A.B. Dick Duplicating Machine
Sep 3, 2021 12:08:20 #
I suppose that I was either a junior or senior in college when I took this one-hour course in how to operate an A.B. Dick Duplicating Machine. It has been too long ago now for me to recall my reasoning, other than it looked like an easy hour credit.
I do remember that the instructor had emphasized that any class member who was using the machine and allowed it to dump ink all over would fail the course. You see the machine had a drum which the operator affixed a sheet or template on to and this drum was filled with heavy, viscus ink and had a cap which had to be securely fastened, or ink would be dumped all over the machine and require perhaps an hour or so of unnecessary labor to clean and restore.
To print something, one had to first type on a special sheet the text or whatever details you wanted to duplicate. This special sheet was then clamped to the duplicating drum which held the ink. Then with a crank, the drum turned and printed sheet by sheet and duplicated as many copies as the operator needed.
This was a marked improvement from the plate of jell substance that I remember teachers had to use when I was in the first grade, making poor purple copies one at a time, which was almost back in the ‘stone age’.
Well, near the end of the course in use of the A.B. Dick Duplicating machine, the instructor assigned teams to a more extensive project whereby we were to go through an involved project of creating a printed example of our work using the machine. I was teamed up another classmate, whom we will call “Judy” for simplicity. She was quite a looker and had unbelievably large breasts and had a habit of wearing tight sweaters.
This may have been what distracted me, and I can assure you it would have any red-blooded young college male. Anyway, we were required to demonstrate to the instructor step by step that we knew how to create a document, affix it to the machine and create satisfactory duplicates. Well, somewhere along the line and I am positive it was mostly my fault, we forgot to return the cap to the ink drum and therefore spilled ink all over the bottom of the machine.
Well, it took a ton of paper towels, and my cutting my next class, but we got that machine cleaned up, even better than it had been before the accident. I attribute the accident to my paying more attention to Judy and her charms than I had to the A.B. Dick Duplicating Machine. The instructor, since we voluntarily made amends by a complete cleaning of the machine, never said a word and gave me an ‘A’ for my final grade! Just Sayin…RJS
I do remember that the instructor had emphasized that any class member who was using the machine and allowed it to dump ink all over would fail the course. You see the machine had a drum which the operator affixed a sheet or template on to and this drum was filled with heavy, viscus ink and had a cap which had to be securely fastened, or ink would be dumped all over the machine and require perhaps an hour or so of unnecessary labor to clean and restore.
To print something, one had to first type on a special sheet the text or whatever details you wanted to duplicate. This special sheet was then clamped to the duplicating drum which held the ink. Then with a crank, the drum turned and printed sheet by sheet and duplicated as many copies as the operator needed.
This was a marked improvement from the plate of jell substance that I remember teachers had to use when I was in the first grade, making poor purple copies one at a time, which was almost back in the ‘stone age’.
Well, near the end of the course in use of the A.B. Dick Duplicating machine, the instructor assigned teams to a more extensive project whereby we were to go through an involved project of creating a printed example of our work using the machine. I was teamed up another classmate, whom we will call “Judy” for simplicity. She was quite a looker and had unbelievably large breasts and had a habit of wearing tight sweaters.
This may have been what distracted me, and I can assure you it would have any red-blooded young college male. Anyway, we were required to demonstrate to the instructor step by step that we knew how to create a document, affix it to the machine and create satisfactory duplicates. Well, somewhere along the line and I am positive it was mostly my fault, we forgot to return the cap to the ink drum and therefore spilled ink all over the bottom of the machine.
Well, it took a ton of paper towels, and my cutting my next class, but we got that machine cleaned up, even better than it had been before the accident. I attribute the accident to my paying more attention to Judy and her charms than I had to the A.B. Dick Duplicating Machine. The instructor, since we voluntarily made amends by a complete cleaning of the machine, never said a word and gave me an ‘A’ for my final grade! Just Sayin…RJS
Sep 3, 2021 13:35:59 #
Damn RJ..I'll bet when you decided to take that course you thought you were going to get yourself A. B.igger Manhood!!
Sep 3, 2021 13:54:35 #
Sep 3, 2021 15:50:18 #
FixorFish
Loc: SW Oregon
Ran one of those machines in my Dad's church office, printing the weekly bulletin, handed out by the ushers as you entered the sanctuary each Sunday.
