If you were asked to enumerate the different kinds of clerical work
performed in the modern business office, you would probably fail to
mention the writing of names. Yet the writing and rewriting of names is
as essential in most offices as the addition of figures or the dictation
of correspondence.
In fact, names represent the backbone of nearly every business or
organization. There is the list of names of those people you sell to;
the names of those people you want to sell to; the names of those people
you buy from; the names of those people who owe you money; the names of
those people to whom you owe money and the names of those people who
work for you. Then, lodges, clubs, churches and other organizations must
maintain lists of names of their members; and so the different kinds of
lists go on _ad infinitum_.
Now, in most offices, these names must be written and rewritten over and
over again--often many times each month--on envelopes, price-lists,
statements, checks, pay forms, ledger sheets, order forms, tags, labels,
etc. And in many offices the writing of names is still a slow, tedious,
drudging task--as the workers in those offices will testify.
The Birth of Mechanical Addressing.
But in one office this monotonous task of writing and rewriting the same
names over and over again became such a hardship that the man who had to
do it, thinking twenty-five years ahead of his time, had a vision of
performing such work mechanically. That vision was the forerunner of the
Addressograph.
In the early 90’s, Mr. Joseph S. Duncan was manager of a little flour
and grist mill in Iowa. The requirements of his business necessitated
the daily addressing of 100 quotation cards. Those were the days of pen
and ink and the imperfectly developed typewriter. Mr. Duncan’s office
was small. He was the sole worker in that office--and as the typewriter
was still a curiosity in that section of the country, Mr. Duncan was
obliged to depend upon pen and ink in addressing his daily price cards.
This routine task wasted a great deal of his valuable time each day. In
an effort to finish the work quickly, so that he could devote his
attention to more important matters, Mr. Duncan found that he was
frequently sacrificing accuracy for speed. Result--his concern often
suffered considerable loss of profit because his quotation cards did not
reach the people for whom they were intended. Finally, becoming
disgusted with inefficient and inaccurate pen and ink addressing
methods, Mr. Duncan made a trip to Chicago for the purpose of purchasing
a machine for addressing his price cards. But, on visiting the leading
stationery and office equipment stores, he was told there was no such
machine. He returned to his office resigned to the task of addressing
his 100 daily quotation cards by pen and ink. But the drudgery and
monotony of this work would not down in his mind. The mistakes and
omissions made in addressing these price cards became no less frequent.
Finally, because Mr. Duncan could no longer be reconciled to the
drudgery, inaccuracy and expense of hand addressing, he determined to
build for himself a machine that would lift from his shoulders this
monotonous task.
Builds First Addressograph.
Mr. Duncan invented and built his first addressing machine in 1892. He
called it the “Addressograph”--a coined word meaning “to write
addresses.” Although Mr. Duncan appreciated the saving of time and
money and increase in accuracy which his little invention would surely
create in the writing of names and addresses, he did not at first
realize the great place his remarkable invention was destined to take in
the commercial world as a “business energizer” and simplifier of routine
work.
Like the first steam engine, telephone or automobile, the first
addressograph was crudely simple and of course presented an uncouth
mechanical appearance. Mr. Duncan experimented by gluing the rubber
portion of a number of hand stamps to a wooden drum. This drum was
placed on an operating shaft in the addressograph, so that after the
printing of one name and address, the drum revolved so that the next
name and address came into printing position. The type impressions thus
obtained were fairly readable. But Mr. Duncan soon realized that the
idea of gluing the type permanently to a wooden drum was unpractical.
Only a few addresses could be placed around the drum and the method of
gluing them permanently into place made it practically impossible to
make corrections when changes in address occurred, or to add new names
as occasion demanded.
[Illustration: THE FIRST ADDRESSOGRAPH]
Greater flexibility was needed. So Mr. Duncan designed and built what is
now known as the first chain addressograph. Individual rubber type
characters were pushed into metal type holders with a pair of tweezers.
