The History of Photocopiers in North Carolina

In North Carolina, the first printing press is attributed to James Davis for bringing the first modern photocopying machine to the state in New Bern in 1749.

However, it was the Xerox 914 copying machine that initiated global copier manufacturing in 1960. As I work with clients, I frequently remind them that the modern method of “whole-office” productivity began with that pioneering 648-pound machine, and it fundamentally altered the manner in which we convey information.

Table of Contents:

• The Explosion of Information: The Xerox 914
• How Raleigh Built its Tech Backbone
• Why History Matters for Your Modern Office
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Resources

The Explosion of Information: The Xerox 914

Prior to the 1960s, making copies involved a complicated process using carbon paper or mimeographs to produce unacceptable-quality copies. The Xerox 914, which was the first office machine capable of producing permanent copies on plain sheets of paper, was introduced in 1960. That meant most people did not have to waste time attempting to make poor-quality copies. 

• A “Huge Change”: Before this machine, Americans made about 20 million copies a year. By 1966, that number exploded to 14 billion. 
• Transforming Workflows: Prior to the introduction of a photocopying machine, original documents would take a long time to circulate from company to company using a “routing slip”. After being introduced to 914 employees, copying information became instantaneous. 
• The “Illicit Thrill”: For the first time office life became interactive and workers started copying everything from personal recipes to fake memos.

How North Carolina Built its Tech Backbone

The Research Triangle became known as an area in which high-tech companies could be found throughout the 1970s, while the rest of the world experienced the revolution of xerography (the photocopying of documents) to create a new way to publish information. 

1. The 1970s Infancy: The copy centre industry had just begun to experience growth at this time in 1979, as there were many new “copy centre” businesses in the Raleigh area beginning to offer convenient copies to people who just began to understand the true benefit of having access to reproductions of any document in as little time as possible.
2. The 1980s Boom: Research Triangle Park (RTP) attracted an increasing number of multinational corporations, such as IBM. The need for associated businesses increased rapidly. As a result, local businesses began to open as dealerships in the mid-1980s in order to transition from a “just sell” model to one that helps address the technical difficulties encountered by businesses located in Raleigh. 
3. The Transition to Digital: 1990 to 2000 was a decade that changed printing from basic analog processes to mega-speed digital methods. Digital printing provided the one man/woman print shops in Raleigh with the means to create high-quality prints using state-of-the-art graphical and software technology.

Why History Matters for Your Modern Office

After being involved in this profession for three (3) decades, it is my opinion that innovation does not erase the past. Instead, it is built on top of it. The evolution from using carbon copy paper to using a multifunction printer (MFP) was initiated by the need for a more rapid, dependable, and secure method of printing. Today, the spirit of that original Xerox 914 lives on in the “whole-office” solutions offered by leasing a high-speed Xerox machine or buying your first production press.

Frequently Asked Question

Who actually invented the first photocopier? 

The idea for photocopying had its beginnings in 1938 with a patent attorney, Chester Carlson. Tired of performing the laborious job of copying legal briefs by hand, he created a type of copying called electrophotography. Today we call this process xerography, but back then it was a patent attorney’s attempt to stop having to write things down twice.

When did these machines become common in Raleigh offices? 

The Xerox 914 was a revolutionary copier when it came out in 1960, however, most small companies in the Raleigh area could not afford to purchase such a large machine at the time. They would not have an option to purchase one until late in the 1970’s and/or early 1980’s when tabletop copiers became available for purchase. At that time having a copier would be considered a “normal” business expense for typical North Carolina local offices.

Why on earth was the Xerox 914 so heavy? 

Weighing a whopping 648 pounds this monster is a machine made entirely of bulky steel and includes large amounts of old school style mechanical gears, custom-sized glass lenses, and a built in Fire Extinguisher. Because of the early technology of this machine, everything was designed with the thought that if the machine ever got so hot it caught on fire, the machine would extinguish itself.

What exactly did the “first” copy say? 

October 22, 1938, was a huge date in science and in the history of written communication when Carlson made the first electrophotographic transfer of a handwritten note, “10-22-38 ASTORIA” on a piece of glass using the combination of sulfur and a static charge within a small makeshift lab located in Astoria, Queens. It was a crude and messy way to demonstrate the feasibility of using light and electricity as a substitute for ink and carbon.

Is it true that early copiers were fire hazards? 

Sure thing. The original 914 series copiers were very hot and used high heat to attach the toner to the sheet of paper in the copier. It was not unusual for a jammed sheet to cause the paper to start smoking if a jam were to occur, which happened frequently. Engineers from Xerox had a small extinguisher bolted inside each machine to put out the fires. In a tongue-in-cheek manner, we called the extinguisher “the scorch eliminator,” but at the time, it was a very real concern to the office managers of the 1960s!

How did Raleigh businesses duplicate files before the 60s? 

Prior to the time of “Xerox revolution” in Triangle, there were only two options for making copies.. Carbon paper was a headache after more than three (3) copies, and Mimeographs (or stencil duplicators) required that the users crank a drum that was full of smelly and purple ink. When you needed 50 (fifty) copies of a memo in Raleigh in the 1950’s, you did not just “make copies”, you actually ran a small printing press out of your utility closet.

When did color copying finally become affordable here? 

In the 70s, color was a hassle to work with, expensive, and often did not produce good results. The Xerox machine launched in the early 1990s, Xerox 5775, made it possible for Triangle businesses to have access to “convenient color” for the first time. Before then, businesses had to take their flyers to a professional print shop if they wanted any color on them, and they had to wait several days to receive them back.

How has copier security changed since the “old days”? 

It’s hard to get over how far out of control everything has changed. In the 70’s if you had “security,” it was simply making sure that you have your supply closet locked up tight (so people don’t steal your expensive paper). Today, you have a copy machine that is really a very sophisticated computer right there on your network. We’ve gone from having physical locks to data encryption and hard-disk overwriting, things that would have sounded like something from a Star Trek episode if you were an office manager in Raleigh in 1965.

Resources I Trust for Technical Specs and Trends

Smithsonian Magazine:The Story of the Xerox 914

If you want to understand where we’re going, you have to see where we started. This is the best account I’ve found of how a 650-pound machine called the 914 single-handedly launched the information age.

The New Yorker: How a fringe invention in a Queens kitchen turned Haloid into Xerox, remade office life, and unsettled publishing and copyright.

I’ve always told my clients that a copier is a marvel of physics, not just a box of plastic. This deep dive into the original mimeograph machine —the first mechanical duplicator of written pages that was practical for office use. It was put on the market by the A. B. Dick Company, of Chicago, in 1887

Columbia University Computing History:The Birth of Laser Printing

The jump from analog to laser was the biggest “game changer” in 1977. This resource documents how Xerox engineers took a lab experiment and turned it into the high-speed standard we still rely on in Raleigh today.

Xerox Holdings:The History of Innovation at PARC

Most people don’t realize that the “Desktop” we use on our computers was actually born at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center. I share this because it proves that when you partner with Xerox, you’re partnering with the architects of the modern office.

The Henry Ford Museum:Light and Static: The Origins of the Xerox Copy

October 22, 1938 was the day the first “copy” was ever made. I like to keep this in mind because it reminds us that every “all-in-one” machine in our offices started with a single hand-written slide.