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Show OUR OFFICES THE GOOD OLD DAYS? 'W1',VCa The office, before copiers, has been called "the stone age." Many people remember re-member the hazards of working with layers and layers of carbon paper . . . the result was "blue fingers." You may not have worked in an office B.C. Before Copiers but some of your colleagues may have. What was the office like then . . . especially if you had to make a copy? The answer is simple . . . you typed . . . and typed . . . and typed. As many as eight to ten carbons were made, recalls one secretary. Depending on which copy you received, you had a pretty good indication indi-cation of your place in the pecking order. Another remembers that, "When you finished taking dictation, your heart sank if the boss added, ' a copy is enclosed,' referring to some other document. That meant you had to type the copy." Some secretaries remember remem-ber the odd hazards of working with many layers of carbon paper. In the summer sum-mer rotating electric fans blew the papers, on humid days the carbons curled, and this was all in addition to the permanent annoyance of "blue fingers." When the first copiers appeared ap-peared in the 1950s they were not an instant success. Some workers felt intimidated intimidat-ed by them. Today, all feel they are real time savers. One secretary who worked for 3M recalls many milestones in the copier revolution. She remembers the acceptance of 3M's pioneering pio-neering "Secretary" Thermo-Fax Thermo-Fax copier. She saw the company's coated paper and plain paper copiers evolve with customer needs. She was on hand when her company developed a Sensitron feature that ensures a clear copy background, whatever the original. More ecently, the company com-pany became the first U.S. manufacturer incorporating fiber optics a feature that permitted the elimination of 200 machine parts, making possible a compact unit that consumes little energy during dur-ing operation. Were the good old days before copiers, really that good? Few people who now use copiers would think so. |