These type holders were then ingeniously linked together in the form of
an endless chain. These chains were placed over a revolving metal drum,
and as each separate name and address came to the printing point of the
addressograph, the operator pushed down on a vertical stamper rod which
pushed the envelope, or whatever form was to be addressed, against the
rubber type which was inked just before reaching the printing point.
Here, at last, was a practical addressing machine which enabled the user
to accurately print names and addresses--typewriter style--ten times
faster than was possible by any other method, and, quite as important,
to make changes and additions to the list.
The Beginning of a Great Industry.
By this time, Mr. Duncan had moved his base of operations from Iowa to
Chicago. So well was his first practical model of the addressograph
received by Chicago business men that he sold the first half-dozen
manufactured within a short time. Enthused with his success, Mr. Duncan
decided to enter into the manufacture and sale of addressographs on as
extensive a basis as the demand for his invention warranted. But to do
this it was necessary for him to secure more capital. Consequently, he
interested Mr. J. B. Hall--a Chicago business man--in his project, and
in January, 1896, Mr. Duncan and Mr. Hall formed a partnership and
called it the “Addressograph Company.”
Mr. Hall’s first step was to find out what the leading business men of
his time thought of the addressograph. So he made a trip to New York
City--taking with him one of the little hand-operated chain
addressographs. Here, Mr. Hall called upon Henry Clews, J. Pierpont
Morgan and other prominent business men. He also visited the offices of
the large public service and insurance companies. In every case, Mr.
Hall was courteously received, but after demonstrating the addressograph
was told that while it was interesting and a step in the right
direction, it was still in too primitive a state to prove of any great
value in addressing a large list of names.
Answering Demand for Greater Speed.
Naturally, Mr. Hall’s first thought on his return to Chicago was to
induce Mr. Duncan to build a larger model, capable of greater speed and
greater output. Acting upon Mr. Hall’s suggestion, Mr. Duncan, in a
short time, perfected a larger chain addressograph, operated by
foot-lever and embodying several important improvements. As the
Addressograph Company was maintaining at that time only a small sales
office, a contract was let to the Blackman Machine Company, of Chicago,
to build fifteen of these new foot-lever chain addressographs. And it
was this new model which caused the addressograph to take its place in
the business world as one of the leading office appliances. Many of
these new chain addressographs were sold. Having formerly been engaged
in the public service field, Mr. Hall was quick to realize the
advantages which mechanical addressing offered to gas, electric light,
water and telephone companies. As a result, the majority of the first
addressograph sales were made to these lines of business.
[Illustration: RUBBER CHAIN ADDRESSOGRAPH OPERATED BY FOOT LEVER AND
MOUNTED IN WOOD CABINET]
With the constantly increasing use of the addressograph, suggestions for
improvement and further development were freely offered by addressograph
customers and just as liberally entertained by Mr. Duncan. As a result
of these suggestions, another important advance took place in
addressograph development. A customer, after writing words of praise
about his addressograph, suggested that if some means could be arrived
at to avoid the necessity of setting and resetting the individual pieces
of rubber type, a great saving in time and money could be accomplished
in making changes and additions to a list of names.
Invents Embossed Metal Address Plate.
After considerable thought, Mr. Duncan hit upon the plan of embossing,
typewriter style, characters upon a metal plate. To do this, it was
necessary for him to invent and perfect the Graphotype--a machine which
writes names and addresses on metal plates almost as quickly as the same
data can be written on paper with the typewriter. The first embossed
metal plates were linked together in the form of an endless chain,
similar to the rubber type plates. A new addressograph was perfected for
printing impressions from these embossed metal plates. It was called the
No. 2 Chain Addressograph.
The Addressograph Company now had two models to sell. But, owing to the
fact that the rubber chain addressograph permitted users to make changes
and additions in their own offices, a greater number of machines of this
model were sold than of the metal chain addressograph; because, with the
latter model, it was necessary for the customer to send to Chicago to
have his new metal links embossed with the graphotype for the changes
and additions of his list.
