Wax stencil wrapped on a rotating ink drum—Edison's invention reproduced school worksheets, fanzines, and underground literature for a century.
Type or draw on a wax-coated stencil; ink pushes through wherever the wax was scratched away.
- ▸Wrap the stencil around an inky drum, crank the handle, paper feeds through.
- ▸Cheap and fast — how schools and zines made copies before photocopiers.
- ▸That distinct purple smell is the duplicating fluid.
History
Thomas Edison patented the underlying autographic press in 1876; A.B. Dick licensed and rebranded it as the Mimeograph in 1887. It powered church bulletins, classroom handouts, and dissident publications until photocopiers replaced it in the 1980s.
Process
- 01
Type or draw onto a wax-coated stencil sheet.
- 02
Mount the stencil on the ink drum.
- 03
Crank the drum; ink seeps through the cut wax.
- 04
Paper feeds through to receive the image.
- 05
Recognisable purple ink, sharp typewriter lines.
Strengths
- +No electricity needed
- +Cheap per copy
- +Survives in low-tech contexts
Limitations
- −Smudges easily
- −Limited tonal range
- −Stencils tear
Sources & citations
References for the history and process described above.
- 01Mimeograph — Smithsonian National Museum of American History
- 02A.B. Dick and the Office Duplicator — Encyclopædia Britannica