The Father of the Copy Machine

 

        David Gestetner: The Father of the Photocopy Machine

 

“Ejha!” (“Oops!”) That might have been what Hungarian inventor David Gestetner exclaimed after accidentally spilling ink on a stack of kite paper—only to notice the ink had seeped through and left a consistent pattern. What started as a mistake sparked an idea that would revolutionize the way documents were copied.

 

In 1870, Gestetner left Hungary for Austria, where he worked at the Vienna Stock Exchange. One of his most tedious tasks was copying stock transactions by hand at the end of each trading day. Frustrated and convinced there had to be a better way—"Kell, hogy legyen jobb módja ennek!"—he quit his job and moved to the United States. There, while working for a kite manufacturer in Chicago, inspiration struck. That ink spill incident gave him the idea for a new duplicating method.

 

Gestetner eventually moved to London, where he began manufacturing his invention: The Gestetner Duplicating Machine.

 

The Gestetner Cyclograph

His invention used a stencil process. A thin sheet of wax-coated paper—originally kite paper—was written on with a stylus that cut through the wax and created a stencil. Ink was then rolled over the stencil and pressed through the cut areas onto blank sheets of paper. This process could be repeated dozens or even hundreds of times to produce identical copies.

 

Before this invention, if a business needed more than a handful of copies, documents had to be printed professionally. For smaller quantities (10–50 copies), everything was copied by hand—and every copy had to be checked for errors. The Gestetner method changed that. Because all copies came from the same stencil, accuracy and consistency were guaranteed.

 

By 1906, his London-based company at Tottenham Hale employed thousands. The device was a tremendous success, and Gestetner expanded rapidly, establishing an international network of branches to sell and service his machines.

 

Over time, he refined the duplicating process further. The stencil was eventually mounted on a screen wrapped around two rotating drums. Ink was spread across the screen using cloth-covered rollers, then pressed through the stencil onto paper as the drums turned. Each rotation produced a clean, consistent copy.

 

The machines became so common that "Gestetnerized" became everyday slang for duplicated documents—decades before anyone would ask, “Can you Xerox this?”

 

Gestetner continued innovating throughout his life. Even after his death in 1939, his company remained a dominant force in office equipment for many years.

 

Meme::

During World War II, Gestetner machines were used by both Allied and Axis forces to quickly distribute orders, leaflets, and propaganda.

 

Bonus Invention:

In 1886, Gestetner also patented an early version of the fingernail clipper—a design later refined by Chapel S. Carter. Together, they laid the groundwork for the modern nail clippers you carry today, transforming nail care for generations.

David Gestetner’s inventive spirit left an indelible mark on office technology. Though today we think of copiers and printers as digital devices, it all started with kite paper and an accident with ink.