By this time, the Addressograph Company had established itself in its
own factory in Chicago. Branch offices had also been opened in New York,
Philadelphia, Boston and other principal points, and out of these
offices was traveling a small but enthusiastic group of salesmen. Many
firms, large and small, throughout the country were using and
recommending the chain addressograph. And, crude as that model seems
now, it was proving a wonderful time and labor saver in the offices in
which it was used--and paying back its cost many times each year because
of the fact that it accurately printed names and addresses ten times
faster than was possible to write such data by pen or typewriter.
A Card Index that Addresses Itself.
As the use of the addressograph increased, Mr. Duncan and Mr. Hall
realized the need of a more efficient way of making changes and
additions to the list of names. It was important that individual names
be located and removed from the list more quickly than was possible with
the chain addressograph. Demand for improvement along this line was
stimulated by the loose-leaf and card index wave which was just then
beginning to sweep the country. And Mr. Duncan, taking the card index
idea as a basis, designed what he called the Model “A” or Rubber Card
Index Addressograph. Instead of the separate plates being linked
together in the form of a chain, they were inserted into a tin
holder--called the frame--which closely resembled in appearance a 3 x 5
paper file card. In addition to carrying a printing plate, this frame
also carried a paper card bearing a proof of its respective printing
plate. In this complete form, these address plates were filed in steel
filing drawers like ordinary paper cards. About every fifteenth address
plate in a drawer was equipped with a vertical, subdividing
tab--numerical, alphabetical or geographical as the case might require.
Each filing drawer carried a printed label showing the contents of the
drawer--and by means of these complete card index features it proved a
simple matter to locate and remove individual names when making
revisions to the list; and, in addition, these features afforded all of
the advantages of a perfect reference file, as the paper proof card
could be provided with a printed form for retaining memoranda.
[Illustration: RUBBER CARD INDEX ADDRESS PLATE]
Of course, a new addressograph was necessary to handle this card index
improvement. And in the Model “A” Addressograph, we find the basic
principle of the addressograph of today. A drawerful of plates is
emptied into the magazine. The empty filing drawer is placed beneath the
addressograph so that after addressing the address plates fall back into
the original drawer in their original card index order.
[Illustration: METAL CARD INDEX ADDRESS PLATE]
Electric Motor Increases Speed.
Not only was it necessary to meet the demand for card index
conveniences, but it was also important to equip the Model “A”
Addressograph with an electric motor for increasing its speed of
operation and insuring a greater output. As was to be expected, the card
index and electrically operated features caused thousands of concerns,
large and small, to adopt the addressograph. Large mercantile houses,
addressing thousands of names--who had formerly held aloof from the
addressograph because of its limited advantages for making changes and
additions--now placed their orders with instructions to rush delivery.
With business houses all over the country rapidly changing from bound
books to loose-leaf card index records, the demand for chain
addressograph models diminished and more and more orders were received
for the rubber card index addressographs. Business men, generally, were
now taking a real interest in mechanical addressing and the saving which
the addressograph made possible in their offices. This interest was
increased materially with the growth of mail-order businesses and the
constantly increasing use of direct-by-mail advertising by business
concerns, large and small. Firms having mailing lists were increasing
them. Those firms which had not previously used direct-by-mail
advertising were now coming to realize the many advantages of that
modern selling short-cut and were compiling large lists of names. The
rubber card index addressograph had by now proved itself a wonderful
time and labor saver in addressing and maintaining lists of names of
average size. But, with the advent of large lists, the high cost of
rubber type presented a serious objection to many firms regarding the
installation of the addressograph. Furthermore, large lists of names
were subject to many changes and additions--and in this connection,
setting up the address plates in rubber type proved quite slow and
expensive. So, to bring the addressograph abreast of modern conditions,
Mr. Duncan combined the card index filing idea with the embossed metal
plate which he had previously worked out for use with the chain
addressograph. With the coming of the metal card index addressograph and
the modern graphotype for making the metal address plates, the
addressing machine business was “revolutionized,” as Mr. Duncan put it.
