Duplicator

Use this image

Can I reuse this image without permission? Yes

Object images on the Ingenium Collection’s portal have the following Creative Commons license:

Copyright Ingenium / CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

ATTRIBUTE THIS IMAGE

Ingenium, 1971.0604.001
Permalink:

Ingenium is releasing this image under the Creative Commons licensing framework, and encourages downloading and reuse for non-commercial purposes. Please acknowledge Ingenium and cite the artifact number.

DOWNLOAD IMAGE

PURCHASE THIS IMAGE

This image is free for non-commercial use.

For commercial use, please consult our Reproduction Fees and contact us to purchase the image.

OBJECT TYPE
hectograph
DATE
1918–1923
ARTIFACT NUMBER
1971.0604.001
MANUFACTURER
Ditto Inc.
MODEL
Unknown
LOCATION
Chicago, Illinois, United States of America

More Information


General Information

Serial #
42J59
Part Number
1
Total Parts
1
AKA
N/A
Patents
N/A
General Description
Metal with felt cover on printing stage and wood handle, paper wrapped around rollers - rollers are metal, rubber feet/ sticky substance on paper covering rollers (remains of a gelatine coating?)

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length
55.5 cm
Width
46.5 cm
Height
28.5 cm
Thickness
N/A
Weight
N/A
Diameter
N/A
Volume
N/A

Lexicon

Group
Printing
Category
Duplication
Sub-Category
N/A

Manufacturer

AKA
Ditto
Country
United States of America
State/Province
Illinois
City
Chicago

Context

Country
Unknown
State/Province
Unknown
Period
Unknown
Canada
Taken from acquisition proposal: This hectograph is a direct predecessor of the Ditto spirit duplicator, which became the primary small-scale duplicator brand used in Canada in the mid-twentieth century. Widely used in the United States and Canada, hectographs like this one were common in offices and stores before the commercialization of spirit duplicators. Their primary use was to reproduce handwritten departmental orders and captions for circulation within businesses and offices.
Function
To make multiple copies of a document.
Technical
Taken from acquisition proposal: To perform the duplicating process, the user would first create a master sheet, handwritten with a slow-drying aniline ink. This sheet would be pressed face-down on the duplicator’s flat surface, under the platen roller. As the user passed the roller over the back of the sheet, the gelatinized duplicating band would absorb most of the ink, creating a mirror image. The user could then place multiple sheets of paper into the feeder slot on the platen roller, which would slip through one by one onto the gelatin surface. As the user continued to pass the roller over each sheet of paper, the pressure from the roller would transfer the ink to the surface of the paper, creating a duplicate copy. One master sheet could create fifteen to forty copies. Smaller models, like this one, included only one duplicating band, but larger models could accommodate two duplicating bands (see Patent No. 965,887) to allow a variety of documents to be printed under a single header or caption. While hectographs continued to be used for duplication into the 1970s (and later for the purposes of artistic printmaking), the advent of the cheaper and more efficient spirit duplicator marked the end of Ditto’s commercial hectograph production. Ditto spirit duplicators became so popular, in fact, that the term ‘ditto machine’ soon became public shorthand for all spirit duplicators on the market, regardless of manufacturer. This type example of a Ditto machine, representing the copying process immediately preceding the invention of spirit duplication, grants insight into the influential trademark’s early history. It’s also the sole type example currently in the national collection that represents gelatin-based (hectograph) duplication technology.
Area Notes
Unknown

Details

Markings
Painted on side 'REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. [pair of large quotation marks inside a circle]/ Ditto/ Ditto Incorporated - Chicago/ Patented Aug. 2, 1910 March 5, 1912. Nov. 24, 1914. June 1, 1915. July 16, 1918. PATENTS/ PENDING./ MADE IN U.S.A.'/ Plate marked '42J59'/ Painted 'OIL'.
Missing
N/A
Finish
Body painted green with gold lettering and trim; some unfinished silver coloured working parts; green felt cover on printing stage; black substance rollers.
Decoration
Gold coloured piping around frame.

CITE THIS OBJECT

If you choose to share our information about this collection object, please cite:

Ditto Inc., Duplicator, circa 1918–1923, Artifact no. 1971.0604, Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, http://collection.ingeniumcanada.org/en/id/1971.0604.001/

FEEDBACK

Submit a question or comment about this artifact.

