On November 7, the Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library in concert with the Friends of the Library hosted an informative presentation by textile conservator Kate Tarleton. The Tri-town area hit the jackpot when Tarleton came to the area bringing with her years of expert knowledge on best practices for preserving heirlooms from quilts to dresses, hats to lace, and so much more.

            Tarleton not only assists in the understanding of how to care for fabrics, she has first-hand hands-on experience in rehabilitating pieces the belong to our collective history.

            Consider the massive Grand Panorama of the history of whaling that was expertly repaired and conserved by the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Tarleton was a member of the team that completed that preservation. Imagine the challenges faced when confronting 1,275 feet of aging paint on canvas. The immense work of art was done by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Purrington between 1841 and 1844. Now tucked into the conference space at the library, Tarleton addressed preservation and conservation issues faced by the average person.

            The biggest problems were referenced as “agents of degradation.” Those are temperature and relative humidity, pollution and airborne soiling, insects, rodents and pets, light, and inappropriate materials.

            Tarleton explained that high temperatures, humidity, and poor air circulation are the perfect environment for mold and mildew growth. She warned that it is nearly, if not completely impossible to remove staining from these fungi and further is dangerous to people’s health. Swelling occurs from these damaging agents, weakening the fibers and impacting dyes.

            Dirt and dust, known as particulate soils, can come from cigarette smoke, wood smoke, perfumes, dust, and even hairspray. Tarleton said to control these, vacuuming is recommended. In fact, several times throughout her presentation she recommended careful vacuuming to remove dust and other forms of dirt.

            And then there are the creepy crawlies: insects, rodents, and yes, the beloved family pet.

            Insects attack natural fibers such as wool, silk, and textile finishes. Tarleton recommends inspecting textiles, especially before adding them to a collection and not placing them in storage containers directly on floors. As for the pets, she cautioned that pet hair and bodily fluids are difficult to remove. Insects and rodents can eat textiles and leave stains from excrement. The threats are multiple to textile keepsakes.

            Light presents its own set of issues to saving and preserving fabric items. Light exposure can have a cumulative irreversible impact. UV radiation from sunlight and fluorescent lights cause the most damage, Tarleton explained. Also, light can cause materials to become brittle and powdering.

            Tarleton spent some time discussing how to store textiles versus how not to. She said to always use acid free boxes and tissue paper and to steer clear of cedar chests. “I know everyone likes the smell and thinks they protect textiles…. but that is not the case.” She said that overtime, oils in the wood damage fabrics.

            Audience members were invited to share pieces from their private collections. Tarleton offered advice on how to store items and how to display delicate fabrics. One interesting historical article of clothing recently donated to the Rochester Historical Society was a nurse’s cape and hat. Society members Connie Esbach and Susan LaFleur said the cape had belonged to Katherine Church. Tarleton offered to assist the society in evaluating several newly donated articles of clothing, including a wedding dress in the coming weeks.

Friends of the Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library

By Marilou Newell

As the population ages, dementia has become an increasing problem. Worldwide, some 55 million people are living with dementia; in the U.S. about 7 million people suffer some form of dementia. The condition not only affects the sufferers but lowers the quality of life of their caregivers, who are usually family, and costs the healthcare system an enormous sum.

            To date, treatment has not proven to be the answer. Neither the older drugs nor the very expensive and dangerous new drugs do more than delay the decline by a few months.

            For dementia, as for many health conditions, prevention is much better than treatment.

            Good general health habits: regular exercise, not smoking, and treating high blood pressure are known to lower dementia risk. What about training the brain?

            We strengthen our muscles by lifting weights and improve our heart and lung capacity by aerobic exercise, so it makes intuitive sense that exercising our brain should ward off dementia. There are many online sites and apps that promise to do just that. Do they work?

            We have known for a long time that those with higher education levels have less cases of dementia and get it later, but this may be an artifact: those with better brain capacity may gravitate to fields requiring more education. What about mentally challenging activities such as word games, crossword puzzles, Sudoku, chess, and bridge?

            A survey of many studies in different groups of people living in different parts of the world suggests that these activities do indeed lower the risk of dementia and delay its onset. Many activities were studied, both those listed above as well as reading and taking adult education classes.

