What do you think of when I say...

[jaysizzles]

@Taz - It is, most often used in schools way back when I was a kid. The key, though, is that the ink was alcohol-based. When the copies were handed out, the students would stick their noses in the paper and inhale. It was quite the rush back then.

That's the first thing that came to mind...the smell.

And...to be the lucky one sent to the copy room to pick up the stack of papers.

 

[spooky]

...Mimeograph paper?

(Actually, it will be interesting to see how many here even know what it is without Googling it.)

I have plenty of toilet paper.

 

[Cormac135]

Had to Google it.

 

[BillyT]

I remember it and using it. In Junior High School I work in the school office and made up documents to be passed out.

 

[EJMichaels]

Been there, done that... probably still have a few sheets of blank masters mixed in with old school papers. We called them "dittos".

Oh, yeah, to answer the original question -- The smell!

 

[LAPan75]

- The Smell -
​

 

[Willie Boy]

...Mimeograph paper?

(Actually, it will be interesting to see how many here even know what it is without Googling it.)

paper for an ancient copy machine. I think I still have a couple packed up in storage somewhere.

 

[gsdx]

We called them "dittos".

We did, too. I thought it was a local colloquialism.

 

[FPNY]

I think I liked poppers because of the aroma of the copy process, I really liked it as a kid....

 

[T-Rexx]

When I was a kid, I made a mimeograph "device."

It was a shallow tray of gelatin. You typed out your text (with a typewriter - or you could write it out by hand) on a special master sheet, impregnated with ink. Then, you placed that special paper face down onto the gelatin in the tray. Ink leached from the master into the gel, making a copy of your text in the gel. Then, you made copies by laying plain white paper over the gel, one sheet at a time. Ink leached back into the paper from the gel, making a (rather good) copy of your original. You could make about 50 to 100 copies this way.

It had a very strong odor of mimeograph ink. Everyone always liked that smell.

 

[jbrown329]

I think I liked poppers because of the aroma of the copy process, I really liked it as a kid....

Poppers (to me) smell like dirty sweaty gym socks.

 

[Latimer]

When and where was it invented? When did it cease to be in common use in the US? I presume it was rendered obsolete by the photocopying machine, or was there an intermediate technology between the two?

 

[Rickrock]

I remembered it as a copy in blue, but I had forgotten about the smell and about it in school. When I was in a singles club we had a machine where we typed onto different colored carbon paper and ran them through a similar machine and made copies in different colors. It was very similar.

 

[LilBit]

I liked the purple ink, but I don't recall the smell. I do remember the nice feel of a warm ditto, though. (And yes, we called them dittos as well.)

 

[Yooper]

Ditto(es)--properly called 'Spirit Duplications'--were called so because the first machines were produced by the Ditto Company. Most were Purple but you could print in other colors with a different color Master--but were more expensive so most schools used them infrequently. Pre-printed ones worked longer than ones you made yourself. Only one fluid produced all colors. In the late 70's one purple master ran about 12 cents each. Colors were double that at least.

There were hand cranked machines and electric ones. When a master tore on an electric one, it was a disaster. Paper everywhere!

Mimeographs were generally black and used a gel instead of a solid sheet. The ink oozed through a stencil gel material, usually typewritten with a manual typewriter for the best impression, although you could 'burn' a master from a typewritten sheet. Color was determined by the ink on the drum; if your school was really wealthy there might be two or three different drums--red and green were the usual options if available. The gels in the late 70's were about 35 cents each if memory serves. They were dished out by the school secretary very frugally.

Dittoes were best for quantities less than 100. Mimeographs were better quality but the gels were expensive; used for mass reproductions i.e., mass letters home to parents, newsletters home, etc.

 

[gsdx]

When and where was it invented? When did it cease to be in common use in the US? I presume it was rendered obsolete by the photocopying machine, or was there an intermediate technology between the two?

I would have to research it to answer your questions, but mimeographs were cheap duplications for schools. They were hand-operated (crank) for the most part as far as I know. It wasn't uncommon for our teachers to send a student to the office to crank off enough copies for the entire class. It was really quite simple.

 

[MTLDude]

I remember mimeograph violet/purple ink...

 

[roadtripboy]

Purple ink, the smell and questions to which to answers were always A, B, C or D. Or sometimes A, B, C or all of the above.

 

[Willie Boy]

I would have to research it to answer your questions, but mimeographs were cheap duplications for schools. They were hand-operated (crank) for the most part as far as I know. It wasn't uncommon for our teachers to send a student to the office to crank off enough copies for the entire class. It was really quite simple.

The fun thing was, when one needed to crank out a few hundred copies..... or more. The ingenious, MacGuyver type would likely create a way for the ink to be refilled while attaching a bike to the crank. Add a paper tray and one could exercise the work away.

 

[Kyanimal]

I don't recall having to use a special paper for mimeographs.

I do remember, as a Preacher's Kid, having to be Very Careful, typing out the stencils, for the Church Bulletin, and the SMELL of the correction fluid, and the ink for the hand cranked machine. Talk about Heaven!

"Chemistry for a Better Life!"

Not all that different than "Mercuro Chrome"! Remember that stuff?