Few people living today can recall when ink blotter cards were in common use. In the early to mid-twentieth century, everyone who used a fountain pen, or a quill pen used an ink blotter to absorb or dry up the excess ink. Ink blotters were a very popular form of advertising as they were often given away by banks, merchants, insurance companies, etc. to promote their products and services. Antique ink blotter cards were once as common as business cards are today. However, with the invention of the ballpoint pen in the 1950’s, ink blotters disappeared from the average office desk. Ink blotter cards displayed in this collection range from about 1910 to 1960. Advertising on many of these earlier ink blotter cards are quite ornate and artistic whereas some of the later example cards are rather ordinary in appearance. Cards in this collection come from my grandfather’s hardware store which closed in 1945 in Bolivar, TN; from my father’s law office which closed in the early 1970’s in Bolivar, TN; and from my personal collection.