Portable Copying Presses Early Office Museum

Early Office Museum

Portable Copying Presses

Plate 10 shows an 1881 advertisement for an Atmospheric Letter Copying Press. The copying book was inserted into a slot on the side of a narrow wooden case. Pressure was then applied to the book by manual inflation of a flat balloon inside the case. Plate 10AA shows an 1889 advertisement for the Jewel Copying Press, which was similar in concept, but pressure was applied by moving a lever.

At the 1885 Novelties Exhibition in Philadelphia, Alvah Bushnell exhibited his Perfect Letter Copying Book, which did not use a press. Plate 10A shows an 1895 advertisement for Bushnell's Perfect Letter Copying Books. A letter to be copied was placed in the flexible book, which was then rolled up around a wooden rod attached to its spine. "The principle of copying is the same as with a copying press. The covers of our books are flexible, and sufficient pressure is easily given by rolling them up in the hands." "Two thin, tough manila sheets of paper are supplied with each book, to take the place of the stiff oil sheet used with the copying press, and one piece of thin muslin the same size as the leaves of the book is furnished, which, when properly dampened, is used to moisten the leaf when making the copy." In the 1890s, Bushnell's device was $1.00 to $1.60, depending on size. The device as still advertised in 1908. At the same 1885 exhibition, Sagar Chadwick exhibited the Chadwick Copying Book. He claimed that with it one "copies written matter made with ordinary ink by simply laying such matter on a page of the book and rubbing with the hand, dispensing with the use of a press, brush, and bowl." Unlike Bushnell's book, we have found no subsequent mention of Chadwick's.

Plate 10B shows a portable Cylindrical Copying Press and cabinet that were marketed by the Portable Copying Press and Stationery Co. in 1888-89. To use the press, one placed a sheet of damp copying paper against an original letter and rolled these around a cylinder. One then inserted this cylinder inside a cylindrical press and applied pressure by turning crank.

Another type of portable copying press is shown in Plate 10C, which is from a c. 1920s advertisement in Germany.

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