Humidity monitoring with HOBO data logger
First seen in the classic 1955 film, "That Darn Seventh Year", and later immortalized in countless memorabilia, Marilyn Monroe's famous white "subway" dress has become a symbol of American pop culture. Today, the flowing dress is kept in a vault at the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Motion Picture Museum in North Hollywood, California, a non-profit museum that currently holds the largest collection of Hollywood memorabilia in the world. There, new environmentally conscious technology is being used to keep an eye on changes in climate - particularly humidity - that could damage the $2.2 million dress.
"Excessive humidity can pose a serious threat to antique textiles," explains Todd Fisher, CEO of the museum and son of Hollywood actress Debbie Reynolds. "Although our museum environment is extremely stable, the motto is that we don't want to take any chances and find out one day that mold has grown on the dress or something drastic like that has happened. The more protective measures we have, the better."
The museum uses HOBO® data loggers. The battery-powered devices, which are about half the size of a standard iPod, measure and log humidity levels around the clock - even during power outages - and the accompanying software converts the data into time-stamped graphs that can be displayed on a computer and printed out.
"We look at the data weekly, sometimes even daily, to make sure the humidity stays below 50%," Fisher said. "The data also shows us the temperature levels during the period, which we like to keep around 68°F. Our long-term goal is to make sure nothing extreme happens, although any fluctuation in temperature and humidity is a concern."
He adds, "Classic movies are an extremely important part of American history, and thousands of years from now, the only remnants of those movies will be the tangible items like costumes and props. By utilizing new technologies like HOBOs, we can better manage our collections to preserve them for generations to come."