I am old - Mimeograph copies!

[cybrkitn]

Dittos and Mimeographs are different. The ditto machine uses a very smelly liquid and soaks the paper with it so the "ink" on the master ditto will come off onto the paper as it goes through the machine. These were purple in most cases. The Mimeograph machine used a stencil. The stencil was a special film substance which a person typed on. When typed on the areas where the keys hit were cut through so that when the stencil was run through the machine the ink in the machine would come through the stencil and print on the paper. In other words, the mimeograph did use ink, the ditto did not. I don't think that people realized in those days how dangerous liquids like ditto fluid were to people. I had a ditto machine which I kept in my bedroom in the 60's and developed high blood pressure and dizzy spells. I believe that the ditto fluid was a great contributor to the problem.

Ahhhh. Ok now I see the difference.

DH and I were surprised to see the ditto machine in our church before DS went to school there. The school, I guess still uses it. I think our DS4 came home one day with a ditto sheet and boy was I surprised to see it!

 

[Philagoofy]

Thanks Barb, glad someone else remembered it. So many times on dark rainy afternoons that pops into my head.

How about the "squeak" of chalk on the blackboard??? Also, "eating" a little bit of paste?

I used to entertain myself by putting glue on my fingers, let it dry then peel it off. Didn't take much to amuse me! (I still do it once in a while when using glue.)

 

[Anne34]

Ah yes, I remember those.

The teacher would come in with a fresh stack of copies and when she passed them out, the first thing we'd all do is press them to our faces and inhale.

We did the same thing!!! I can still remember how that smelled. You can definately tell who went to school in the 70's!!