What the heck is a mimeograph machine?
The mimeo machine (mimeograph) used heavy waxed-paper "stencils" that the typewriter cut through. The stencil was wrapped around the drum of the (manual or electrical) machine, which forced ink out through the cut marks on the stencil. The paper had a surface texture (like bond paper), and the ink was black and odourless. A person could use special knives to cut stencils by hand, but handwriting was impractical, because any loop would cut a hole and thus print a black blob. If the user put the stencil on the drum wrong-side-out, the copies came out mirror-images.
The ditto machine (spirit duplicator) used two-ply "spirit masters" or "ditto masters". The first sheet could be typed, drawn, or written upon. The second sheet was coated with a layer of colored wax. The pressure of writing or typing on the top sheet transferred colored wax to its back side, producing a mirror image of the desired marks. (This acted like a reverse of carbon paper.) The two sheets were then separated, and the first sheet was fastened onto the drum of the (manual or electrical) machine, with the waxed side out.
What is being refered to on this thread is acually a "Ditto" machine. The ink on the paper after it copies has a smell(analine) to kids ands adult alike, something akin to walking into an opium den, or the way Wimpy acts walking by a humberger stand. We called them mimeographs or ditto machines.
From Wikiepdia......Analine....It causes headache, drowsiness, cyanosis, and mental confusion, and, in severe cases, can cause convulsions. Prolonged exposure to the vapour or slight skin exposure over a period of time affects the nervous system and the blood, causing tiredness, loss of appetite, headache, and dizziness.
Ahhhhh....the good old days.
In a short answer it was a copying machine from "the old days". We called those old Mopars with push button transmissions....typewriter drive. My Old Man would just get a running start in the old Bonneville and jump the hills in the city, then Steve McQueen caught on (been there, done that long before the movie). I learned it well and can say that Shovelheads, Delta 88s and Challengers do fly. My Aunt did have her arm broke in my Uncle's Caddy power window when I was a little kid growing up in the East Bay..
