Thanks for sharing these pix! It’s fun to look back and see how far we have come. : )

That is lovely and amazing – the retro graphics and cut out characters are brilliant..would love too see this in the flesh.

Richard, if you come to Rochester, NY…we can probably arrange something! Its a great display of Xerox History!

Carrie, yes, its amazing how technology has really progressed!

[Xerox Employee]

This is lovely, no person or company can achieve something meaningful without deep roots like that of Xerox Corporation. keep up Xerox we are with you and we will never leave your products. Go Go Xerox Dc 250, 252 and 560 Go!. We have future together and learn from xerox.

Thanks Zelwe!

[Xerox Employee]

What a wonderful collection. I definitely want to come see it if ever I’m in New York. I hope you have some other old classics, like a 9700 (first production laser), plus 3700 & 4045 (first desktop laser). Also the 4020 (first inkjet – VIVID colour).
Funnily enough, I think I have some of those things in the last cabinet at my desk!

[Xerox Employee]

Dave, if you come to Rochester, let me know and we can try to arrange a visit. This is a tiny sample of what is housed at the Xerox Historical Archive.

wow..

Ann once showed me the kit people used to make color graphics on the early color copiers. This was back when the text on most computer displays was green.

It was literally cut and paste… then copy.

[Xerox Employee]

Great Stuff / It should be pointed out that Brother Dominick was associated with the 9200 Duplicating System and not the 914 as shown in one of the photos.
ap / Xerox / Webster NY

[Xerox Employee]

You are correct! I think Ann just set it up that way!

[Xerox Employee]

It’s always good to look back and see how things got started. I love the classic images..

What about our Voice mail for Voice of America, the 860 -8010 and old Telecopiers with DIck Tracy style plug in phone modems. Or even the Alto and Platter Pack

[Xerox Employee]

At 31 years and counting, 19 of them in Leesburg, there are a lot of products that I worked with directly that were true milestones in addition to what you have. I started my career with Printing Systems (which started as a separate company based in El Segundo and was similar to how ACS is set up with us today) one favorite, although the guys told me I was not ‘old’ enough to teach about it, was the CopyFlo, a machine so large you could walk inside of it. I started with the 1200, a real piece of work built on a 3600 duplicator engine with it’s OCG (Optical Character Generator’ drum which was in data centers as the predecessor to the 9700 (already mentioned) – make sure the 9700 is built on the 9200 engine and has the Ampex tape drive if looking for an original, the 5700 – the world’s first MFD was a decade ahead of the DC220 (also a milestone), the 4050 and the 4850 HighLight Color machine (built on a 1075 engine) earned reps a lot of cash, XPS700 – our ‘state of the art’ professional publishing system, and then Ventura software, a “Documenter” which was a 6085 with XPIW software that included a 4045 (another 100 lb+ desktop system with fonts on plug in cartriges that we sold as options) with a scanner, oh yes scanners – a 150GIS the first commercial digital scanner (using what became common commercial digital camera technology)was the size of an office copier attached to the 9700, on the color side the 6500 was years ahead of the 5775/4700 color machines considered ‘gen 1′ color technology then a DC12 the first ‘gen 2′ color technology with it’s intermediate transfer belt and then the original iGen3. String all of it together with the original thick yellow Ethernet cable as everything from the 9700 onwards was designed to be on the ‘net. I used to have to explain to people what ‘e-mail’ was…I learned to type on a 810 which used a monitor that was built in portrait mode to match the layout of business documents, this was our competition to Wang’s desktop publishing system, I could also go on and on about the products we had but I never was involved with many on the copier side, the original fax machines that we installed in NYC police cars, the big duplicators. Thanks for getting me thinking about the good old days.

[Xerox Employee]

Amelio, sadly XHA does not have a 9200 so I simply parked Brother Dominic between the 914 Copier and the Alto. What you cannot see is that across from Brother Dominic is a display case with all sorts of sales brochures, a 9200 tee shirt and a Xerox Store mug all featuring our favorite monk. Brother Dominic (portrayed by Jack Eagle) represented Xerox and our products for over 10 years. He did a great job and the “It’s a miracle” ads are well remembered. Thought not a Xerox employee, I’ve been told that Xerox presented him with a ten year long service pin.

[Xerox Employee]

Kudo’s to Ann Neal for all the good work she is doing with the Xerox Museum. She has changed it from a corporate attic into a corpporate assest. In addition to a great museum celebrating our past, it has an organized repository of hardware, software, documentation going back over 60 years which assists our patent lawyers as well as a physical record of our company’s products -as well as supplying the Xerox 914 to the Mad Men set.

Thanks for your words of support Peter! I can’t take credit for supplying the 914 Copier for Mad Men however. I’ve provided them with lots of documentation and answered a lot of questions but once I found out that John L. Palmer (a long term Xeroid) had a 914 on the west coast he became the go to guy for supplying the machine and handling the logistics of getting it to the Mad Men studio.

