Brown&Dixon Company Records - Ralph W. Steen Library

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Brown & Dixon Company Records

COLLECTION INFORMATION	TABLE OF CONTENTS
	History Location of Record Inventory Brown & Dixon Company Records

HISTORY

Ink, when freshly penned, needed time to dry and could be smeared easily if the paper used for writing was folded prematurely or covered by another sheet. For this reason, fresh writings were blotted by some means or allowed to dry before further handling. This seemed especially important for account books, where posting and drying were important factors in legibility. Although the earliest known blotters come from the sixteenth century, they did not become widespread until the 1800s.

As the writing on a ledger section was completed, a piece of blotting paper was placed over the newly inked spot and either the ledger was closed or a rocker (which looked like a moon-shaped sandpaper block) was pressed over the blotter and gently rocked back and forth. The blotter then soaked up excess ink.

The collection from the Brown & Dixon Company records has examples of several types of blotters. All but a few show lots of use. There were Calendar Blotters, Advertising Blotters, Signature Blotters, political advertisement, etc. A few of local interest can be found in the sampling of the blotters from the collection.

As ballpoint pens replaced ink pens, the use of blotters dwindled until the 1960's when it completely disappeared. (Based on information in Pen, Ink, & Evidence: A Study of Writing and Writing Materials for the Penman, Collector, and Document Detective, by Joe Nickell, 1990.)

LOCATION OF RECORD

273 blotters, B-70 (Box 5)

INVENTORY

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Political Advertisement Blotter for L. W. Tittle for County Clerk, July 28, 1906