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.
Read more about this topic: Spirit Duplicator
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.”
—Aristide Briand (1862–1932)
“Tell me of the height of the mountains of the moon, or of the diameter of space, and I may believe you, but of the secret history of the Almighty, and I shall pronounce thee mad.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It’s a very delicate surgical operation—to cut out the heart without killing the patient. The history of our country, however, is a very tough old patient, and we’ll do the best we can.”
—Dudley Nichols, U.S. screenwriter. Jean Renoir. Sorel (Philip Merivale)