Purpose of B18 Blankets

[bbnut]

I saw the original post on twitter some months back, and the one today, and I said both times, that I don't buy it. I would want to see some provenance.

Back during that time, they had fountain pens (pens with a reservoir), and nib pens (sometimes called dip pens). You don't want to use fabric to help clean off a fountain pen because the fabric strands can get into the capillary system and clog it up. Paper--or today, paper towels--is a good way to get the excess ink off the pen when you're done using it, which you want to do because the excess ink can potentially clog the system or cause a mess.

It wouldn't be the first time a historical society or museum screwed up something like this. We only have to look at the location of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Doubleday Field for an example (although, as we know, that was done deliberately).

[steve B]

It's really common for general antiques people to label something in a way that matches either similar things they've seen, or as similar things that are currently popular.

My mom- when she still could collected egg cups. Over the years they went in and out of popularity.
When they were popular, other stuff that didn't have a clear use and was about the right size would get called an egg cup. Like toothpick holders, partial salt cellers, And if they were currently very popular shot glasses and eye cups....

When they were unpopular, and tooth pick holders were popular many became toothpick holders.

That works for lots of other stuff. Like a hand crank apple peeler becomes a pencil sharpener. Early! Rare! .....and totally NOT a pencil sharpener..

The writer is probably familiar with some form of pen wiper, so every cloth promotional item about that size is to them a pen wiper.

[Jobu]

Craig, Rocky - glad to see you find this photo to be as fun as I do!

I tried to get a bigger and darker image of the pillow for a closer look (just checking for ink stains ).

[ThomasL]

Im suspicious that they were pen wipes as a quick ebay search revealed very few with ink stains (logically it stands to reason if that was the intended use there would be a lot).

Also the here is an ad from 1914 for the Sovereign Cigarettes "Flag Blankets"...no mention of blotter or ink anywhere in the ad that I can see (4-5-1914 The News and Observer, Raleigh, NC)

[ThomasL]

nevermind it was too big to upload I guess, but the citation is there for you to look up the ad for the Flag Blankets

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by ThomasL

nevermind it was too big to upload I guess, but the citation is there for you to look up the ad for the Flag Blankets

They've already been posted in Post 21.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Jobu

Craig, Rocky - glad to see you find this photo to be as fun as I do! I tried to get a bigger and darker image of the pillow for a closer look (just checking for ink stains ).

Such a cool photo, Bryan, wonderful to see "our stuff" in contemporaneous images.

[BuzzD]

I have one with an ink blot - I always wondered why, so the explanation makes sense to me

[Orioles1954]

The purpose of B18 Blankets was to annoy auction writers 100 years later.

[Orioles1954]

I have handled several thousand B18 blankets. Have never seen one with ink marks. However, I've seen hundreds with stitch markings, ya know, for blankets!