With the graphotype, address plates for changes and additions could be
made at almost typewriter speed. The card index address plate required
less filing space than was true of the rubber card index address plate,
printed cleaner impressions and from every standpoint was superior to
the rubber type system. In order that customers could make their changes
and additions right in their office, the graphotype was further
developed and furnished in two models, one operated by motor, the other
by hand.
[Illustration: ELECTRIC GRAPHOTYPE WHICH EMBOSSES TYPEWRITER STYLE
CHARACTERS ON METAL ADDRESS PLATES]
[Illustration: HAND GRAPHOTYPE WHICH EMBOSSES TYPEWRITER STYLE
CHARACTERS ON METAL ADDRESS PLATES]
Attachments Increase Utility of Addressograph.
The first addressographs were intended for printing names and addresses
consecutively on envelopes and post cards. And so much time was saved on
this one application that customers soon began applying it to other
kinds of work in their offices. To do this effectively, it was necessary
for Mr. Duncan to work out additional parts called “attachments” which
permitted the addressing, listing and imprinting of names and other data
on office forms of every nature. To illustrate: the dating attachment
enabled users to apply the addressograph to their statement work. With
this attachment--which can quickly be thrown in or out of operation--the
current date is printed at the head of a statement simultaneously with
the printing of the name and address. Further, to use the addressograph
effectively for statement work, it was necessary to devise a skipping
attachment--manipulated by the operator’s knee--permitting him to skip
the printing of impressions from address plates of those customers who
had paid their accounts. By working out the listing attachment, Mr.
Duncan made it possible for users to list names in one or more vertical
columns on pay sheets, drivers’ route sheets, dividend and trial balance
sheets. This attachment automatically feeds the paper and spaces the
proper distances between the printing of each address. Then came the
electric bell signal and automatic selector attachments. Users of
classified lists of names were enabled by these attachments to place
tabs in sockets at the top and back of the address plates to indicate
the different classifications on the list, such as “Buying Seasons,”
“Kinds of Products Wanted,” “Territories,” “Expired Dates,” etc., and by
means of these attachments, automatically select for addressing certain
address plates, skipping the addressing of others.
[Illustration: AUTOMATIC LISTING ATTACHMENT]
[Illustration: HIGH SPEED AUTOMATIC FEED ADDRESSOGRAPH. CAPACITY, 7,500
ADDRESSED ENVELOPES PER HOUR]
[Illustration: AUTOMATIC ENVELOPE FEED ADDRESSOGRAPH. SPEED, 5,000
ADDRESSED ENVELOPES AN HOUR]
As the various uses for the addressograph increased, so the demand for
different special attachments increased, until today, the addressograph
addresses, lists and imprints names, addresses and other data upon every
office form. The history of the addressograph has been one of constant
development. With the growth of large lists, the demand for greater
speed in addressing was answered by automatic feed addressographs. The
Automatic No. 1 Addressograph was designed to automatically feed and
address envelopes and cards at the rate of 4,000 to 5,000 an hour. In
the Automatic No. 3 Addressograph we find the highest development of the
system. This machine automatically feeds and addresses public service
bills, insurance premium notices and receipts, cards, envelopes,
circulars, etc., at the great speed of 6,000 to 8,000 an hour. The
wrapper addressograph answered the demand of publishers for great speed
and 100 per cent accuracy. This model of the addressograph automatically
feeds wrappers from a roll and in addition to printing the name and
address exact typewriter style, also prints the name of the publication
and postal permit from electrotypes, indicates mail routes on the back
of the wrappers, separates into a separate drawer the address plates of
those people whose subscriptions have expired, and cuts the wrapper to
the proper size--all at the speed of 7,500 per hour.
Small Users not Overlooked.
