I often write about how the old family pix & collections will eventually get thrown away and/or will continue to deteriorate...to encourage people to get their items to me to scan, digitally restore/repair in some cases, and the archive those things.
Some people have scanners and try to scan/digitize their things, but based on what I've seen for several decades - most people don't know how to properly scan things, and even worse, don't spend the money to safely protect and back up that data.
Some people are worried I will damage their stuff or may not return their things...to the contrary - for the most part they are their own worst enemies because they haven't worked with historical items for as long as I have to know that their things are constantly and slowly deteriorating.
Below is a perfect example of what is happening to many of your old paper items that you might think are safely stashed away...acid in the paper, old glue, rusty staples, tape that is yellowing, all of which is bleeding and transferring to your pix, certificates, documents, etc.

Some of them can be digitally repaired/restored, but it can take hours, days, even weeks to properly fix the problem. For some items it would be next to impossible to fix, or the time needed to repair.
This certificate took me over 2 hours to repair and it wasn't as problematic as other things I've restored.
I've worked on items much worse than this and are more difficult to digitally clean up the damage.

As you can see, the adhesive that holds the envelope together has chemically reacted with the paper.
Then it bled into the envelope which then transferred to the certificate inside.

Before - above
After restoration - below

Today with all of the electronic/digital ways to entertain us, without any effort on our part - other than using our thumbs and fingers with virtually no thought-process of our minds we have school kids who can't read, write cursive, or calculate numbers in their heads.
Nothing we can do about this, unless more people start to realize that technology can be good and also very bad when it becomes addictive, and they figure out how to manage it and not controlled by it.
I know - this is just my old-fashioned thinking which most people feel I just have my head in the sand.

The Good Old Days...
Clipped out by Eunice (Grau) Ahrendsen and in her collection of family items.

Contests by Eunice Ahrendsen

While checking all of the envelopes in the Ahrendsen collection I found these Valentines Day pop-ups to Clara Grau from her students LeRoy & Vernon Coleman.
Fortunately I have a huge school database from working on the Manning Schools history book, and found which school my great aunt Clara Grau taught at and the 2 students who gave her these 2 pop-ups.
Again, this is another example where I need to go through people's collections connected to Manning. They would not be able to determine all of the connections like I can and this way they get added to the Manning Historical Database I'm building.

I wish Ellen (Coleman) Hoffman was still living...she was one of my Manning helpers years ago and knew a lot of Manning history. She would have enjoyed seeing these old cards.

Valentines Day pop-up to Clara Grau from Vernon Coleman

Note: printed in Germany

Valentines Day pop-up to Clara Grau from LeRoy Coleman
Circa 1914

Page 38 of the Manning Schools history book