What did mimeograph ink smell like?
With its rapturously fragrant, sweetly aromatic pale blue ink, mimeograph paper was literally intoxicating. Two deep drafts of a freshly run-off mimeograph worksheet and I would be the education system’s willing slave for up to seven hours.”[1] Bryson appears have confused dittos with mimeographs, however.
What ink does a mimeograph use?
purple ink
Regardless, the copying process is similar across all devices. You insert a blank stencil into a typewriter and type the desired content. The stencil is then loaded onto a rotating drum; as it rotates, specially formulated purple ink is pushed through the typed areas of the stencil onto clean sheets of paper.
What were the old school copiers called?
Mimeographs
mimeograph Add to list Share. A mimeograph is an old-fashioned copy machine. Mimeographs were often used for making classroom copies in schools before photocopying became inexpensive in the mid- to late-twentieth century.
How did teachers make copies in the 70s?
Early fanzines were printed by mimeograph because the machines and supplies were widely available and inexpensive. Beginning in the late 1960s and continuing into the 1970s, photocopying gradually displaced mimeographs, spirit duplicators, and hectographs.
Why did mimeograph paper smell so good?
The output of the ditto machine had a special aroma. Students could tell when a class assignment was hot out of the machine by the strength of the odor of the pages. The smell came from the ditto machine’s duplicating fluid, a mix of methanol and isopropanol.
Why did they sniff the paper in fast times?
After the paper is passed out, the students put the page up to their noses and deeply inhale. This was a popular school ritual of the ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s as photocopying machines were very expensive, so ditto machines were used. The resulting copies did not get you high but they smelled good.
What kind of material is a mimeograph paper?
It usually contained a high percentage of cotton fibers mixed with chemical wood pulp and/or mechanical wood pulp. It ranged in weight from 16 to 24 pound.
What was before mimeograph?
Mimeograph machines predated the spirit duplicator, had a lower cost per impression, superior print quality, finer resolution, and if properly adjusted could be used for multi-pass and double-sided printing.
Why do they sniff the paper in fast times?
How did the mimeograph work?
mimeograph, also called stencil duplicator, duplicating machine that uses a stencil consisting of a coated fibre sheet through which ink is pressed. Employing a typewriter with the ribbon shifted out of the way so that the keys do not strike it, the information to be duplicated is typed on the stencil.
Do mimeograph machines still exist?
The mimeograph became largely obsolete with the development of xerography and other photocopiers.
Why does freshly printed paper smell so good?
It’s the same as loving the smell of a new magazine. Something about it really hits the olfactory. There’s a fine amount of chemistry that goes into making the ink and the glue of the binding. As a book gets older the glue starts to degrade and the smell of the binding can be picked up more and more.
What was the purpose of the Purple Ink Machine?
Who could forget the purple ink that rubbed off on your hands, the copies had a smell that was recognised by any 1960-70’s school kid. The machine was suitable for reproducing a small number of documents such as school worksheets or exam papers or community newsletters.
How did mimeographed paper become so popular?
But instead of evoking thoughts of boredom and desires for summer vacation, this got students’ attention. The mimeograph became the most widely used system for mass-producing papers with print on them. The ink it used ended up looking deep blue or purple. The materials also made mimeographed paper have a unique smell.
Why are my photos stained with purple ink?
Both pieces of paper are stained with purple ink because they went through a machine invented in 1923 called a ditto machine, or spirit duplicator. A ditto machine was a primitive photocopier that used a solvent like methylated spirits or ammonia to transfer ink from the master copy (the template, if you will) onto other pieces of paper.
How durable are mimeographed copies?
Mimeographed copies have moderate durability when acid-free paper is used. Gestetner, Risograph, and other companies still make and sell highly automated mimeograph-like machines that are externally similar to photocopiers.