The Mimeograph

Where would we be without Thomas Edison? The light bulb, the record player, the movie projector -- just to name three.

Well, here's a fourth: the mimeograph. On August 8, 1876, Edison received a patent for "autographic printing."

Long before photocopiers became ubiquitous, we had a mimeograph that I would monitor as my father struggled to produce the church bulletins every week. The smell of freshly printed paper coming out of the "ditto" machine is a distinct touchstone of my childhood.

Did anyone else have to use one of these machines way back in ye good olde days?