Kids now-a-days don’t even know what they’re missing with their fancy Xerox and digital copy machines, but students of a bygone era can recall the bluish-purple print and unforgettable aroma of a freshly printed page was a hallmark of school life the Ditto machine era. (Perhaps "Ditto" wasn’t the name your school used; some called it a "spirit duplicator.")
The process never involved ink, and involved elusive ‘master copies’ that the teacher would keep filed away, far away from the reaching hands of students. The master would be typed on, drawn on, or written upon, and the second sheet was coated with a layer of wax that was impregnated with one of a variety of colors, usually a deep purple since the pigment was cheap, durable and had contrast with the paper. As the paper moved through the printer, the pungent-smelling clear solvent was spread across each sheet by an absorbent wick. When the paper came in contact with the waxed original, it would take just enough of the pigment away to print the image on the sheet as it passed under.
The ritual of sniffing the paper after it was handed out was practice carried out in classrooms from coast-to-coast, prompting a reference in 80s movie classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High. As it turns out now, the ditto solvents and the aniline (the pigment that made the purple color) are highly toxic. Of course, kids today don’t have to worry about good ol’ ditto paper. After the quick efficiency of Xerox hit copy rooms and secretaries’ offices everywhere, the smelly ditto machines were shown the door, leaving behind memories for the kids of yesteryear.
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