[CarltonHendricks]

As you all know one of the most exciting things in collecting is finding something you’ve never seen before…I stumbled onto this c1940 souvenir napkin dispenser on eBay recently and bought it. I had never seen one before so knew it was rare…So how do you date something like this?. You start by looking for an expert long time Indy collector…I learned there is a collector group called The National Indianapolis 500 Collectors Club. I located a former president of the club president John Darlington…part of the conversation below….

Question from Carlton:
Have you seen other examples? I’ve been collecting 35 years…never seen one…Can you tell me the year it was made and sold. Anything else you can tell me would be great to know.

Answer from John:
I too got one of these off of eBay about 15-20 years ago for less than $50 but, it was missing the holder in the back and the condition is a bit worse (see photo). Including yours and mine I've seen one or two others. Based on the style of car depicted this is ca. 1940 and as to what it cost then, a program was 25 cents and tickets were $1 and up so maybe in that ballpark - 50 cents? $1? Guess if you could afford a ticket you could afford 50 cents or $1 for a souvenir.



The fact John had only seen three including his own confirmed my intuition how rare it is…The only marking is a transfer ware label partly worn away. Fortunately you can make out “Souvenir of Indianapolis “ “ “” I would speculate there was a “500” after Indianapolis…as it’s the only thing I can think of that would fit the space left….









Below are other Indy 500 things from my collection