Today in pulp I take a look at back at the humble office copier!
It's a godsend to the busy office worker working on their debut novel...
The Victorian office of the future had a mimeograph machine. You turned the handle and it sharpened your pencils so you could hand copy better.
At least I think that's how it worked...
The Belle Époque French copied their documents with the Cyclostyle machine. Here a typical administrator explains its function to his enthused colleagues.
By 1902 the 'Photo Copier' had arrived. Switch on the massively powerful arc lamp and in 2 minutes you'll have a burnt office and a copy of your document!
But for many years the humble mimeograph was king of the office copiers. It could literally make money* for any office.
(*forgeries)
In the early 1950s the 'Thermo Fax' arrived, copying anything in four seconds and in seven colours. The fumes sent you doolally, but SEVEN colours!!
Then in 1959 the photocopier as we know it was born: the Xerox 914! It was the Hal 9000 of copiers: intelligent, elegant, psychopathic.
The 1959 Xerox 914 copier was way ahead of its time. It only took 21 co-workers to clear a paper jam, slightly less than today's copiers.
And by 1963 every modern office had a copier. Sadly they looked like the toast machine you get in hotels, so they mostly copied bread.
Portable photocopying was a work in progress in the 1940s...
...but by 1961 the photocopier could fit into an attaché case. Wouldn't you just love one of these for your office?
Nowadays the photocopier is just an add-on to the office printer, which of course has its own unique problems...
But let's raise three cheers* to the office copier. Like the modern office it gives the impression of doing lots of work, rather than just circulating bits of paper around for a living.
(*In triplicate)
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