These were printed by the Thomas Murphy Company in Red Oak, Iowa and this specific one, as is evident by the calendar, is from 1925. Take this one shown here of a football player, for example. While most were standalone issues, some could be considered part of a set. In either case, these were pictures of subjects that were not recognized as actual athletes. Most of these were drawings of some sort but some featured real images. Generic Athletesīy far and away, most sports ink blotters feature generic, unnamed athletes. Here’s a look at some of the types that exist. However, quite a few of them did actually feature sports. You’ll also see some that contained a desk calendar for a particular month. I imagine they collected way more advertising ‘impressions’ than many trade cards did. They were even better than trade cards because people would keep them on their desks and the advertiser’s message would always be in front of them. Specifically, they often included advertisements and, like trade cards, were a good way to get in front of potential customers. But manufacturers, of course, dressed them up quite a bit. To serve the purpose for which they were intended, ink blotters could have been entirely blank. But many give little indication of just how old they are. And some others will have calendars or years added to them. Some, like the Blue Valley Butter blotter at the top of this page have a clear copyright printed on them (that one is from 1934). The fountain started to die out by the 1960s and blotters weren’t nearly as common by then. Most blotters are from the 1920s through the 1950s. They vary in size but are generally somewhere around 4″ x 6″ or 4″ x 8″. I’m generally surprised at how few actually seem ‘used.’ That speaks either to the fact that blotters weren’t really being used all that much or that large quantities were produced. But for some reason, plenty have escaped that kind of damage. Because of that, you’ll find these often with splotches of ink on them. They are typically thicker than your standard trading card and they were used to help wipe the excess ink from the tips of pens. In short, ink blotters were popular in the days of fountain pens. One of the more unique types of cards I collect are ink blotters and, to be honest, there are more than a few collectors that don’t even know what they are. But I also collect all sorts of other things, including trade cards, strip cards, food cards, postcards, and generally anything that’s flat and smaller than an 8X10 photo. Like many do, I collect tobacco and caramel/candy cards, which are really my focus. My collection is pretty varied and, while I generally ‘just’ stick to cards, the types of those cards I collect has a wide range.
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