Restoration help needed

[Thelma]

A few years ago I bought a few postcards from a friend, in good faith regarding their condition. They only needed some minor gluing he said. Coming home I was disappointed. The lovely cards needed more than some minor gluing.
Some badly glued and now torn; pull-mechanism defective; etc.. I put them away and thought that some time I would decide what to do.

Now I would like to get them back to working order and wonder if I must, and can, take them apart to fix the pull-mechanism and if there is somewhere where I can see how it should work.

I have taken a few pictures of one of them, and as I cannot upload the photos, you can view them here : http://www.merrytheschristmascollection ... elp-1.html

Thanks for your help.
Thelma

[About Postcards]

Hello Thelma,
Gosh. Whatever you do regarding restoration I'd advise considerable caution. It's a splendid item and restoration might expose it to risk. I'm sure others here who know more than me might come forward with more detail about restoring it. Paper items, especially those that are mechanical can be difficult. I'm not sure where in the world you are but many museums freely offer help with conservation guidance with such items. Please do let us know how you get on.

[Thelma]

Linda,
Thanks for the suggestion of contacting a museum. I had not thought of that. I live in Belgium and my experience with museum help here is not very positive, but I will try again.
And I may try in England or Germany.