Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives, Gift of Matthew S. Dole
Object Details
Ohio Congressman Wayne Hays distributed this ink blotter to constituents in the decades when the little cards were ubiquitous objects in homes and offices. Absorbent paper on the back blotted wet ink and prevented smears on freshly written documents. Smooth paper on the blotter’s front made a perfect desktop advertisement. By the 1960s, however, the rise of the ballpoint pen made blotters a thing of the past.
