37 Ink Blotters from 1917 to the 1950s, Most with Great Graphics and Interesting Topics.
Lot 390. 37 Ink Blotters from 1917 to the 1950s, Most with Great Graphics and Interesting Topics. Early American history, scenes from American life, attractive women, silent movies, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, watermelon, coal and “Things That Make America Great!” are among the subjects of these blotters, all but a few unused and most approximately 4” x 9 3/8” or 9 ½”. Examples smaller than 3 ¾” x 8 ¾” are noted, as are a few that are black & white. The movie industry’s silent era is represented by two different black & white blotters featuring Neal Hart, “America’s Pal” and star of an eight-part series that debuted in 1921 with the film “Tangled Trails.” One card has a photo of Hart superimposed on his “Rough Riders of the West.” The other blotter has an illustration of the popular actor. The earliest blotter, which lacks artwork, is from the German Alliance Insurance Co. of New York. It assures potential customers that it “is absolutely American, and has no connection or affiliation whatever with any foreign institution.” Seven blotters with no advertising present 2.5” x 3” paintings, all different, representing American life spanning many decades: two of Native Americans, a western explorer on horseback, yachting, a family as the seashore with yachts in the background, two boys on a toboggan, and a duck hunter. Five more without advertising have illustrations of attractive women apparently representing different cultures or countries; the images are at least 2.5” x 3.25”. Three early explorers of America and Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) are the subjects of four more blotters without sponsors. The explorers are Ferdinand de Soto (explored Florida), Jacques Marquette (explored the Mississippi River from the north) and Robert de la Salle (first to explore the Mississippi from the north to its mouth). A large illustration featuring each explorer is accompanied by biographical information. Two other blotters contain early U.S. history. A blotter for Ticonderoga pencils has an illustration showing Ft. Ticonderoga’s guns on their way to General Washington in the winter of 1775-76, and a blotter from a Rockville, MD, bank shows John Jay as the first U.S. Supreme Court justice. The Ticonderoga card is 3.5” x 6.25”. “Things That Make America Great!” are the focus of four 1951 blotters from Sun Life: Steel manufacturing, “America’s leading industry”; a huge electric turbine in a substation; large dams, including Hoover Dam; and gold mining and processing facilities. The Ripley Believe It or Not contributions are a 1934 blotter with a fish in India that “uses its elongated muzzle as a gun to shoot insects – using drops of water as bullets” and a1956 blotter with the Great Salt Lake. Coal companies are the advertisers on six blotters, each about 3 3/8” x 6 1/8”. Four from the Amato Coal Co. of Washington, D.C. have scenes from around the world: Castle Eltz in Germany, a New Hampshire lighthouse, the Tomb of Fatima in Iran, and antique buildings and walkways in Basle, Switzerland. The U.S. Capitol is on a 1941 blotter, and the Lincoln Memorial on a 1946 ink absorber. Of the two remaining blotters, one promotes an agent in D.C. for the Sun Life Assurance Co., of Canada, and the other, with the help of four elves, encourages ink users to “eat more watermelon.” These blotters generally are vg+ to ex; two are g-vg, and some are ex or better. They typically show light to moderate corner wear and are free of creases except some small corner or edge creases. Three cards have small amounts of ink on their backs. This is the nicest group of vintage blotters we have encountered. Winning Bid $35.
