In message <4bc5d08f.10...@comcast.net>, Clay Blackwell
<clayblackw...@comcast.net> writes
I remember those too! The writng was always bluish, and we did "huff"
the fumes!!
But the machine we printed our newsletters on was something more
"modern". It actually had black ink. The drum of the machine had a pad
that was saturated (from within) with a thick ink. The "stencil" was
clipped onto the machine and then the drum was rotated several times to
prime it. After a couple of rotations, the backing paper was peeled
off, and the printing began. It was possible to save a stencil by
re-applying the backing to the stencil before removing it.
I used both types whilst working in a hospital - one was made by, and
known as, a Roneo, and the other which had the stencils was made by and
known as the Gestetner. For the Roneo you typed the text against a
coated paper so that a reverse image was formed (rather like using
carbon paper - remember that?!!) and it was placed onto the roller so
that the spirit (they were also known as "spirit duplicators") dissolved
some of the ?ink, which was transferred onto the papers passed through
the machine to make the copies. I think I've still got a bottle of
stencil correction fluid (orangey-red in colour, with a consistency like
nail varnish) somewhere....
The Gestetner we had was ancient (this was in the late 1970s) and Mom
ended up making me a nylon overall to put on when I had any copying to
do, as it nearly always needed re-inking, and the ink went everywhere!
My first acquaintance with proper photocopiers - again, a spirit based
process onto special paper - came with my next job, with the BBC.
During that time, around 1978/9, I can remember fax machines first being
introduced, and wondering what actual use they could possibly be, as we
already had telex for quick messages and anything that needed a diagram
could be posted! Now even they are "old hat"!
Would you believe that 30 odd years ago, I told my then boyfriend (a
systems analyst) that I had no intention whatsoever of having anything
to do with computers........!!!!!
--
Jane Partridge
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