This episode examines the often-overlooked role of the mimeograph in the intertwined histories of print technology, graphic design, and social change. Emerging in the late nineteenth century through the innovations of Thomas Edison and Albert Blake Dick, the mimeograph offered an accessible, low-cost means of reproducing text and images—long before the advent of xerography or digital printing. Its simplicity and affordability placed the power of print into the hands of schools, churches, offices, and, crucially, grassroots organizations and independent creators. By the mid-twentieth century, mimeograph machines had become vital tools in the production of newsletters, pamphlets, and zines that fueled social movements and cultural revolutions. From the Civil Rights Movement’s underground newspapers to the literary explosion known as the Mimeo Revolution, the mimeograph democratized publishing and redefined the relationship between authorship, design, and distribution. Magazines such as The Floating Bear, Fuck You / A Magazine of the Arts, and The Yardbird Reader illustrate how writers and artists used the technology to challenge mainstream publishing, amplify marginalized voices, and experiment with form and content. Though ultimately replaced by photocopying and digital media, the mimeograph remains a critical link in the evolution of design and the politics of independent print culture.TIMELINE1876 - Thomas Edison patents the electric pen and duplicating press1881 - David Gestetner founds The Gestetner Cyclograph Company1884 - Albert Blake Dick incorporates as a lumber business1887 - The Edison Mimeograph Model 0 hits the market1891 - Samuel O’Reilly patents the first electric tattoo machine1898 - Neostyle Company introduces the first rotary mimeograph1906 - Gestetner opens a manufacturing plant in London1923 - Wilhelm Ritzerfeld invents the spirit duplicator1929 - Gestetner hires Raymond Loewy to redesign the cyclostyle1929-1930 - Yvor Winters publishes Gyroscope, the first mimeographed literary magazine1942 - Chester Carlson patents xerography1945 - WWII ends1955 - US involvement in Viet Nam begins1960 - The first xerox copier becomes commercially available1961 - The Floating Bear #1 is published1961 - Diane Di Prima and LeRoi Jones are arrested on obscenity charges1962 - SDS Port Huron Statement is published1962 - Ed Sanders publishes the first issue of Fuck You / a magazine of the arts1969 - BSU at Oregon State publishes the first Scab Sheet1971 - The Floating Bear publishes its final issue1972 - Yardbird Reader v. 1 is published1975 - Vietnam war ends1976 - The final Yardbird Reader is published1977 - Y-Bird v. 1 is published1980 - Risograph duplicators are released in JapanREFERENCESAlfred, R. (2008, August 8). Aug. 8, 1876: Run This Off on the Mimeo. WIRED. https://www.wired.com/2008/08/dayintech-0808-2/Ashawnta_Jackson. (2024). Exploring the Yardbird Reader. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/exploring-the-yardbird-reader/Clayman, A. (2025, January 9). A. B. Dick Company, est. 1884 - Made-in-Chicago Museum. Made-in-Chicago Museum. https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/ab-dick-company/Digital Collection - service/instruction manuals – Mimeograph Revival. (2024, October 18). Mimeograph Revival. https://www.mimeographrevival.com/manuals/Donley, K. (2014, November 22). stencil duplicator. MULTIMEDIAMAN. https://multimediaman.blog/tag/stencil-duplicator/Edison’s electrical pen and duplicating press. (1871). Mimeograph Revival. https://www.mimeographrevival.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Edison-Electrical-Pen-and-Duplicating-Press.1876-Expo.pdfEinträge Archiv | Exploriso: Low-tech fine Art. (n.d.). Exploriso: Low-tech Fine Art. https://en.exploriso.info/exploriso/Floating Bear Archive. (2006, October 3). Reality Studio. https://realitystudio.org/bibliographic-bunker/floating-bear-archive/Gestetner Cyclostyle Office Duplication Machine Design by Raymond Loewy | Hagley. (n.d.). https://www.hagley.org/librarynews/gestetner-cyclostyle-office-duplication-machine-design-raymond-loewyHawley, H. (2006). Revaluing mimeographs as historical sources. RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage. https://rbm.acrl.org/index.php/rbm/article/viewFile/414/414Helland, M. (2024, February 24). THE HISTORY OF THE MIMEOGRAPH — International Printing Museum. International Printing Museum. https://www.printmuseum.org/blog-3/history-of-the-mimeographHome | From a secret location. (2020, July 21). From a Secret Location. https://fromasecretlocation.com/Independent Voices. (n.d.). JSTOR.org. https://www.jstor.org/site/reveal-digital/independent-voices/?so=item_title_str_asc&searchkey=1760415107268Mimeograph machines. (n.d.). https://museumofprinting.org/blog/mimeograph-machines/Our Own Devices. (2024, January 9). Gestetner Cyclostyle: the Original Office Copy Machine [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdBSYUbaAZgRiordan, E. (2021, July 23). Spirit Duplicators: Early 20th century copier art, fanzines, and the Mimeograph Revolution – News & announcements. https://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/speccoll/2021/07/23/spirit-duplicators-early-20th-century-copier-art-fanzines-and-the-mimeograph-revolution/Rubin, L. (2021, March 6). Women of the Mimeo Revolution: Diane DiPrima & Anne Waldman - Village Preservation. Village Preservation - Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. https://www.villagepreservation.org/2021/03/05/women-of-the-mimeo-revolution-diane-diprima-anne-waldman/Smith, E. (2022, May 20). How Mimeographs Transformed Information Sharing in Schools. Technology Solutions That Drive Education. https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2020/09/how-mimeographs-transformed-information-sharing-schoolsThe Mimeograph Revolution | verdant press. (n.d.). https://verdantpress.com/checklist/3110-2/Waugh, K. (n.d.). The Mimeo Revolution. Poet’s House. https://digitalcollections.poetshouse.org/digital-collection/chapbook-collection/mimeo-revolutionWeber, G. (2021, May 3). How an obsolete copy machine started a revolution. Adventure. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/mimeo-mimeograph-revolution-literature-beat-poetry-activismYankelevich, M. (2020, February 3). “Power to the people’s mimeo machines!” or the politicization of small press aesthetics. Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/featured-blogger/83551/power-to-the-peoples-mimeo-machines-or-the-politicization-of-small-press-aesthetics

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