#107 - Retro Tech: Overhead Projectors, Microfiche & Word Processors!

Thank you so very much for tuning in to the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast. This show is dedicated to the memory of my big sister Rebecca, a fan of all things pop-culture, particularly of the people, places, and things that defined the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s.  Welcome aboard this pop culture time machine, I'm Amy Lewis. This is episode #107 Retro Tech Part 1.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this numerous times on this podcast and on social media, but I classify myself as a Xennial.  If you are wondering what exactly a xennial is, I found a helpful description on the keep it usable website:

I grew up with a Gen X sister, and close friends who also had older siblings that are gen x’ers.  So I distinctly remember a lot of technology that most millennials have either never heard of or never used.  And likewise, I had access to technology as a young adult that most millennials likely remember.  I think it goes without saying that it was an interesting time to grow up - being stuck in between the analog world and the digital world.  Me and my sister knew how to entertain ourselves without the help of complex technology, and any new innovations that came about were exciting and seemingly futuristic, and sometimes a little intimidating.  I remember not wanting to convert to digital cameras, I liked my point and shoot film camera just fine, thank you very much. Conversely, we grew up during a time when the technology found in our respective classrooms was not that far off from what our parents and step parents may have experienced in school or during their college or young adult years.  I don’t think there was as much a dichotomy technology-wise between us and our parents as much as people may think there was.  

With that being said, on today’s show we are going to take a look back at some of the technology that could be found in elementary schools, colleges, places of business, and even your local library in the 1980s + for at least part of the 1990s (and in many instances the 60s and 70s, too).  Get ready for a deep dive into the intriguing world of overhead projectors, microfilm/microfiche, and word processors.  

We are about to nerd out big time and I cannot wait to share all of the fascinating information I learned while putting this together.  So sit back, relax and let’s nerd out on nostalgia, together.

We begin our journey to a different time of technology with the overhead projector.  What is an overhead projector you ask?  Well, I am so glad you did.  An overhead projector was described in perfect detail on the empowered.com website.

Believe it or not, the overhead projector dates back to the mid 1600s.  References to a device that could reflect someone's writings or drawings appeared in early engravings.  In 1659 a Dutch scientist named Christian Huygens allegedly created a unique device referred to as a “Magic Lantern.” Apparently, he used it to display an image of a skeleton.  In the late 1600s, Johann Zahn used a projection device to help teach medical students.  

By the mid to late 1700s, this infamous latern got more modifications and could display opaque items as well as small objects.  This contraption, called an Episcope, was used to attract and thrill crowds in local opera houses and theatres.  

And just about 100 years later, a French Physicist named Edmond Becquerel invented what would eventually become the overhead projector.  A 3D effect would come later, drawing even more crowds to check out this technological marvel.  

Flash forward a few decades and in 1930, the military starting using overhead projectors for their classrooms, it helped with training future soldiers. 

The 1960s saw a huge boom with overhead projectors.  3M, based in Minnesota took the reigns on this reflective glass box and the rest is history.  In case you didn't know, 3M stands for:  Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing.  Federal grants were being given to school districts across the country, with the hope of purchasing overhead projectors and other equipment to make classrooms more progressive and future focused.  Remember in the years following WWII, there was a lot of economic growth, families were having more children, and the United States wanted to be on the cutting edge. 

The 3M company also created transparencies (see through pieces of paper that could be typed on or written on). I looked up what exactly transparencies are made out of and at first they were made out of celluloid acetate but more recent versions are made out of polyester film.  Transparencies often came with projectors and textbooks, sometimes they already had information printed on them.  I imagine teachers must have rejoiced in the amount of time that they would save by using projectors instead of writing things word for word on a chalkboard.  As nostalgic as I am for my childhood, I can't say I miss the sound of chalk writing on a chalkboard, nor the dust that came along with it.  

By 1965, 100k overhead units were sold in the United States alone.  By 1985, 95% of American classrooms had an overhead projector. This resulted in 5 billion dollars per year in earnings for the companies that developed these products.  However, by the late 1980s, a computer based program called PowerPoint started to take over the projector market, spelling the beginning of the end for overhead projectors. Power Point was created by two software engineers at a short-lived company named Forethought and was later acquired by Microsoft, becoming a staple with each version of windows. Ah windows, it just screens the 1990s 2mins in. Later came document cameras, LCD projectors, and smartboards.

