Expert: Rikki Nyman - 9/22/2011

Question
Hello I have a large roll of vintage blue prints from a vessel built in WWII. My question isnt relating to anything printed on the plans or the vessel it depicts, but actually on the material it is printed on. It seems to be almost a silk like fabric. Not paper or anything like that. I have seen old blue prints on fabric before but they were very very old, nothing from the 1940s. I until recently thought it was Vellum but I am not sure as all my research on vellum says its a semi transparent paper. Well this isnt paper, and it isnt transparent, its very thick, and very fibrous. on some of the more used and worn edges you can easily see stringy fibers that are frayed and damaged. I dont believe that they are the original drawings as they dont look hand drawn, but they are very early, at least 1-2 years before the ship was actually built, so there are no copy or stamps on the drawings, just dates that the plans were accepted or approved etc...I have no doubts as to their age from being from the ships design process, but I am at a loss to the material they are on. I have heard that regular paper blue prints arent too hard to come by, but in all my collecting and knowlege I have maybe run into 2-3 other fabric prints like this, but they were individual prints, not a complete 50+ page collection of one entire vessel, some prints are over 8 feet long. Any help on the material as well as proper care for these prints would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. -Steve

Answer
Steve -

I don't know the answer to your questions about your blueprints, but I would start by locating a marine historian. Contact a maritime museum or historical society. I live in Oregon and would start with the Columbia River Maritime Museum, for example. They should have a curator or collections manager who can give you more accurate information and possibly answer your questions. At the very least, they will know the experts in that field who can answer them.

Hope this helps!
Best regards,
Rikki Nyman
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