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Mimeograph Machine

Wooden covered box with roller and ink and paper supplies for copying.

Photo courtesy of US National Museum of American History (259081)

Mimeograph machines allowed teachers to manually produce copies. They created a stencil by pressing a stylus into a fibrous sheet that the ink gel flowed through. The ink was purple pink and held a distinctive aroma. Many former students fondly remember holding the paper close to breathe in the fresh ink.