Early Duplicators

Though the practical history of early duplicators is often characterized by ambiguity and imprecision, the cultural history of copying is rich with insight on social movements catalyzed by minorities.

According to an article in Office Systems, the “most popular and cost effective technologies for producing multiple copies were mimeograph machines and spirit or stencil duplicators” (Regan, 1). Mimeographs came into use in the 1900s. The machines utilized the drum of a rotary machine to force ink through the holes of a stencil. The Spirit Duplicator, invented in the 1920s, was also called the Ditto in North America. It used a similar technique to the mimeograph, requiring a master sheet to hand-transfer pressure onto a second sheet coated with colored wax, producing a mirror image. In the span of only several decades, any and all individuals had access to what only an elite bracket of society once did: printing.

The use of these technologies became progressively more widespread. Remnants of one such duplicator, stored in the University of Pennsylvania’s rare collections is kept in its original box which advertises the copier as “…a tremendous aid to businessmen, salesmen, schoolteachers, clubs, churches, and fraternal organizations” (Heyer, Inc.). Early copiers became a central tool in education, often used to copy assignments and handouts; knowing how to operate a copier became a necessary prerequisite to entering the education industry (Mueller, 118). They also decreased barriers to entry in various professional fields, proliferating the economy in ways similar to that of inventing the moveable type. Among the countless social impacts the invention of copiers resulted in, the use of mimeographs for low-budget publishing was one that created new waves of art and free expression. Examining case studies of those involved in underground printing during the 1960s shows more closely how the these waves ultimately created a cultural revolution.

Alan Light, "First fanzine, 1969”, from Flickr, Creative Commons. Photo by Unknown, taken 12/3/2009.

File:1958 or 1959--Phil's illustrations for mimeographed poems about daily life--Adams Elementary School--Wichita, Kansas.jpeg

Phil Venditti, “1958 or 1959--Phil's illustrations for mimeographed poems about daily life--Adams Elementary School--Wichita, Kansas”, from Flickr, Creative Commons. Photo by Unknown, taken 11/9/2018.