More Like This


...
Press, copy

1988.0570.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1978.0598.001

Object

...
Press, copy

1975.0345.001

Object

...
Cell, selenium

1968.0119.014

Object

...
Press, copy

1969.0624.001

Object

...
Press, copy

1972.0828.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1995.1528.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1980.0524.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1987.0258.001

Object

...
Press, copy

1977.0047.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1987.0257.001

Object

...
Fuse

1992.1497.001

Object

...
Receiver, rad…

2001.0347.001

Object

...
Roller

1999.0164.002

Object

...
Roller, inking

1972.0806.002

Object

...
Roller, inking

1972.0806.003

Object

...
Roller, inking

1972.0806.004

Object

...
Typewriter

2002.0153.001

Object

...
Iron set

1987.0315.001

Object

...
Receiver, rad…

2001.0314.001

Object

...
Roller, inking

1972.0806.005

Object

...
Paper collect…

1977.0632.002

Object

...
Duplicator

1977.0568.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1969.0419.001

Object

No image available.
Roller collec…

1972.0807.002

Object

...
Duplicator

1980.0020.001

Object

...
Vacuum tube

1993.0063.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1980.0493.001

Object

...
Adapter, film…

1982.0279.002

Object

...
Adapter, film…

1982.0262.003

Object

...
Adapter, film…

1982.0262.002

Object

No image available.
Adapter, film…

1982.0263.002

Object

...
Press, copy

1968.0192.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1983.0064.001

Object

...
Organette

1987.0254.001

Object

...
Receptacle, e…

1992.2642.001

Object

...
Camera

1984.0230.001

Object

...
Log book

1997.0027.001

Object

...
Burner

1997.0195.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1986.0779.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1988.1250.001

Object

...
Press, printi…

1981.0030.001

Object

No image available.
Clipping

1990.0492.001

Object

...
Register, form

1999.0164.001

Object

...
Test set, rad…

1970.0135.001

Object

...
Screen, viewi…

1969.0062.001

Object

...
Screen, viewi…

1969.0063.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1976.0446.001

Object

...
Receiver, rad…

1992.1599.001

Object

...
Register, form

1999.0165.001

Object

...
Soldiers line…

16208-29

Archives

...
Camera

1987.0465.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1978.0278.001

Object

...
Sheet, press

2008.1492.001

Object

...
Roller

2002.0349.003

Object

...
Roller

2002.0349.004

Object

...
Roller

2002.0349.005

Object

...
Roller

2002.0349.006

Object

...
Badge, pilot'…

1966.0962.001

Object

...
Decal

2003.0834.001

Object

No image available.
Decal

2003.0834.002

Object

...
Certificate

1991.0877.001

Object

...
Log book

1997.0939.001

Object

...
Press, printi…

1972.0808.001

Object

...
Frame, copy

1987.1234.001

Object

...
Telephone

1974.0577.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1989.0229.001

Object

...
Iron

1987.0313.001

Object

...
Microscope

1993.0178.001

Object

...
Photograph

1986.0243.001

Object

...
Blanket

1999.0360.001

Object

...
Log book

1997.0940.001

Object

...
Box, bell ext…

1975.0192.001

Object

...
Typewriter

2002.0614.001

Object

...
Typewriter

1976.0382.001

Object

...
Industrial pr…

2015.0507.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1995.1527.001

Object

...
Typewriter

1997.0364.001

Object

...
Paper, photog…

1981.1598.001

Object

No image available.
Holder, film

1982.0284.008

Object

No image available.
Holder, film

1982.0284.007

Object

...
Tool set, knu…

2001.0462.001

Object

...
Camera

1987.0464.001

Object

...
Duplicator

1997.0367.001

Object

...
Log book

1997.0937.001

Object

...
Log book

1997.0938.001

Object

No image available.
Log book

1967.1186.001

Object

...
Document

1997.0934.004

Object

...
Standard set,…

1997.0087.001

Object

No image available.
Adapter, film…

1982.0284.005

Object

...
Printer, cont…

1981.1304.001

Object

...
Perforator, t…

1974.0732.001

Object

No image available.
Photograph

1990.0490.004

Object

...
Crest

2004.1660.001

Object

...
Cap, uniform

2001.0182.001

Object

...
Typewriter

2009.0001.001

Object

...
Lamp bulb, in…

1992.2894.001

Object

...
Lamp bulb, in…

1992.2895.001

Object

...
Lamp bulb, in…

1992.2894.002

Object

...
Lamp bulb, in…

1992.2894.003

Object