Historic American flag preps for overseas shipping in Delmar

DELMAR, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — An American flag at the Louis Miller Museum in Hoosick Falls is preparing to be shipped to Prague for a major milestone.

Next spring, the people of Prague will celebrate 80 years free of Nazi control, a mark that American soldiers helped them reach. However, before it’s shipped overseas, the flag must go through an intense conservation process.

The flag is currently in the hands of Gwen Spicer, the owner of Spicer Art Conservation LLC in Delmar. Gwen will embark on a one-month long journey, fixing up this flag for the people of Prague.

“There are a few places where at the fly edge here, has come unstitched and so that will be manipulated,” said Gwen.

The manipulation is all part of a nearly 10 step process to prepare the flag. Gwen went through each step of the journey with NEWS10.

“The first step, universally, is the vacuuming of the artifact. That removes any particulates that are removable before any kind of aqueous cleaning,” said Gwen.

Next, Gwen said she will clean the flag using distilled water. Then, a Gore-Tex material will be placed on top of the flag along with some weight. Each of these steps will help to humidify the textile.

Only after those steps, can Gwen touch up some of the loose threads.

“But you can see how the stars will become more apparent as they’re flattened because right now they’re sort of like pom-poms,” said Gwen.

By hand-sewing, the 80-year-old threads will soon be nearly good as new — a project Gwen believed will be one of her simpler projects.

“It’s in such good condition really, you know, it’s soiled and dirty and the stars are a little funky but really it’s in tact,” said Gwen.

Lastly, the flag will get secured into the frame with other layers such as plexi-glass, a prepared mount and a backboard. Gwen calls this combination of protection, a sealed package. Between all of her projects, she said this is not something she sees everyday.

“The excitement of this project is for the folks at Hoosick in the sense that here’s a small place and to be reached out by an international museum in Prague, is not something that happens very often,” said Gwen.

Gwen expects the project to take about a month to complete, which is far ahead of schedule. Prague’s Military History Institute won’t be expecting the flag until next spring for their celebration.

Stick with NEWS10 for updates on the progress of the flag.

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