[Xerox Employee]

Wow, there’s some old bits of kit there!

Love the old stuff! I’m a collector, too, (it’s a curse,) and have several old copiers in my basement. I’m attached to them as to my old car. One day I’ll be looking for another home for them. It’s great that Xerox has this archive to remind us of where we have come from.

[Xerox Employee]

Thanks for article, Joel. And thanks to Ann Neal for keeping the XHA organized & accessible. On numerous occasions, she has located collaterals that I wouldn’t expect us to still have. The XHA is a wonderful resource.

[Xerox Employee]

Not a problem Katrina! Yes, the XHA is a wonderful resource. I wish more customers could see the archive first hand!

[Xerox Employee]

Joel:

Great blog, Hopefully I can see the museum the next time I am at the Gil Hatch.

My favorite early device was the Xerox 660. My fiancee, later my wife, worked in the development office at St. Francis Hospital on Long Island. They had the machine and put it to great use.

Consequently, at the same time I was hired by Xerox and had to successfully demo the machine during my basic sales training.
Because of this, I was star in my wife’s office because I knew how to change the web and clear jams.

Good luck with the museum.

PS Knowing how to change the web and clear jams on the 660 was not the reason my wife married me but it did not hurt.

Joe Rickard

Hi Joe, I can put you in touch with Ann Neal who manages the Archives. She’s always eager to show people Xerox’s vibrant history. Next time you visit maybe she’ll have the 660!

[Xerox Employee]

Hi Anne,

There is a film that was sponsored by Xerox in 1970 called LORD THING about the Vice Lords, a gang in Chicago. I was wondering if Xerox historical Society has any films in its possession besides work about the company. Thanks.

Nancy

Hi Nancy, I heard through the grape vine that Ann is in touch with you. Let us know how you make out.

Hi Nancy, I realize that your question was answered during our phone converstation but I’m posting my response on the blog site as well for the benefit of others who might have a similar question. As you have stated this is probably a film that Xerox sponsored but, since we did not create the film and therefore have no rights with regard to the content, we do not have a copy here at XHA. Another possiblity is that it was made by the Xerox Education Group but that group and its divisions were sold years ago along with the rights to anything they produced. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Finally there are people who see value in archives & appreciate our history! I’ve known Ann for years, and remember the archives to be a locked up corner in Bldg. 801 that housed “stuff” nobody much cared about seeing. That, and a few show pieces on the 13 floor of X2. Thank goodness Ann volunteered to not only house those items, but turn them into a real archive. Yeah, Ann!!!! If anyone can ever get a copy of the old John Dessauer & Howard Clark book, “My Years with Xerox,” it’s more than worth the read — and gives one a sense of belonging & pride. Ann, do you have one in your Archives? I know it was out of print. The Xerox story is a great one, and hopefully will continue making history.

Hello Holly, Thanks for your kind comments! Yes I do have a copy of Dessauer’s “My Years with Xerox” at XHA and I agree, it is a great read. I think Xerox use to pass paperback copies of this book out to new hires at one time. Believe it or not I found a hard bound copy in perfect condition at a local garage sale a couple of years ago so they can be found if one is lucky. Another super book is “Copies in Seconds” by David Owen. It not only tells the tale of the Haloid Company and the development of the 914 Copier (our first automatic plain paper copier) but it also details Chester Carlson’s life and his struggles to generate interest in his invention of xerography.

I worked at Xerox from 1978 thru 1992.
Started with the 4000/4500 then 5400 5600 1065 to eventually move to Docutech.
I was wondering if there are any links to old Xerox documentation and/or schematics for the models aforementinned. (I think I could probably still repair a Xerox 4000

Hello Andre, Sorry, I know of no outside Xerox links to old product documentation. With that said I’ll be the first to mention that it is simply amazing what can be found on eBay and other web sites. Also something that you might enjoy hearing is that I have a working 4000 Copier here at XHA and it was in the movie “The Hoax” (2006) with Richard Gere and Alfred Molina. One can see copies being made but sadly any direct shots of the machine ended up on the editing room floor.

Great memories from a wonderful time and fantastic people. I was part of the 9200 product launch in the New York Uptown Branch along with Amelio Paolucci and Ralph Tubello. I would like to contact them?
Great Job, well done!

Hello Robert, We are delighted you enjoyed the archive blog. Isn’t it fun to have worked at Xerox where there are so many great people, super products and always innovative history in the making; all of which result in great memories. You should be getting a “blast from the past” in your email – enjoy the reunion!

Ann, I worked with you 25 years ago in Library
Services I m glad to see you are still there and stil a part of Xerox I have lost track of Ceclia I have fond memories of TLC kathy

Hello Kathy,
What a terrific surprise! I am delighted you found the XHA blog and left a note. Since twenty five years of catch up takes more than a short paragraph, I’m taking this off line… watch your email.