Copy Cats

Thomas Edison's Mimeograph machine was licensed by A.B. Dick who invented the Mimeograph stencil in 1884. With Edison's support the two of them began advertising in 1888 and sold the machines for $12 to $30 depending upon the size.

By 1880, sales of Edison's copying system were in decline because of competing systems, such as the Cyclostyle. 

An 1895 ad for a rudimentary copying system which used pressure and moisture to duplicate a copy.

An adorable little lithographic press which sold in England in the 1850s, preceded Edison's Mimeograph. 

This system above used a master and a gelatin substance which absorbed ink when the original was placed onto a transfer tablet. This was called the Hektograph which was introduced in 1876. All of the images above are from the Early Office Museum which has a mountain of material on the history of printing and office equipment of the last 2 centuries. Well worth a visit and a read!  

At Strayer's Business College in Washington DC, 1928. I can almost smell the nasty spirit duplicator vapors. From a glass negative from the Harris & Ewing Collection via the Shorpy photo archive. Shorpy images are always clickable.

Stationer's Supplies

Old office supplies with some fine labels from an illustrated stationery catalog for Shaw & Borden Stationers in Spokane, Washington. Oddly enough there is no date on this 250 page catalog, but it appears to be 1910s or 20s. It is filled with beautiful B&W illustrations of old office supplies and furniture, with just a few full page color plates featuring the Sanfords' inks and adhesives shown here. Eventually I will upload some of the B&W images of ink bottles and other office supplies as they are crazy-nice too! 

:: From the Letterology Archives.

Vintage Office & Art Supplies

:: See more at Vintage Collective's Flickr site.

For Good Measure

1916 protractor scale from A. Edgell & Co.

J.Rabone & Sons folding rule from England

Rowney & Co. protractor scale from England

Handmade figured maple & mahogany triangle with dumbell-shaped dovetail joints.

Boxwood perforation gauge, a stamp collecting tool.

This is an actual promotional give-away printed on heavy paper, simulating a brass-fitted folding rule with an 1889 calendar on the flip side.

:: All of these fine wooden drafting tools are from the Sheaff Ephemera Archives

Practice Safe Coloring

:: 1940s Milton Bradley ABC pencil case from Christian Montone.

A Paper Valentine

Set designer Kelly Angood is as good as they come when it comes to paper engineering. Last week I reported on her DIY pinhole Hassleblad camera she designed and made available for downloading. There is more—she has also created a totally functional replica of the adorable Olivetti Valentine typewriter—60s logomark and all. Using a cheap German typewriter for the interior guts and carriage, she encased it with a bright red corrugated cardboard framework to recreate the Valentine which was originally designed by Ettore Sottsass and introduced on Valentine's Day in 1969 by Olivetti. Angood then engineered an entirely functional paper keyboard, screen-printed the keys, fashioned metal parts with aluminum and used Lazertran, a waterslide transfer decal to recreate the ruler. Once her bright red gem of a typewriter was complete, she produced a monotone french-folded book to explain and document the entire production process. It has a red thread stitch binding and a flood of solid red tucked inside each folded page. Angood's red replica marvel is a wonderful paper valentine to Sottsass and his jewel of a typewriter. Watch it in motion here.

The original red Olivetti Valentine designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1969. He called his plastic portable typewriter an anti-machine machine. It also includes an exterior storage case which is not displayed here.