But, while Mr. Duncan and his associates have given every attention to
the needs of users of large lists of names, he has not overlooked the
lodge secretaries and other users of small lists of names. In the hand
addressograph, which sells for as low as $27, he has worked out three
practical models having an average speed of from 750 to 1,500 names and
addresses an hour. Thousands of these little machines are in daily use
and, like the larger models of the addressograph, are driving drudgery
out of the office--freeing thousands of hands from the monotonous,
laborious task of writing names and addresses by pen and ink--in short,
elevating the position of the office worker far above that of a mere
automaton and making it possible for him to earn more money and enjoy a
happier existence by doing brain work instead of manual labor.
[Illustration: WRAPPER FEED ADDRESSOGRAPH. SPEED, 6,000 TO 8,000
ADDRESSED WRAPPERS PER HOUR]
[Illustration: HAND ADDRESSOGRAPH (PRINTS THROUGH A RIBBON). SPEED,
1,000 TO 1,500 TYPEWRITTEN ADDRESSES AN HOUR]
[Illustration: SHOWING HOW TABS ARE INSERTED IN BACK OF ADDRESS PLATE
FOR PURPOSES OF INDEXING AND CLASSIFYING LISTS]
The Addressograph--Its Place in Business.
Twenty-five years’ use of the addressograph in over 300 different lines
of business--manufacturers, wholesalers and dealers, insurance
companies, public service companies, government departments,
associations, clubs, churches, lodges, hotels and schools, laundries,
commission merchants, publishers, railroad and steamship companies--in
truth, every business, large and small, where a list of names is
frequently addressed--have proved the utter folly of slow, tiring hands
attempting to compete with swift, untiring wheels. Wherever names are
written, there you will usually find the addressograph in use, saving
time and money, guaranteeing 100 per cent accuracy and insuring maximum
efficiency. There are many different models--some operated by hand or
foot-lever, others by electric motor; some are entirely automatic. So,
no matter how many names and addresses are written--fifty or a
million--the addressograph, like the telephone or typewriter, has come
to be recognized as a modern business necessity.
* * * * *
What is “Dry Farming”?
Dry farming is a method which has been recently developed and which is
coming into even wider use. The United States Department of Agriculture,
through its experiment stations, has made a careful study of the
conditions, possibilities and limitations of the practice, and the
following is a brief abstract of the results:
In defining the term dry farming it is explained that the practice
includes (1) deep plowing before the rainy season sets in, in order to
provide in the soil a capacious water storage reservoir and an ample
space for root development; (2) light, deep, even seeding or planting in
a well-prepared, moist soil; (3) frequent, thorough, level cultivation
before as well as after sowing or planting; (4) the use of seed bred and
selected for the conditions prevailing; (5) the use of machinery of
large capacity; (6) the adoption of methods for the concentration of
crops.
Crops must be selected or developed that will fit the environment, and
there is ample field for investigation in the improvement and
development of crops suitable to dry lands. Wheat stands at the head
among cereal crops. The durum or macaroni wheats do especially well; but
other varieties are also grown, as are oats, rye, barley and spelt. The
millets are among the best paying dry-farming crops. There are few
legumes that have shown value on dry lands, but peas, beans and alfalfa
are the most promising of development. Vegetables and both shade and
fruit trees are being grown in districts where dry farming is practiced.
Fall seeding of cereals, wherever the conditions will permit, is
preferable to spring seeding, and it is important to retain the snow
upon the land, especially in sections where it forms the chief part of
the total precipitation. The snowfall may be retained by leaving the
ground rough after the late fall plowing, by throwing up borders across
the field at right angles with the prevailing winds, or by planting
hedge rows or shrubbery across the field at short intervals. Usually
less seed should be planted per acre under dry-farming conditions than
is used in humid sections. The less precipitation, the smaller should be
the amount of seed planted.
What is a “Drying Machine” Like?
This is a machine used in bleaching, dyeing and laundry establishments,
consisting of two concentric drums or cylinders, one within the other,
open at the top, and having the inner cylinder perforated at its side
with numerous small holes. The goods to be dried are placed within the
inner cylinder, and the machine is then made to rotate with great
velocity, when, by the action of centrifugal force, the water escapes
through the holes in the side.
[Illustration: _Copyright by Brown Bros._