GNM Archive collection top ten highlights

Coffin, 1987: This coffin was produced to mark the demise of hot metal typesetting for production of the Guardian. It contains two copies of the Guardian dated 12 May 1987 (the last day the paper was printed in this way). A mock funeral service was held to mark the occasion. Photograph: Robin Christian/Guardian

Helmet and boot of Iraqi soldier, 2003: Part of a collection of items brought back from Iraq by Luke Harding, foreign correspondent for the Guardian. Photograph: Robin Christian/Guardian

Papillon de Metz, 1870: During the Franco-Prussian war GT Robinson, the Guardian’s war correspondent, was held up in Metz while it was under siege in the summer and autumn of 1870. Robinson pioneered the use of balloons – known as Papillon de Metz (Metz butterflies) – as a means of communicating outside the city. This fragment contains a message to Peter Allen, the paper’s business manager, reporting that ‘Metz is healthy, strong and determined’ Photograph: Guardian

Paul Smith gent’s shirt, 2003: Paul Smith cotton short featuring Guardian print from the front page of the paper on 9 April 1973. Photograph: Robin Christian/Guardian

Guardian Advertisements, 1998: This advertisement featuring Rupert Murdoch was used extensively in 1998. The advert using a quote by Peter Mandelson was due to follow the Murdoch ad but was never used because Mandelson was forced to resign from government in 1998 following a Guardian investigation which exposed the fact that he had failed to disclose a loan from cabinet colleague Geoffrey Robinson. Photograph: Robin Christian/Guardian

Glass plate negatives, 1959: A series of photographs taken by Guardian photographer Tom Studdard for a feature about Mr and Mrs Bromley of Belper, who owned a collection of 93 grandfather clocks. The photographs are on 3.5 x 4.5" glass plate negatives. Photograph: Robin Christian/Guardian

‘The Observer is not as thick as the Sunday Times’, c1989: In response to the Sunday Times’ introduction of a number of new sections in 1988, the Observer launched an advertising campaign emphasising quality over quantity. Photograph: Robin Christian/Guardian

Centenary staff photograph album, 1921: The photographs in this album were taken as part of the Guardian’s centenary celebrations in 1921. The album contains 35 photographs of staff of the Manchester Guardian, and is unusual in that it depicts the whole staff at this time – from the editors and reporters to the cleaners and canteen staff. Photograph: Robin Christian/Guardian

Tandy portable computer, c1983: Tandy's portable computers were the first popular laptop, and the first owned by the Guardian. This model operated on four AA batteries which lasted up to 18 hours. It had no internal storage, but it offered a number of built-in applications, including a telecom application for modem communications which was very popular with reporters who finally had a way to dash off stories in the field. Photograph: Robin Christian/Guardian

Newstand featuring Guardian Advert, c1970s: This newsstand was one of the many items discovered in the Guardian’s Farringdon Road office during the move to our new home at Kings Place in 2008. Photograph: Robin Christian/Guardian