Glues to Use:
WHITE GLUE
ELMER'S! - in a word. There are very few
repairs you cannot make to cardboard houses with this basic excellent white
casein glue. Or a similiar brand. The only other type I have had to use is a
strong contact cement to hold our acetate "cellophane" reproduction windows, but
for everything else - plain, white casein glue is the ticket.
TACKY GLUE:
I haven't gotten into "tacky glue" myself, but Tom uses it. Here's what he has
to say:
"The Tacky glue is called "Aileens' Tacky Glue" and it is made specifically
for use on paper products. I think scrapbookers use it a lot. It looks a
lot like Elmers' however when it dries it dries clear and invisible unlike
Elmers and so if a bit gets on the outside it doesn't show or alter the
finish. I have tried using their clear gel glue but don't like it as well
as the original as it dries glossy and the original doesn't. It is also a
little easier to use than the Elmers and sets more quickly when used
properly. You are supposed to put the glue on the surface of the joint and
stick them together and then pull them apart a bit and let it set up a bit
(it should be sort of stringy) and then put it back in place and hold down a
bit and it is done. It works better if you don't use it in a cold old
basement." Tom Hull
ACETATE DOORS AND WINDOWS below for what to use on our "Cellophane" windows.
* - OUR ACETATES. At the time Kathi and I pioneered these things, we could not
find real cellophane anywhere. (It has since become avaliable again.) But our
CEL offerings are based on authentic originals to the very most honest
recreations we could do from orginals. The acetate base material is about 20
times thicker and 1,000 times more durable and lasting than the Japanese
cellophanes or "Visca" or whatever they used. But we hit a small snag in that
this very expensive acetate turned out to be impervious to many glues. The best
luck I've had so far is in using one of a number of "contact cements." "Duco"
and "Elmer's" just pop right off. Thus far, the things that hold are industrial
"contact" cements that seem to come in little brown bottles and when you unscrew
the caps there is a brush attached - like the old "rubber cements" used to be.
But, stick to your toothpicks. This stuff tends be very gummy and stringey.
Practice with it a little before you do a serious house job. The bottle I have
says; "On-The-Spot" Contact Cement, by the "Super-Glue Corporation of Holtis,
New York" I got it in a "Big Lots" store.
Glues
NOT to Use:
HOT GLUE GUNS!
HISTORICAL INSIGHT: The Japanese used hot animal glue to assemble
these houses orginally, because (A.) it was cheap, and (B.) the stuff hardened
very quickly as it cooled. They didn't have to wait around for hours while glue
dried in the air. When you are making something as magnificent as a large 1932
"coconut" to sell in the USA for 15 cents, and you get maybe a penny for it -
you have to be MAJORLY efficient! So, the Japanese used a hot, instant cooling
glue reduced from the protein of dead animals and the scrap of slaughter houses.
(We used it here, too.) Some aspect of the history of our houses is just plain
hideous, but we cannot help that now. The point is - we are not condemned to
their neccessity of speed. HOT GLUE is not the thing for gentle
restorations. We have the time those poor souls didn't have. We can take our
time.
While it might seem that modern hot glue guns would be the obvious equivalent -
No! No! No! NO!!
It is so sad to come upon a house that has been gummed together with this stuff! It looks lousy. You can't control it. Trying to get it off does more damage than if the house had been left in pieces. Hot gun glue sticks may have their place,(trash can?) but repairing delicate old Christmas houses is not one of them! The Glue-Gun-Guy is already rich, so he won't feel it if you walk away. Please. Walk away.
"HOUSEHOLD CEMENT:"
There are several brand-names for this kind of stuff. "Duco," foremost in mind.
It's any number of glues that come in tubes like toothpaste and exude a clear,
viscous liquid with bubbles in it - that give off terribly powerful fumes and do
(with great charity) a very marginal job of holding things together. The fumes
are toxic and If I had had access to something like
"Elmer's" as a kid - to build my "Comet" stick model airplane kits, they would
have held together and flown much better, I am sure. The comic strips of those
times had cliche' gags about glues of fantastic power that would stop
Katzenjammer Kids, elephants and automobiles in their tracks! They were funny
because everybody knew how poor the real glues were. Well, now we have the
"Crazy Glue" species of glues that can just about do those things. But when I
was a kid - the glues were pretty feeble.
"Duco" and all the other clear "household" goods of that era are just not worth
damaging an old Christmas treasure. They never worked well in their day -earned
a reputation they never deserved because there was nothing else available, and
are clinging to life by the sheer ignorance of their aging base of fading
customers. I was always disappointed by Duco. Everything I tried to do with it
in the '50s fell apart. I don't mind telling you I was amazed to find that they
are still in business. I have a tube here in the house. I've tried it on various
things. It has failed all my critera for a reliable cement. Who knows what keeps
these things alive?
