Dear Colleagues, I have a couple of loose leaf ledgers that I'm trying to open up, in order to remove the sheets, but I've become stymied as to how to get them open. They are from the early 1950s, judging from the dates on the ledger sheets. One was manufactured by the Blank Book Co. of Holyoke, MA (catalog number 8141), and the other was manufactured by GoldsmithBros printers, of New York City (No. A-911-W). They are similar in construction. The pins are attached to a device that involves some sort of expansion mechanism (the pins appear to separate in the middle); the covers are attached to this mechanism by a hinge, so the pins are not visible when the ledger is closed. The expanding mechanism has a slot on the bottom that looks like it requires a key (on the Blank Book one), or a special hex wrench, or nut driver (on the GoldsmithBros one), to facilitate the expanding process, and it's all encased in a steel spine so it's impossible to see what is actually going on with the expanding mechanism. If anyone has any experience with these kinds of ledgers, or can suggest a place to get more information, I'd appreciate any help. If you want to contact me off list, I'll try and give a more detailed description, or send a photograph. Thanks. Mark -- Mark Maniak Collections Archivist Williams College 26 Hopkins Hall Drive Williamstown, MA 01267 (413) 597-2526 (413) 597-3931 (fax) A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>