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Tracy Lee
March 27th, 2013, 03:03 PM
This seemed like a good place to mention rocker blotters. I have found them useful on some paper with my wetter pens, and on envelopes. I just bought this one on eBay, the detail hard to see but really amazing considering $20 including shipping. Even has the ancient old blotter paper attached , all yellowed and brown from age. Such a neat find!

writingrav
March 27th, 2013, 04:48 PM
Indeed a great find. I keep one on m desk at work and one on my desk at home, and the cutest little mini rocker blotter that fits into my traveling correspondence folder. These were more essential when I used primarily dip pens, but they still come in handy.

BikerBabe
March 30th, 2013, 07:19 PM
That is a wonderful rocker blotter, great find!
I've got several, many of which are ordinary old office rocker blotters, I'll be happy to post photos soon, but I'll make a seperate thread to avoid hijacking your thread.
I've found the rocker blotters to be quite useful when writing greeting/birthday/christmas cards.

jbb
April 8th, 2013, 05:45 PM
Nice! I have a few too but I really like your elephant.

woosang
April 9th, 2013, 04:58 AM
That's beautiful

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 2

KrazyIvan
April 9th, 2013, 09:07 AM
To date I only use the blotter paper cut down to size to fit my study notebook. No blotter. Your example looks really nice and I am fighting that urge to start looking for blotters.

CS388
April 27th, 2013, 08:20 PM
That's excellent!

The elephant looks like a perfectly tactile hand-grip.

Great find. Congratulations.

tytoalba
April 28th, 2013, 08:23 AM
2220
Hazel Atlas glass sailboat rocker blotter - there is also a glass elephant in black
(sorry posted this elsewhere.. ought to be here with other examples)

mmccabe_
April 28th, 2013, 10:19 PM
Indeed a great find. I keep one on m desk at work and one on my desk at home, and the cutest little mini rocker blotter that fits into my traveling correspondence folder. These were more essential when I used primarily dip pens, but they still come in handy.

Writingrav, you got me pretty intrigued about a mini rocker blotter and your correspondence folder! I have the J.Herbin rocker (thankyouuuu Goulet packages) but would love a way to organize everything for travel.

Tracy Lee
April 29th, 2013, 04:38 AM
That is a wonderful rocker blotter, great find!
I've got several, many of which are ordinary old office rocker blotters, I'll be happy to post photos soon, but I'll make a seperate thread to avoid hijacking your thread.
I've found the rocker blotters to be quite useful when writing greeting/birthday/christmas cards.

Not hijacking at all, post away!!! :-)

BikerBabe
April 29th, 2013, 03:48 PM
Ah okay, you made the thread so that we can show our rocker blotters, I guess. *scratches head*

Okay, here's my little collection (- hm, if I keep up this collecting pen/office-related stuff, I'm gonna need a bigger apartment in a few years! :D )

2237

Bronze, maybe.


2238

Brass.


2239

Wood. Company, ad gift thing?


2240

Asian/african?


2241

Stained silver.


2242

Brass. Smaller than the other one, it's my everyday rb.

Tracy Lee
April 29th, 2013, 05:00 PM
Wow!!! Those are amazing! I particularly like the Asian/African one. Looks to have some amazing detail. I am so glad you shared! :)

OakIris
April 30th, 2013, 08:01 AM
Amazing what creativity went into making practical items beautiful for the desk. The "well-outfitted" writer "back in the day" certainly had a lot of choice in what she or he wanted to buy (or make) to both decorate their desk and to enhance their pleasure in writing. The rocker blotters shown above are all lovely and, really, works of art; we are lucky that these were treasured, probably for years, so that they are still intact and in great condition.

I only have two wooden ones at this time. The mini-blotter is modern but so cute I could not resist; great for taking to Pen Posses, too!

This is the full sized blotter; it is inlaid with brass and - I think - abalone shell:

2259

2260

I am not sure how old it is, but when I received it (won on eBay) it had this blotter advertisement card attached to it as the blotter paper, so I think it is at least from the 1940's:

2261

The mini-blotter:

2262

Size comparison:

2263

Would love to get more rocker blotters similar to the glass or brass ones shown in this thread, but I really don't NEED any more; they sure are fun though!

Holly

jbb
April 30th, 2013, 08:12 AM
Oh Holly, I love that inlaid one.

Tracy Lee
May 1st, 2013, 05:26 PM
Holly - wow, that really is intricate! I am in love with the baby blotter, I need one of those. :thumbup:

jbb
May 1st, 2013, 05:48 PM
Here are a few of mine:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8409/8700658096_0fd8bbae8c_o.jpg

klpeabody
May 1st, 2013, 08:01 PM
Tracy, that is a beautiful rocker! thanks for sharing that.

