John Hancock Life Insurance Casey at the Bat Blotter

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	John Hancock Life Insurance Casey at the Bat Blotter
Year	Unknown
Size	4″ x 8″
Images	Color
Type	Trade
Number in Set	1

John Hancock Life Insurance Casey at the Bat Blotter Overview

John Hancock Case at the Bat Blotter Ink blotters were generally rectangular cards that were popular in the days of fountain pens. They would usually be kept on desks and were used to allow people to wipe off excess ink. To properly absorb the ink, blotters are generally a little thicker and have a different texture than traditional cards.

This blotter was an advertisement for the John Hancock Mutual life Insurance Company based in Boston, Massachusetts. Individual agents could place their own contact information on the card. Featured is a picture of mighty Casey from the famous poem, Casey at the Bat. Instead of the poem, the card ties Casey to life insurance with this printing:

“‘Way I see it,’ says the mighty Casey, ‘baseball is like everything else American. Everybody comes out ahead when the game is played clean.’ All Americans know what he means. His is the kind of ball we all play when we work for our home teams, when we put aside some savings and life insurance to give our kids a chance at bat.

‘Casey at the Bat’ is a popular baseball theme, which has been used on products for many years. This pre-war trade card for another insurance company featured ‘Casey’ as well.

While not standard trading cards, blotters with sports figures are absolutely collectible. Because they were used to absorb extra ink, you will often find them with ink spots all over them. Ones that haven’t been covered in ink demand a premium.

Blotters were generally an advertisement for a specific product, service, or organization. Along with a picture of a sports figure or team, they usually sought to promote some type of product or business.