Ditto sheets

Whatever happened to ditto machines? A cheap predecessor to the copy machine, it ran off copies in purple ink using a big drum and a hand-crank. Since the only people who used it were 40+ years older than me (I was 12) I never understaood the fabrication process of a ditto sheet.

Mostly I remember their perfume- a sort of moist alcohol chemical smell. In Fast Times At Ridgemont High the students in one class are handed a test printed on ditto sheets and all smell them in unison.

2 thoughts on “Ditto sheets

  1. Oh man I hated the feel of these. You ever run your nails over a fresh runoff? Math tests were the worst. A dull pencil on one if these hurt my bones like nails on a chalkboard.

    For some reason my main memory of these are as spitwads (receiving end).

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