The Office Copier Turns 57!

Has anyone ever seen or used the Xerox 914, the grand daddy of all copiers?

About the size and weight of a Volkswagon and came standard with a fire extinguisher.

quote:

Originally posted by SalesServiceGuy:
Has anyone ever seen or used the Xerox 914, the grand daddy of all copiers?

I sold for Xerox in NYC in the mid to late 70's. I handled Govt Accounts out of the NY Downtown Branch. The NY Public Library was a good customer. When I handled them as late as 1978 they had a 914 that was originally installed in 1960 . not only was it still being used daily , it was in pristine condition being taken care of by the same person who was its first and only "key operator". It was spotless and made perfect copies. The reason it remained - it was the only machine at that time that could handle the then used perforated 110 1b cardstock that created the copies of the Library Card file system. It may still be there ..or maybe it was the one used on Mad Men since it was identical and was installed on the corner of 5 Fifth Ave and 42nd St where the Library has its main branch....not from from "Madison Ave"....a great memory

In 1969 in VietNam there was a 914 installed at our Regimental HQ (Force Logistic Command - Camp Books USMC) that was used, very sparingly, for letterhead reproduction. I wonder what the response time was? I still have a 914 Price List somewhere in my files. My first stateside experience as a Xerox sales type was trying to convert a 914 Rental into an OTP (Option-to-Purchase) - I laid my briefcase on the print shops "counter" and asked to run a sample on their unit. After getting permission I couldn't  find it in the shop - I had laid my briefcase down on it though  in my defense I was facing the back. Xerox' CopyFlo predates the 914 though it was used for offset masters mainly. Wow, I'm "too long in the tooth".

I was stunned to read:

"The 914 was the Xerox copier that came with a fire extinguisher. On the market in 1959. I had a territory of 110 of these"

SSG:

How long have you been in the business??

If you havent read the book yet, I highly recommend it. David Owen, author "Copies in Seconds: Chester Carlson and the Birth of the Xerox Machine."
Its a great read.

15 years...another 15 to go!

Keep on truckin' ssg, I got 41 to date

In a General Dynamics Plant in Central Fl, 1965. It was in a huge caged area so the unwashed masses could only admire it from afar.

I remember this as one of the first copiers i repaired many years ago, along with ZnO and premix copiers. Those were the days!

What is a ZnO? What is a premix copier? Intersting 3M Ad and YouTube comment

To be honest, I don't know the English word for them. What I call a ZnO copier was a machine that used a roll of zink oxide treated paper; this paper had characteristics like a selenium drum, sort of.
The copiers using what I call Premix was fx Saxon, instead of metal as carrier it used a fluid (dispersant) and a toner (liquid pigment) It copied on plain paper. The fumes were nice…

I hope you get the picture - it's kind of late here!

edit: i found this Saxon PPC1
and this ZnO copier (more recent)Develop 10

We called them "coated paper/liquid toner"

I remember them being called "estat" copiers

Yep, me too.

just did a google on "estat copy machine" and nothing!! The next generation will think it never existed if it wasn't on google or wikipedia.

Maybe it was all just a bad dream!

lol

I thought estat was short for "electrostatic" You will get hits when you google that but I don't think it is what you were after. I remember replacing "Dual Spectrum" machines which is what we called the 3M 209. they required two rolls of paper, one was pink and the other treated similar to the treated paper machines that followed such as the 3M VQC

You're right OG. it is short for electrostatic. That was the process as it differed from the dual spectrum and we couldn't say Xerox, even tho it had by that time become generic for copier. And hey, that's what happened to mayonaise and linoleum.

The first Copier that I was trained to repair (in Manhattan) was the 3M Alpha Secretary II. It came with a pair of wooden tongs, and you had to have an empty metal waste basket next to it so when the paper caught fire if it jamed under the toaster unit, you used the wooden tongs to transfer it to the solid metal waste basket where it could burn out "safely". Definitely a pre OSHA device, and these were sold into offices all over NYC.

Vince:

I remember seeing a few of these in the field and also remember burning my dam fingers! I learned on the Minolta 101's and had to repair some of these in the field what a job hey were, especially if you had to restring the guide wires (it was more like 25lb test fishing line).