Was quite curious at age 6, allowed to run the crank by age 7, and setting the original, filling the ink, ,loading the bulletin blanks (Dad bought "appropriate for the season/Christian holiday, etc" covers from Cokesbury, the Methodist publishing company) and cranking out 300+ for each Sunday, by age 8. None of my siblings had any interest in doing the task.... until they found out that Dad was paying me out of his office budget and I was making 5 times more each week than my normal allowance of 25¢. In 1961, an 8yr old making $1.25+25¢ allowance per week, made me the richest kid in my 3rd grade, by a long shot ! I had a great collection of Duncan yo-yos and Revell plastic model cars and was able to get my older brother to help me start my love affair with Estes rockets....all due to taking on a stinky, boring(to some... not me !) task. Even Dad's secretary was grateful and would often bring treats on Friday afternoon, when I was printing that weeks bulletins.
Not sure if I was 14 or 15, when I finally ended my "employment" with the church office, but by then, I was the "church groundskeeper", mowing the lawn, trimming the bushes and sweeping up rice from a Saturday wedding, so the parishioners wouldn't slip on the steps come Sunday morning.....$10/week for that same 2-3 hours the bulletins took !
Aaaah... thanks for the memory jog RJS..... hadn't thought about that stuff in forever..... but to this day, I could certainly identify the smell of that mimeograph ink in an instant !
Was quite curious at age 6, allowed to run the crank by age 7, and setting the original, filling the ink, ,loading the bulletin blanks (Dad bought "appropriate for the season/Christian holiday, etc" covers from Cokesbury, the Methodist publishing company) and cranking out 300+ for each Sunday, by age 8. None of my siblings had any interest in doing the task.... until they found out that Dad was paying me out of his office budget and I was making 5 times more each week than my normal allowance of 25¢. In 1961, an 8yr old making $1.25+25¢ allowance per week, made me the richest kid in my 3rd grade, by a long shot ! I had a great collection of Duncan yo-yos and Revell plastic model cars and was able to get my older brother to help me start my love affair with Estes rockets....all due to taking on a stinky, boring(to some... not me !) task. Even Dad's secretary was grateful and would often bring treats on Friday afternoon, when I was printing that weeks bulletins.
Not sure if I was 14 or 15, when I finally ended my "employment" with the church office, but by then, I was the "church groundskeeper", mowing the lawn, trimming the bushes and sweeping up rice from a Saturday wedding, so the parishioners wouldn't slip on the steps come Sunday morning.....$10/week for that same 2-3 hours the bulletins took !
Aaaah... thanks for the memory jog RJS..... hadn't thought about that stuff in forever..... but to this day, I could certainly identify the smell of that mimeograph ink in an instant !
Sep 3, 2021 16:06:49 #
FixorFish: Thanks for your comments. Yes, A.B. Dick Duplicating machines wound up being almost everywhere, most of the churches I attended over the years had them as you mentioned to print their church bulletins. It was a device the right size and preformed the job needed. Just Sayin...RJS
Sep 4, 2021 14:42:19 #
We called those gelled, purple copies 'dittos' here in NJ. Mothers weren't too pleased when we wiped our hands on our shirts imparting an indelible purple stain.
Sep 4, 2021 15:44:51 #
USAF Major: Yes, Now I do remember since you have jogged it, that 'ditto' was the name for this process. In 1941 when I began first grade it was almost like magic! Fairly poor reproduction, but better than nothing. Just Sayin...RJS
Sep 4, 2021 15:58:23 #
Justoldjim
Loc: JUNCTION CITY, OR.
Robert J Samples wrote:
USAF Major: Yes, Now I do remember since you have jogged it, that 'ditto' was the name for this process. In 1941 when I began first grade it was almost like magic! Fairly poor reproduction, but better than nothing. Just Sayin...RJS
Sorry guys but ditto with purple color was not the same process as duplicators using ink
Sep 4, 2021 15:59:53 #
Yes, i understand and thought that what i was responding to. The metal tray with the jell substance that produced a purple reproduction of one page at a time, and all by hand. Just Sayin...RJS
Sep 4, 2021 16:38:28 #
Xerox Corporation once sold for less than a buck a share in 1938. If only my parents..................
though it had a different name then.
though it had a different name then.
Sep 4, 2021 17:48:16 #
Major: Yes, If only......! I have on my den wall a framed copy of the first issue of the Wall Street Journal. Years ago we were back in my home town and visiting a small antique shop and I saw this copy and paid $15 for it. It cost more getting it properly shadow boxed, but worth it.
Remember that an IBM exec predicted there would only be a need for 3 or 4 computers in the whole world! I paid over $5,000 for my first 386 IBM with a color monitor and printer. Just Sayin...RJS
Remember that an IBM exec predicted there would only be a need for 3 or 4 computers in the whole world! I paid over $5,000 for my first 386 IBM with a color monitor and printer. Just Sayin...RJS
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.