[GreenKeys] WV newspaper tape operation photos

[dmm at lemur.com]

Jim Haynes asks:
>Was Addressograph the same company that made the Multigraph? 

They began as separate companies, but merged in to the
Addressograph-Multigraph Corp. in about 1930 (I'd have to do
a little research to get the exact date; by 1933 there is
A-M literatue).  By the time it went bankrupt in the very
early 1980s it was "AM International."

The combination of the two systems fit perfectly with the
emerging direct-mail marketing approach.  One of the configurations
of the Multigraph allowed it to print through a ribbon (vs.
inking the type directly - just as Jim mentions).  So you maintained 
your mailing list on Addressograph plates.  You could sort it mechanically 
to choose a market segment.  You had a special Addressograph plate made with
your signature on it.  You could then send out mass-mailed letters
which looked (at first glance, at least), as if they were 
individually typewritten.  Or at least that's what A-M sales
literature in the 1930s would have you believe.

Regards,
David M.
===
Dr. David M. MacMillan  -  dmm at lemur.com

   The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts.
       - Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915); Aldo Leopold

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