Tracy Lee
May 2nd, 2013, 05:07 AM
Here are a few of mine:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8409/8700658096_0fd8bbae8c_o.jpg

Ooooooo, that middle one in particular is cool looking.

writingrav
May 2nd, 2013, 05:25 AM
Wow! A whole new realm for collecting. Just what I needed. Thanks everyone this is beautiful stuff.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

jbb
May 2nd, 2013, 06:46 AM
This is one I'm trying to sell.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/130626363/rocking-blotter-vintage-windmill-scene

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8416/8700659524_d40a3593b4_o.jpg

OcalaFlGuy
May 2nd, 2013, 07:36 AM
Here is mine. About $15 on The Bay and a full sized one at around 5" x 3". It's now sporting some fresh for real genuine blotter paper
courtesy of JBB. It's all glass, even the knob but the part the paper goes against is black painted wood.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-SbQygRajmzQ/UU5v5Dvv__I/AAAAAAAADeY/pbvWdy6-KHM/s640/Blot1.JPG

Bruce in Ocala, FL

Judybug
May 2nd, 2013, 05:09 PM
Wow! What beautiful blotters! Here's one I snatched up on E-bay a few years ago.

2332

jbb
May 2nd, 2013, 05:14 PM
That's so elegant Judybug!

Tracy Lee
May 3rd, 2013, 05:42 AM
Oh my gosh, that is so fancy! Thanks for sharing that!!

OakIris
May 3rd, 2013, 06:09 AM
Oh Holly, I love that inlaid one.


Holly - wow, that really is intricate! I am in love with the baby blotter, I need one of those. :thumbup:

I'm glad you like them, but look at all of the other lovely blotters you and others have! Very nice, and I may spend some time on eBay today drooling over some more of them. (Tempted by the one you are selling, too, Jill.)

I bought the mini blotter from Pen And Ink Arts (http://www.paperinkarts.com/minblt.html) - they have some pretty cool stuff on that site; check them out if you haven't already.

Now, let's see some more blotters!

Holly

tytoalba
May 3rd, 2013, 06:45 AM
Here's some more!
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/office/ink-blotters
there's an article on rocker, and blotter history, (Parker, but not ThE Parker), plus examples. click on the most watched, and highest bid, link for a page to see what's currently available on the bay. (NAYY), Some of the advertising blotters have lots of viewers, and command quite a price. (looks like Texaco, and Coca Cola collectors. The top watched is an French Rocker ending soon.
This paper blotter, The Hair Cut, is charming : )
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400474819919

OakIris
May 3rd, 2013, 08:05 AM
Here's some more!
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/office/ink-blotters
there's an article on rocker, and blotter history, (Parker, but not ThE Parker), plus examples. click on the most watched, and highest bid, link for a page to see what's currently available on the bay. (NAYY), Some of the advertising blotters have lots of viewers, and command quite a price. (looks like Texaco, and Coca Cola collectors. The top watched is an French Rocker ending soon.
This paper blotter, The Hair Cut, is charming : )
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400474819919

Those are pretty cool - thanks for the links, tytoalba.

A bit off topic: I am curious about a statement made in the article in the first link:
Before blotters were invented, the preferred (albeit expensive) method was sprinkling salt over fresh written text to speed the drying process. Salt? Really? I have never heard of using salt for this. Salt was a pretty precious commodity for centuries; if this was indeed a use for it, it must have been a way for rich folks to display their conspicuous consumption! Has anyone else heard of this?

Pounce pots were typically part of desk sets back in the day of dip pens; the "well-dressed" desk had inkwells, dip pen holders and ponce pots on it, everything the writer needed. The pots contained a fine powder - originally made from cuttlefish bones - and were used for drying ink. (And who the heck was the first one to think, hey, if I ground that up, it would be perfect for absorbing ink so I don't smear what I just wrote....?!? Amazing what human beings have come up with; if only they put all of their inventiveness to positive uses....)

Here is an interesting discussion on pounce and what it was used for in the pre-rocker blotter/paper blotter times - and it shows pounce was not only for drying ink but for preparing paper, depending upon what it was to be used for: Pounce Pots (http://www.smpub.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001360.html)

I am sure you have some insight into this, Jill (jbb)!

Holly

Judybug
May 3rd, 2013, 11:50 AM
I've read about pounce pots. Jane Austen's characters are known to use them - or is it Anthony Trollope's characters? No matter. Anyway, I'm wondering if pounce powder would be useful on post cards where it often takes a long time for ink to dry? Can you even buy pounce powder today? I guess I could buy that cuttle bone they sell for birds and grind it up - in my leisure time. :dirol:

jbb
May 3rd, 2013, 02:33 PM
I've heard of using cuttlebone and fine sand but not salt for pounce. I've tried fine sand on wet ink and it works. You get little sand crystals stuck in your ink... it's oh so 18th century.

Pouncing paper with gum sandarac will create a better writing surface for dip pen. (It also smells good.) It allows you to get thinner lines. You "pounce" it on your paper before writing. It would probably gum up a fountain pen though.

Judybug
May 3rd, 2013, 03:12 PM
jbb, where do you get your fine sand? Is it available at Home Depot? I'd love to try some on post cards.

jbb
May 3rd, 2013, 03:26 PM
I steal it from my husband's sand blaster.... the same husband I "borrow" unscented talc from. Home Depot should have it but you might have to buy some silly large amount. Accompanying small children to a playground with a sand box might work if your cagey and bring a vial.

Jimothy
May 3rd, 2013, 04:47 PM
WOW! They all make my rocker blotter look so ordinary :(