibrant and in good condition, considering all it had been through, had suffered some damage during the renovations. Deep gouges in the wall had shattered the paper in several locations, smaller gashes, dents, tears and losses were scattered over the surface, construction notations were scrawled on the paper and a thick layer of plaster dust and splatter dulled the image. Book and Paper Conservation Services was consulted about conserving and restoring the artifact, and the project was approved in early 2020.

After a long delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we began conservation of the poster in early fall 2020, and completed the work at the end of November.

Adhesive application to repair breaks.

Inpainting areas of loss.

The goal of the project was to conserve and restore the poster as much as possible while keeping it affixed it its original location, preparing it for safe, long-term display in the office. This involved surface cleaning to remove dirt and debris, repairing the mechanical damages in the paper, filling material losses and performing image compensation.

Surface dry cleaning to remove debris.

More cleaning to remove plaster dust.

First the paper was carefully cleaned using soft brushes and sponge erasers to remove the dust and hard splatters of plaster. The construction notations were removed by careful scraping with a scalpel, and most of the dirt and smudges were removed with a combination of wet and dry surface cleaning. Losses were filled and the delicate lifting flaps of paper were adhered back into place. Lost areas of image were inpainted directly onto the fills using watercolour pigments to reconstruct the design. Finally the surface was coated to strengthen the paper and re-saturate the colours.

Repairs underway.

Image loss compensation along the bottom edge.

In accordance with the code of ethics of the Canadian Association of Professional Conservators (CAPC), all repairs were performed with stable and reversible conservation materials and processes, so that if in the future there is a need to return the piece to it’s original state, the treatment can be undone without causing further damage to the artifact.

The poster is now stabilized and preserved, and able to be enjoyed in it’s best state for years going forward. It will be protected behind a plexiglass barrier in the office boardroom, and visible to visitors to the building. Located in what would have been the front lobby of the theatre, it is just visible from the street windows of the Capitol building, so have a look the next time you are walking down Dundas Street, and remember the first time you saw your favourite film on the big screen. The glory days of movie theatres like The Capitol are not forgotten, thanks to those with an appreciation for our cultural heritage.

The Parent Trap 1961 Film Poster - Before Conservation Treatment

The Parent Trap 1961 Film Poster - After Conservation Treatment

The Parent Trap 1961 Film Poster - Before Conservation Treatment, detail.

The Parent Trap 1961 Film Poster - After Conservation Treatment, detail.

Conservation Treatment of a Christmas Nativity Scene

This beautiful 3-dimensional nativity display was treated at Book and Paper Conservation Services nearly a year ago, but it seems appropriate to share it now for the holiday season. The cardboard fold-out die cut chromolitho shows a lushly detailed scene of the Nativity, with Mary and Joseph, the baby Jesus, and accompanying shepherds and sheep resting in a bright and peaceful manger. It is a gorgeous example of Victorian art manufacturing ingenuity, and was likely used in a store window display for the Christmas season.

The client who brought it in had fond memories of seeing it set up and displayed during her childhood, after her grandfather brought it home from work one year and it became a centrepiece of the family’s holiday traditions. She recently inherited it from her mother and wanted to display it once again at Christmas. Unfortunately time and usage had taken a toll on the delicate structure, in particular the folding mechanisms, and it was soiled and damaged beyond use.

She contacted Book and Paper Conservation Services about having it restored, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to work on such a unique artifact.

The Nativity Scene partially opened.

Broken joints visible in side view.

The display stands nearly 2 feet high when open, but folds down to a flat and compact package, and the multiple layers of scenery and figures were made to fold and slide to accomplish this. Each layer stands individually, with a wonderful pop-up 3-dimensional effect, and the front facing sides are printed with jewel-like chromolithograph ink. However, the brittle board had snapped along most of the folding joints, many figures had broken off completely, there was brittle old adhesive tape peeling off from previous repairs, and a layer of dust and grime obscured the colours.

Old adhesive tape repairs are peeling off.

Broken joints of the folding mechanisms.

Treatment began with a gentle cleaning to remove dirt from both the front and back of each individual piece; next, broken figures and fragments were reattached using stable and reversible repair methods.

Cleaning dirt and grime off the printed surfaces using distilled water and cotton swab.

The Nativity propped open for repairs.

Colours returned to brilliance with cleaning.

Finally, each folding joint was repaired by replacing the broken board tab with a strip of stiff but flexible material; this enabled the mechanism to once again fold uninhibited but also gave it the strength to stand upright in its opened position. The sections were held in place with clamps and paperclips while they dried.

