Mopping up at home

BLOTTERS ARE A FAVOURITE TYPE OF EPHEMERA – WHY? MADE OF PAPER. REFLECT ABSOLUTELY THE TIME WHEN THEY WERE PRODUCED (LOOK AT THIS SET). THEY ARE OBSOLETE WITH ALL with THE EXCEPTION OF KING CHARLES IT SEEMS. EASY TO DISPLAY AND STORE. 

This is a blotter for a product that may have been trying to reinvent itself. It seems to be a paint that was used to give a silver surface to metal objects. In the late 1920s up to about 1930, this product was advertised in newspapers chiefly for use on items of more interest to men – like motor engines and car rims. It is possible that this blotter postdated the newspaper advertising and was part of a campaign to introduce women to the use of the product in the home. It is also possible that the blotter predates the advertising to get men to use Silverglos. Any ideas welcomed. 

In the late 1930s, there seems to have been a rage of quickly renewing a room or piece of furniture or domestic equipment with a coat of ‘new’ paints. This is an English product we presume with its British tag – ’10-66 product’. The ‘from grey to gay in a single day’ slogan was used by Quick Enamel and also Kem Tone. The magazine advertising for Quick Enamel is almost more effective as the kitchens about to be transformed are really drab. 

This lovely blotter had printing on the verso inviting competitors to enter to win a jumbo wind-up clothes’ line. Each blotter was numbered and our collector has numbers 6530 and 6531.