Blotters Paper Collectibles

In the days of the fountain pen, blotter paper was a type of paper that was used to absorb excess ink from the surface of the paper you were writing on without smearing the ink, thus enabling the ink to dry faster. You can probably see how this item would have been on every desk from the humblest to the most important, yet no one at the time would have considered it anything special. Blotters often featured in old detective stories—the ink from the paper will appear on the blotter in the form of whatever you’ve written, reversed. It is indeterminate how often this actually happened outside the realm of Sherlock Holmes, however. Typically, a company would provide blotters to its employees, printed with its letterhead. These are highly collectible.

 

Even Great museums like the Smithsonian may have humble paper blotters in their collections. Paper blotters, reminiscent of the days of fountain pens, offer not only beauty, but point to a moment in history. Thus when you collect paper collectibles, you are getting more than a piece of paper with some printing on it. You are getting a thin slice of history.