            The effect was not dramatic, but the risk of developing dementia was reduced by anywhere from 10% to 30% depending on the study, and those who did develop dementia did so about 2-3 years later than average. These numbers compare very favorably with existing treatments and have no side effects!

            None of the commercial “brain boosters” as yet have any similar data available.

            So, take out your pencils and get puzzling. Play mahjong or bridge. Read a challenging book. Not only will you get the social benefits, but you will stay sharp longer.

            By the way, another intervention has pretty good data behind it: getting the shingles vaccine seems to also be associated with reduced risk of dementia. As if avoiding that nasty disease was not motivation enough!

            Edward Hoffer MD is Associate Professor of Medicine, part-time, at Harvard.

What Does The Doctor Say?

By Dr. Edward Hoffer

I’m a tool guy. Ever since I entered Lou Corey’s Manual Training class at Center School, I’ve been a tool guy. I knew what a spoke shave was early on. I know the difference between a block plane, a smooth plane, and a jack plane. Cross cut and rip saws are my thing.

            That Manual Training class taught young boys everything they needed to know to get along in the real world: decision making, critical thinking, discipline, you name it…and all about tools. Knowing how to use tools has saved me tons of money over the years by fixing and building things myself. The furniture in my house, shingling it, roofing it, installing new windows, and building bookcases. I did it all myself with my tools.

            My folks gave me a toy tool set when I was little, but my first real tool was a hammer. It belonged to my father who “loaned” his 16-ounce wood handled claw hammer to me when I went to work for a carpenter while in high school. The carpenter, as they say, “had his own way.” “Get rid of that toy” he ordered the first day on the job. (Sorry dad). He instructed me to get a heavy 20-ounce tool and let the hammer “do the work, not your arm.” Good advice.

            I marched down to the old Big3 Hardware store across from the post office and bought a steel beauty which had a rubber grip with “The Rocket” emblazoned on it. To this day, I still use it if I have the occasion to pound in a nail. I still have dad’s “toy” too.

            I have many more hammers now: including two ball peen hammers, a tack hammer, two sledgehammers, a club hammer, a brick hammer, and a mallet. Unfortunately, I don’t use my hammers much anymore. When I build something, I use a nail gun. My four are becoming obsolete, they need a compressor. New ones use batteries. It’s hard to keep up.

            For that matter, nails aren’t used all that much anymore. Screws seem to have taken over the fastening chore. Anyone need any nails? I have shelves full of coffee cans filled with every size imaginable, and screws too.

            Hammers don’t hold a candle to the number of screw drivers I have accumulated over the years. I haven’t counted (that would be too much like work) but I have way too many. The most common ones are slotted and Philips head but according to Bob Vila, the fix-her-up guru of TV fame, there are over 40 different kinds, and each comes in multiple sizes. I’d bet I have at least one or two of each. How come I never have the right one when I need one?

            As far as saws go, I have crosscut, rip, tenon, coping, hack, jig (hand and power), circular, table, reciprocating (wired and battery), pruning, keyhole, compass, drywall, hole saws…whew…and two chain saws. I have more clamps that I’ll ever need, but then again, any wood worker will tell you, one never has enough clamps.

            I have many drills too…two kinds of hand crank drills, three or four power drills (wired and battery operated), one impact driver, and a right-angle drill. Drills don’t work without drill bits, the twisty things that actually make holes, (I don’t mean to insult your intelligence, but I like to be precise. Precision is the mark of a true craftsman. But I digress.) I must have thousands of used drill bits. Most are dull but I just can’t bring myself to throw them out.

            There used to be a saying “It’s hip to be square.” Do I have squares. I have two framing squares, also called steel squares, though one is aluminum. I have three adjustable combination squares, two big ones and one little. I have an engineer’s square, a try square, a drywall square, T-square, …phew…and two speed squares. Boy, am I hip!

            People take tools very seriously. Consider that the first tools were just stones. Now there are academic studies of the relationship between tools and human development, even showing changes in the shape of the human hand.

            Hammer that home.

            Mattapoisett resident Dick Morgado is an artist and happily retired writer. His newspaper columns appeared for many years in daily newspapers around Boston.

Thoughts on…

By Dick Morgado