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Hi I have a collections question,

My museum has a number figurative whiskey decanters which are unopened and still have the whiskey in them. These items are between 30 and 40 years old. Do any of you have similar items in your collections and what special considerations do they require for preservation. Our thoughts are that the booze is part of the object so we are not going to empty them but it does pose some storage and safety questions in regards to their proximity to other objects in the collections.

Thanks!

We have a bottle of Chesterfield Rye whiskey -- unopened -- that was a gift to Civil War soldiers in Kalamazoo when they signed up.  This one was bottled in 1863 and was never opened.  Nevertheless, some of it has evaporated.  We haven't treated this bottle with a different protocol than we have any other fragile item, and it's housed with other Civil War artifacts.  As long as you're careful not to allow breakage -- as you would with any collection item -- you should be OK storing it as you would if it were empty.

Geoff:

Carbonated beverages are usually fine inside glass bottles as long as the bottles are stored standing up so that no liquid is touching the inside of the cap.  Liquid touching the inside of the cap will cause the cap to erode and lead to further problems.  If the caps appear to be in good shape, leaving the liquid inside is not an issue.  If there appears to be any sort of corrosion on the cap already, it is best to remove the cap and empty the liquid.

Hi I have a collections question,

My museum has a number figurative whiskey decanters which are unopened and still have the whiskey in them. These items are between 30 and 40 years old. Do any of you have similar items in your collections and what special considerations do they require for preservation. Our thoughts are that the booze is part of the object so we are not going to empty them but it does pose some storage and safety questions in regards to their proximity to other objects in the collections.

Thanks!

Hi I have a collections question,

My museum has a number figurative whiskey decanters which are unopened and still have the whiskey in them. These items are between 30 and 40 years old. Do any of you have similar items in your collections and what special considerations do they require for preservation. Our thoughts are that the booze is part of the object so we are not going to empty them but it does pose some storage and safety questions in regards to their proximity to other objects in the collections.

Thanks!

Hi I have a collections question,

My museum has a number figurative whiskey decanters which are unopened and still have the whiskey in them. These items are between 30 and 40 years old. Do any of you have similar items in your collections and what special considerations do they require for preservation. Our thoughts are that the booze is part of the object so we are not going to empty them but it does pose some storage and safety questions in regards to their proximity to other objects in the collections.

Thanks!

Its possible that this won't be a problem for you, but because alcohol is flammable, there are some serious regulations pertaining to their storage imposed by OSHA. These regulations have changed recently causing natural history collections to have to change their storage equipment and make other arrangements for housing fluids collections. In your case presumably the level of alcohol is probably so small that it won't matter, but you might want to contact your safety people to see what they say. Ours are a wealth of information and very helpful with resolving issues such as these, and the carbonated aspects would fall under their watch as well. Since they have chemical training, they could be super helpful for your.