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A spirit duplicator (also referred to as a Ditto machine or Banda machine) was a low-volume printing method used mainly by schools and churches.
The term "spirit duplicator" comes from the antique term for alcohols, which is "spirits." Alcohols were a major component of the solvents used as "inks" in these machines.
The spirit duplicator was invented in 1923 by Wilhelm Ritzerfeld. The best-known manufacturer in the United States was Ditto Corporation of Illinois, hence that name. Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Mechanism of use The duplicator used two-ply "spirit masters" or "ditto masters". The first sheet could be typed, drawn, or written upon. The second sheet was coated with a layer of wax that had been impregnated with one of a variety of colorants. The pressure of writing or typing on the top sheet transferred colored wax to its back side, producing a mirror image of the desired marks. (This acted like a reverse of carbon paper.) The two sheets were then separated, and the first sheet was fastened onto the drum of the (manual or electrical) machine, with the waxed side out. A sheet of carbon paper, coating side down. ...
There is no ink used in spirit duplication. As the paper moved through the printer, the solvent would be spread across each sheet by an absorbent wick. When the solvent-impregnated paper came into contact with the waxed original, it would dissolve just enough of the pigmented wax to print the image onto the sheet as it went under the printing drum.
Colours The usual wax color was aniline purple, a cheap, durable pigment that provided good contrast, but ditto masters were also manufactured in red, green, blue, black, and the hard-to-find orange, yellow, and brown. All except black reproduced in pastel shades: pink, mint, sky blue, etc. Ditto had the useful ability to print multiple colors in a single pass, which made it popular with cartoonists. Multi-colored designs could be made by swapping out the waxed second sheets; for instance, shading in only the red portion of an illustration while the top sheet was positioned over a red-waxed second sheet. This was possible because the pungent-smelling duplicating fluid (typically a 50/50 mix of isopropanol and methanol) was not ink, but a clear solvent. Mauveine, also known as aniline purple, was the first synthetic organic dye. ...
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 625–750 nm. ...
Mossy, green fountain in Wattens, Austria. ...
YOU SUCK!!!!! ...
Black cat, thought by some to cause bad luck (see superstition) Black is the shade of objects that do not reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum. ...
The orange, a fruit from which the modern name of the orange colour comes. ...
A yellow Tulip. ...
Brown, when used as a general term, is a color which is a dark orange, red or rose, of very low intensity. ...
The use of the word pink as a color first occurred in the 17th century to describe the light red flowers of pinks, flowering plants in the genus Dianthus. ...
MiNT (MiNT is Now TOS) is an alternative operating system (OS) kernel for the Atari ST computer and its successors which is free software. ...
Wonderful Days is a Korean animated science fiction film, released in 2003. ...
Isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol is a common name for 2-propanol, an alcohol commonly used for application to the skin, and popularly referred to as rubbing alcohol. ...
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, carbinol, wood alcohol, wood naptha or wood spirits, is a chemical compound with chemical formula CH3OH. It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colourless, flammable, poisonous liquid with a distinctive odor that is somewhat milder and sweeter than ethanol (ethyl alcohol). ...
Paper This process worked best with cheap, lightweight paper stocks, but when the sheets of paper were impregnated with the solvent they could easily crease or crumple, jamming the machine. One well-made ditto master could at most print about 500 copies before the pigment was exhausted and the print quality became unreadably faint. If fewer copies were required, the master could be removed from the printing drum and saved for future use.
Thermofax The thermofax machine was introduced by 3M in the late 1960s and could make a spirit master from an ordinary typewritten or handwritten sheet. The resulting print quality was very poor but the machines were popular because of their convenience. Thermo-Fax (very often Thermofax[1]) is 3Ms trademarked name for a photocopying technology which it introduced in 1950. ...
3M Company (NYSE: MMM), formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company until 2002, is an American corporation with a worldwide presence. ...
The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...
Toxic substances Both the isopropanol and the methanol found in ditto solvents are highly toxic substances. These chemicals can cause a host of medical problems when humans are improperly exposed. Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) guidelines recommend the use of personal protective equipment during exposure to methanol, however, most chemists work with methanol and isopropanol wearing only medical exam grade gloves, goggles and a working fume hood. Isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol is a common name for 2-propanol, an alcohol commonly used for application to the skin, and popularly referred to as rubbing alcohol. ...
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, carbinol, wood alcohol, wood naptha or wood spirits, is a chemical compound with chemical formula CH3OH. It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colourless, flammable, poisonous liquid with a distinctive odor that is somewhat milder and sweeter than ethanol (ethyl alcohol). ...
An example MSDS in a US format provides guidance for handling a hazardous substance and information on its composition and properties. ...
A common modern fume hood. ...
Smell Despite their toxicity, the aroma of pages fresh off the Ditto machine was a memorable feature of school life for those who attended in the ditto machine era. A pop culture reference to this is to be found in the film Fast Times At Ridgemont High. At one point a teacher hands out a dittoed exam paper and every student in the class immediately lifts it to his or her nose and inhales. Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ...
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen-comedy film written by Cameron Crowe (adapted from a book he wrote) and directed by Amy Heckerling. ...
Decline in use Spirit duplicator technology fell into disuse with the availability of low-cost, high-volume xerographic copiers starting in the 1970s. Few spirit duplicators remained in use by 1985[citation needed], although they remained popular through the early 1990s in applications such as events where no electrical power was available. The technology was also used until then by science fiction fandom for the production of fanzines, particularly for amateur press associations. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ...
For the band, see 1990s (band). ...
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is the community of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy literature, and in contact with one another based upon that interest. ...
A fanzine (also called a zine) is an amateur publication created by fans of a particular cultural phenomena (such as a literary genre or type of music) to address or correspond with others who share their interest. ...
An Amateur Press Association or APA is a group of people who produce individual pages or magazines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group. ...
See also Duplicating machines were the predecessors of modern document-reproduction technology. ...
This is a partial list of duplicating processes used in business and government from the Industrial Revolution forward. ...
References - The Dead Media Project
- M P Doss, Information Processing Equipment (New York, 1955)
- Irvin A. Herrmann, Manual of Office Reproduction (New York, 1956)
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