Not Sure What We Came Across

We found a few older stamp books without any stamps from the 50s. 60's and one from the 70's.

There are also 2 binders that look like homemade or older stamp books.

Yes, those are homemade pages put into a simple binder. What exactly is your question?

Thank you for the reply.

I was not sure if these were homemade or if they were some older pages from the 60s

The past owner did collect during the 1960s, and they did deal with a few different companies, so I was unsure what kind of book it was.

They also had several small stock books, and a few unused albums for 52, 64 and 1974.

They also had a collection of old Kenmore Stamp catalogues, and a few from a Toronto dealer.

So as you can imagine, sifting through this is a job and a half, and to find out what is worth keeping and what may need to be put into better books.

That's the easy part Getting the stamps off the pages without damaging them is the hard part.

Those album pages seem to be mainly mint stamps, with gum, mounted with centrally-placed hinges to stiff paper. Probably stored in damp conditions, so the gum on the back of the stamps is now partially stuck to the pages.

The pages themselves seem to be turning brown at the edges, so probably acidic and starting to rot. I've had album leaves from the C19 where the paper just flakes apart. Also the green dye might run when soaked.

Put each leaf in a tray of warm water. When the stamps float off, flip 'em over on their backs with your fingers and use a soft watercolour paintbrush to clean the backs. Then use your fingers to put them on a non-stick baking tray to dry out.

If you dry your hands with a hair dryer, all the stamps hinges stuck to your hands will drop off.

You should gently test whether the mint stamps are stuck to the paper before deciding to soak the pages.

With a spatula. A problem that often occurs is that the hinge is placed centrally on the back of the stamp, rather than at the top edge or another edge. A couple of albums I've come across from different collections used chopped-up German inflation issues as hinges.

Not half as bad as those professional picture framers who use masking tape to attach art work to acidic mounts.

Thank you for all the advice and information.

They also have an old steamer trunk they are sorting out that has more stamps, coins and other types of collectables. My big issue is, as someone said, how much moisture may have gotten into it, as it was in an unheated room for many years.

Once they are done with their move and sorting, I will see what else gets passed to me, as some was a collection they inherited, but never really worked on.

Any way. One day at a time, and one process at a time, and I will get to the end.