In August 2023 I had the opportunity to do a guided tour via Microsoft Teams of the Xerox Historical Archives.
The Xerox Historical Archives is a library of historical items related to Xerox, ranging from past Xerox product offerings to items from the days of Haloid Xerox, and a vast collection of Xerox newsletters, product documentation, sales collaterals, etc. The archives are located in Building 209 at Xerox's Webster campus, outside of Rochester, NY. The collection of gear includes a variety of different generation Xerox machines, including the first color photocopier from 1973, one of the original 914 copiers, and the Alto computer. The archives also contain memorabilia such as a collection of company mugs and the Olympic torch when CEO Anne Mulcahy carried in 2002 for a stretch in Connecticut as it made its way to Salt Lake City. Much of the equipment in the archives comes to Xerox from basements and storage rooms of companies and individuals around the country.
In front of the entrance to the museum was a Xerox 914 copier, which is what made Xerox the world leader in the copier industry.When entering the museum, one could see some shelfs with a lot of different sales collaterals, etc. Xerox had their own firetruck and ambulance on campus, and two helmets was among the things on the shelf. Also, some anniversary pens were seen.
Some pictures of the Xerox founders were seen on the wall.
From left to right, one can see Chester Carlson, John Dessauer and Joe Wilson.
Next was some pictures of former CEO’s of Xerox
Here’s Chesters Xerographic model, that he brought around to show the invention. This is just a replica of the original model.This is an experimental Xerography machine from Battelle in 1948.Next up is two different models of the Xerox Model A copier. The Model A copier had a nickname called the “Ox Box”.
Here’s the Camera no 4 with processor D and the heat fuser system.In this building Haloid started out in 1906. It was located near the High Falls in Rochester.
A more recent picture of the building Haloid started out in 1906. It was located near the High Falls in Rochester.
Image credit: By DCwom (talk) - Own work (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20523898)
This is the Copyflo 24C printer. This revolutionary machine, while extremely bulky, was one of the first products to turn xerography into a money maker. It was also the first xerographic machine to use a rotating drum instead of a platen, significantly increasing the speed at which copies could be reproduced.Xerox 2400 duplicator. This was Xerox first duplicator, and it came on the market in October 1964. The 2400 could produce 40 copies a minute, and 2400 copies in hour, and therefore it got the model number 2400.Xerox first color copier – the Xerox 6500Another nice copier here – the Xerox 3100.There was a lot of pictures hanging on the wall at the Xerox museum, and one of them showed different manufacturing plants around the world. Here is Brasil, Spain, Netherlands, toner plant at Oklahoma, Oakville Canada, Shang Hai China, XRCOne of the model from the 10-series, was also displayed in the museum. This is the Xerox 1075 copier. The 10-series represented a new generation of copiers. This became the most successful line of copiers in Xerox history and served to restore the company's finances and morale. The flagship Xerox 1075 became the first American-made product to win Japan's Grand Prize for Good Design. Altogether, 14 models were introduced between 1982 and 1986, six of which were still sold in 1990.Almost at the end of this virtual tour of the Xerox museum, was The Xerox DocuTech 135 Production Publisher. This machine was announced on Oct. 2, 1990, revolutionized the way businesses produced common office items such as advertising brochures, newsletters and sales reports. The new product line made it possible to receive electronic images of documents from remote computers, store them, allow them to be edited and shared over computer networks, and generate documents of print-shop quality at high speed.
Many thanks to the curator at the Xerox museum for this very interesting tour. Hopefully I will get and see it for my self, sometime in the future.
