The International Postage Stamp Album - 1924 Edition

I have been going over a combined collection and have a 1924 edition of The International Postage Stamp Album. I would say its about 15-20% full. A number of the stamps that were attached, have come loose.

Is it best to leave the stamps in this, or should plan to go through it and remove loose stamps or re-attached them?

Some pages are almost complete (Germany/France), more so blank.

It looks like they were attached in different ways over the years, with some using a light tape.

To mount stamps in albums, it was common in the early years of stamp collecting -- in the late 19th century -- before stamp hinges had apparently been invented, for collectors to improvise. One way to mount them was to use the selvage attached to them, and yes this is a terrible way to mount stamps since it ruins them. Other wayw were using glued paper, glue on the stamp itself, and various kinds of tape. This was the era when stamps for sale were often pinned -- yes, using a pin -- to cork boards to display them to potential buyers. Those pinholes in old stamps? They may have been the result of a dealer who did this sort of thing. The mind reels. All of these things damage stamps, hence the invention of the stamp hinge by some unknown hero at some indeterminate date.

As for very old albums, I'd be inclined to keep them intact (if I had old albums) (if I had the space in which to store them), though most sellers of stamps don't do that. It's an historical record of stamp collecting, and if the album and its pages are in good shape, why not? No one enjoys leafing through old stamp albums more than stamp collectors, especially if they have a lot of stamps in them and they're nicely arranged.

On the other hand, if the albums are falling apart, if the pages are yellowed and brittle, remove the stamps to save them from the acidic paper they're mounted on and other kinds of damage and deep six the album. There's nothing sacred about an old stamp album.

It's your choice.

Thanks for the feedback. I tried to take some quick photos so you can see what pages are full and how many. Sorry the quality is so poor - if something needs addressing, let me know and I will get some better photos.