Hey Bob, Chris here..I wish I had pictures of my first bike (minibike when I was 10) I think my parents may have some but I'll have to see..
I do know a little about preserving photographs though. I'm a photographer, and used to work in museums, specializing in preservation of photographs.
All photographs (as you've probably heard) should be kept in a cool dry (dark!) place. I keep most of mine under my bed. Basements are probably the worst place, even if they seem dry. They foster mold growth. If a print gets mold on it, don't use water to clean it. Mold makes the Gellatin in the emulsion water soluable. Try film cleaner (available at photostores) on a corner to see if it's ok, then carefully swab with a cotton ball. It dries really fast, so should remove what ails you, without damaging the print. Another solution that seems to work well is called pec-12, also available at photo stores. This also has the advantage of removing things like ink. One precaution: always test a small spot first! If the print is too fragile, it could damage it more.
Slides can be treated the same way, although I've only worked with film cleaner on these..just go slow, and you should be ok..slides are film, so film cleaner is made for it.
In this digital age, it's easy to scan prints and slides. Always do this BEFORE you do anything to the original. that way, if anything happens, you still have the image.
Or what many people are doing, scan the original, and preserve that. A digital file is inherently archival, so you will never lose it. However, you have to be careful how you store the file. Magnetic storage (hard drive,Floppys, tape) has been shown to fall apart with age, but CD is much better. The Gold CDs are the best, because it has been shown that with conventional CDs (the cheaper ones) the digital information on the disc stays intact but the silver surface itself can flake off. Again, storage of the discs is important. Same rules as for film.
Happy archiving!