Once fully repaired, the Nativity was able to be opened safely and stand on its own for display, and the incredible detail could again be appreciated.

We also provided an acid-free, archival storage box for the piece to be kept in during the rest of the year, to protect and preserve it for the future.

The heart of the Nativity scene, with jewel-like colour and 3-dimensional depth.

After conservation treatment the Nativity scene is standing tall and looking brilliant once again.

The stepped layers with folding mechanisms repaired.

The owner was thrilled to have it back, restored to its former glory, and plans to display it during this holiday season. We are so pleased to have helped her restore an important piece of her childhood and bring back a little bit of the magic of Christmas!

If you are interested in having unique family heirlooms of your own conserved or restored, contact us for more information about our services.

Happy Holidays and best wishes for a wonderful New Year!

Conservation Treatment of a Hand-Drawn Map of Sarnia, Ontario, 1848

A watermark from the notable papermaker J Whatman is visible in transmitted light. The map is drawn on hand-made laid rag paper.

Archival materials see some of the hardest use and wear of all paper objects, because their original purpose was usually utilitarian. Sometimes ephemeral, often consulted, maps are no exception. The maps that come in to Book and Paper Conservation Services for treatment show damages typical of handling and haphazard storage, such as tears, breaks, creases, soiling, and evidence of previous restoration as owners have performed DIY repairs in order to return functionality to an item in frequent use.

1848 Map of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. Before conservation treatment, the map suffers surface dirt, tears and losses, as well as previous repairs with damaging adhesive tape on the verso.

An 1848 map of the town of Sarnia, Ontario that we conserved last year is a perfect example. The map, now part of the collections of the Lambton County Archives, shows several streets close to the shore of the St. Clair River, with specific lots carefully laid out and numbered and buildings and geological features marked.

The map is an original, and has been hand drawn with pen and ink, with roads and waterways highlighted in watercolour. It’s a utilitarian, yet beautiful object, with elegant penmanship and a green silk ribbon folded and sewn around the perimeter of the paper. It may be a thoughtfully designed piece, but it was meant foremost to convey information, and the handling and use it has seen are evident in the damages it now presents.

Lambton County Archives brought the map in for conservation treatment in order to preserve a delicate piece of Sarnia’s history, and make it safe for researchers to access and study.

Map in raking light, showing severe planar deformation.

The map suffered a variety of condition and damage issues caused by use and age, dating from it’s lifetime before entering the Archives. A heavy layer of surface dirt, tears and losses, and adhesive tape residue on the verso were present and needed to be addressed. After thorough condition reporting and photo-documentation, an essential step in all our conservation projects, the treatment began.

Surface cleaning using a smoke sponge is a slow and tedious process, but one which in this case yielded dramatic results. The time lapse images of the cleaning show the grime coming off section by section, brightening the paper beneath.

Surface cleaning the verso of the map.

Time lapse video showing the process of surface cleaning the map.

Next, the remains of the repair tape applied by a well-intentioned soul was addressed. The tape carrier had long since flaked off, but the adhesive residue remained, brittle and yellowed and crosslinking with the paper fibres on a microscopic level. Some solvent tests revealed a match, and by careful swab application, over suction to draw out the dissolved residue, we were successful in removing the disfiguring material. Luckily there was not much staining left in the paper after this was removed, and more stable repairs could now be applied.

Solvent removal of adhesive tape residue.

In keeping with conservation aims and ethics, a new, stable and reversible repair method was chosen, that of Japanese tissue adhered with wheat starch paste. Wheat starch paste is a clear, strong and flexible adhesive that will not fail, discolour or become brittle with time. It is used by paper conservators to attach thin strips of handmade Japanese tissue to paper objects, to repair tears and breaks. The long-fibred, acid-free tissue holds together the breaks and can be selected to match the colour and thickness of the artifact, being nearly invisible after application so that it won’t disturb the aesthetics of a piece. These repairs were performed on the verso of the map, and fills were added to the losses with a similar process, completing the repair of the mechanical damages on the map.

Japanese tissue repairs applied to the verso of the map, with LED light pad underneath.

After conservation treatment, the map is clean and stable.

After treatment the map is bright and clean, the damages are repaired and damaging materials have been removed so as not to cause further long-term deterioration. Conservation treatment has restored stability and aesthetic integrity to the map.

It was returned to Lambton County Archives as good as new, and is now kept in their newly renovated storage facility, ready to serve researchers interested in Sarnia’s early history. Please visit the Archives in person or online to learn more about their collections and the preservation strategies they undertake for artifacts in their care.

To learn more about archival conservation at Book and Paper Conservation Services, check out our portfolio section or read about our process.