Butlins Poster

Butlins poster before treatment. A black frame backed with brown cardboard contains a fragmented poster with red writing.

Butlin’s Poster Before Treatment

Cultural History

This poster was produced by the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) in between 1946 and 1955 in the Gill Sans typeface. It advertised additional train times to the Butlin Theatre on the Butlin’s holiday camp in Skegness. The Butlin Theatre, later known as the Gaiety Theatre, was demolished in 1998. This was found in the attic in fragments along with other posters by its owner.

Condition Before Treatment

Before treatment, this poster had been conserved previously and was unfinished. Therefore it was necessary to complete the treatment. The poster was made from multiple fragments and not recognisable with the lower portion missing. There was evidence of dirt on the paper and crinkles which needed to be addressed.

Treatment

1. Surface Cleaning:

The poster was cleaned using a hog hair brush and smoke sponge.

2. Dry Assembly:

The unidentified parts within the poster were investigated. In total over twenty pieces’ location was found, and their position documented.

 3. Crease Removal:

The creases were removed through using a humidification pack, which involves wet blotting paper filtered with Tyvek to slowly wet the poster while applying weights to flatten.

4. Past Repair Removal:

Some misaligned past repairs were removed using an enzyme amylase set in a gel called Gellan gum.

5. Adhering Small Pieces:

The identified parts and removed past repairs were adhered correctly onto the poster using wheat starch paste and OK tissue.

Wesley is pictured leaving over the poster on a table, investigating previous repairs.
Wesley is pictured adhering loose pieces of the poster back into place.
(Left) Investigation of the poster to identify previous repairs. (Right) Adhering loose pieces back into place.

6. Replacing Missing Areas:

An existing example of the poster was photographed in detail. The current poster was analysed with a photo spectrometer to obtain an accurate colour match. The image of an existing example and correct colouring were combined using photoshop to create the recreation.

Recreation of the Butlins Poster made on photoshop. Showing the whole poster as one
Butlins poster with the areas of loss backed with recreation. Set within glass frame on a wall
(Left) Copy of poster made on photoshop and printed off to replicate. (Right) Areas of loss backed with the recreation.

7. Re-moistenable Tissue Lining

OK tissue was applied with 1:2 wheat starch paste to carboxymethyl cellulose and left to dry. The original poster was lined with this tissue, being remoistened using humification to activate the adhesive on the paper. The replacement poster was lined up and placed behind on a backing to give a full interpretation of what the poster would have looked like.

Reflection By The Conservator

This object built on my work on paper objects on placement at Manx National Heritage. The task of replacing a large section which was missing was something I had not dealt with before. This was solved with a less conventional method in being able to recreate the missing area on photoshop which was a new experience. This helped me further develop my work on paper objects, having more experience for working on paper objects in the future.

Headshot of Wesley. He is white male, wearing a cream and black hooped jumper with a white, green, black and red chequered collar. He has dark curly hair and is smiling. The background is black.

This object was treated by Wesley, click on his profile to learn more about him.