[GreenKeys] TTY Ribbons

[Bruce Gentry]

Randy and Sherry Guttery wrote:
> On 8/10/2011 5:46 AM, Bruce Gentry wrote:
>> Does anyone remember the
>> Addressograph-Multigraph office offset machines? They were small
>> offset printing presses intended for single color small production
>> printing in schools, hotels, stores,  and factories.
> I kind of think you may be talking about a spirit duplicator - which 
> indeed most commonly produced a purple print.  The process used a 
> two-sheet "master" - which was either typed on or (if one pressed hard 
> enough) - could be hand-written. The "face" of the bottom sheet 
> contained a wax coating which contained an aniline purple dye. As the 
> "image" was impressed on the top sheet (by typing or other means) the 
> wax would transfer to the back forming a reverse image containing the 
> purple dye.  Once the master was completed - it was mounted face-down 
> (wax side out) on a drum of a duplicating machine (often miss-named 
> mimeograph - which was actually a different process). The drum was 
> rotated (either by hand or in some units - an electric motor) which 
> rotated the master past a wick to "wipe" the dye containing wax with 
> just enough alcohol to dissolve it a bit - and then to press against 
> another piece of paper transferring the image. We still have such a 
> duplicator we bought new for our church in 1972 - which they quit 
> using in the late 80s or early 90s - and we put into storage. The main 
> thing most people remember about spirit duplicators - like many of us 
> think about teletypes - is the smell... the type of alcohol they use 
> has a most distinctive smell that stayed with the "copies" for quite 
> some time...
>
No, I wasn't talking about a spirt duplicator. I'm very famailiar with 
those and the fragrence.  In the high school Audio-Visual service, we 
sometimes got drafted to crank out copies. There were 4 of the machines 
in a very cramped  room. With four people in there cranking away, the 
air certainly had spirit, and we weren't complaining either!  Another 
thing, the image is backward on a spirit master. For offset printing, 
the blanket roller reverses it, so the master is the same orientaion as 
the copy. 



  Bruce Gentry