Advertising Blotters from Richard Binder

Using high quality paper such as the Rhodia and Clairefontaine leads to the problem of longer drying time because of the clay coating. As I was waiting for the ink to dry before closing my notebook I remembered that one of the pieces of paper that came with my Waterman 92V was an advertising blotter that Richard Binder sells in packs of five for $4.

Rummaging around I found it and pressed gently against the page, and was really gratified and a bit surprised to see it had worked. Surprised because the ink left on the page was two shades lighter than what I'd written. That is a lot of ink, but these blotter cards are large and re-usable so there should be no more problems with smudging.


I've gotten to like pressing this against the page, there's something satisfyingly tactile about writing with a fountain pen and then blotting the paper. The advertising blotters are made from 100-pound heavyweight blotter stock, which has a nice rough feel to it, and the five pin-ups are wonderfully retro.