I retired after over 55 years in the industry and was wondering if anyone has a desire to take a walk down memory lane and talk about some antiquities that some of us old timers used to sell or fix.
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I spent half an hour typing a lengthly post, only to have it returned because the site doesn't allow direct replies via email. OK, so I'll try to remember what I wrote.
I startend with the RBC I, II and III. The RBC II was the 20 CPM behemoth that was a technical challenge to most dealers. Royal had the best equipment at the time and the RBC II was replete with technical problems. Switches and relays made for a lot of service calls. I'm proud to say that I was able to master that beast and made a lot of money fixing machines other dealers were struggling with. I came up with a reed and tendem switch mod that made the machine work.
I became a Mita dealer in '81 with the introduction of the DC-131, a lower cost version of the hottest box in the industry at the time, the Royfax 115. A grand less and all the features with the exception of 11 X 17 capacity. Mite followed up with the DC-161 a tank of a machine that hardy ever broke down. Most of them would go from PM to PM with no problems. Mita followed up with a series that went from the original brown cover to a white cover scheme. The DC-211, 213RE which had reduction and enlargement, a hot item in that time. I kept the dealership until '86 when I sold it to move to Hawaii and open up as a Panasonic dealer. I had the exclusive franchise for all of Hawaii and thought I had the world by the tail. Then the recession hit and I was forced to close up shop and return to Arizona. Not my finest hour.
I'd be happy to "talk story" (a Hawaiian idiom) with anyone interested in sharing their experiences from the "golden age of copiers."
Aloha,
Bill Monroe
Great stuff @Bill Monroe. I have some of those older Mita brochures posted on this site. Still looking to find some of those older Royfax brochures. Would love to have a chat one day
Hi- I'd love to see them. I'm not sure of how to navigate this site but I've found a few in the forums. Someone posted that they would love to rebuild one of the old esatats. Depending on the geography, I'd be willing to help. I hope to keep this thread going. Getting a kick out of the nostalgia. Not many I know have been in the business way back when. Most are newbies. I don't know if it's permissible but my email address is honu4601@gmail.com. Hope that they don't edit it out of this post.
Aloha