History
The spirit duplicator was invented in 1923 by Wilhelm Ritzerfeld. The best-known manufacturer in the US and the world was Ditto Corporation of Illinois, while copiers available in the UK were commonly manufactured by the Block & Anderson company, under their "Banda" brand. In both cases the trademark became a generic name for both the copiers and the process in their respective markets.
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.
Spirit duplicator technology gradually fell into disuse starting in the 1970s after the availability of low-cost, high-volume xerographic copiers. By the turn of the 21st century, the use of the technology was rare. The technology remains useful where electrical power is unavailable, or where the only remaining originals of legacy documents requiring duplication are in "spirit master" form.
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