Duplicating machines
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Duplicating machines were the predecessors of modern document-reproduction technology. They have now mostly been replaced by digital duplicators, scanners, laser printers, and photocopiers, but for ma
One of the polygraphs used by Thomas Jefferson, a portable version
A James Watt & Co. copying press, in Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum.
Iron letter copying press, late 19th century, Germany
The Rapid Roller Damp-Leaf Copier in use
Spirit duplicator
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A spirit duplicator is a printer invented in 1923 by Wilhelm Ritzerfeld, which was used for most of the 20th century. "Spirit" here refers to the alcohols that were the principal solvents used in gene
Duplicating machines
…the use of typewriters to prepare mimeograph masters. If the user put the stencil on the drum wrong-side-out, the copies came out mirror-imaged. The spirit duplicator invented in 1923 and sold by Ditto, Inc., used two-ply "spirit masters" or "ditto masters". The top sheet could be typed, drawn, or written upon. The…
A spirit duplicator machine
A school newspaper published using a ditto machine in 1978
A hand-cranked spirit duplicator from the 1960s
The Duplicating Machine Memorial in Szczecin, Poland, taking the form of a spirit duplicator encased in a desiccated glycerol resin on a concrete pedestal