Despite the Power Point takeover, it took a while for the school district me and my sister attended as kids to jump on the bandwagon.  Overhead projectors were a staple all through elementary, middle and high school for us. I don't think I really knew what PP was until I was in college and it was used all of the time.  Side note - I create a lot of worst case scenarios in my head and one of my worst nightmares, which has sadly come true,more than once, is when I attend a presentation or a workshop and the presenter has their entire presentation written out on power point slides and they read off of it word for word as my blood begins to boil. I even remember the days of people printing out their entire PP presentation and putting together packets for attendees.  I feel irritated just thinking about it!  If you are listening to this show and you are known to put a ton of text and bad clip art into your PP presentation or google slides presentation, please stop, immediately.  Anyways, when we had our annual holiday concert in elementary school, the music teacher displayed song lyrics that were pre-printed on transparencies so we could all read and sing along as they were projected on the white screen that pulled down from the ceiling in our cafetorium/gym.  Another teacher would volunteer to follow along with the lyrics, moving the transparency up so we could follow along.  This person would also have to grab the next song off of the transparency pile.  I distinctly remember the excessively long brown or off-white colored extension cord that was wrapped around the built in cord holder on the OHP cart.  I also remember teachers reminding us to watch our step whenever we walked near the projector so as not to trip over the cord running to whatever outlet was the closest.  Keep in mind during the 80s and 90s, classrooms didn't have a ton of outlets like they do now.  Also keep in mind that the cords connected to the OHP looked like something out of the turn of the century, I wonder how many sparks flew out of sockets and fuses were blown as a result of this dated wiring and hot lightbulbs associated with the projectors.  We may never know the answer to these questions, but the sketchy looking cords are one of the first things I thought about when I added the OHP to the list for this episode.

I can't say that I have a ton of really specific memories about middle school.  However, there is one teacher that I remember for some reason.  I believe she was maybe my 7th grade social studies teacher?  Anyways, I remember her asking my class if we had seen the first episode of a new show called Friend and how funny she thought it was. I remember her  getting in front of our class and strumming her guitar and signing the lyrics to ‘One Tin Soldier’ as we all awkwardly sat and watched.  To this day, without looking it up, I remember a few lines of that song.  I only heard it that one time.  And I also remember the noise she would make whenever she would underline something on the overhead projector.  We always laughed an uneasy giggle whenever she did that. Neeeeoooowwww.  If you were to assume I tell this pointless story whenever a conversation about overheads comes up, you would be right.  And that conversation happens about once every 9 years.  And I will never forget how often teachers were a few seconds late to class because the transparency machine wasn't working correctly or got stuck.  

By the time I started my career in education in 2010, overhead projectors were definitely a thing of the past.  I distinctly remember the school district I worked for had a closet full of overhead projectors and they had no idea what to do with them.  It felt wasteful for them to get thrown out as they still worked and were in great condition.  But, they took up so much space and were so heavy that they needed to go somewhere else.  I can't remember where they ended up, but I imagine the process of moving them elsewhere wasn't easy.

That brings us to Microfiche and Microfilm. 

Microfiche was invented in 1839 for the purposes of safely storing microphotographs.  At one time, microphotographs could only be viewed with an actual microscope, which I imagine was not a preferred method for reviewing more than just a few photos at a time. EXPLAIN HOW IT WORKS VIA ABOVE ARTICLE.

By the 1920s, it became mainsteam, continuing to help preserve important documents in an inexpensive way.  Further, the process helped ensure documents did not get damaged or turn yellow like other preservation methods.  And if you have ever used a photo album with sticky pages, you know exactly what I am talking about.  I have probably hundreds of photos that cannot be removed from these impractical albums which often had pages that turned yellow, but also damaged the photos and the inability to remove a photo out with out bending it severely or even worse, accidentally ripping it.  80s photo albums were so much more antiquated than I imagine most realize.  

By the 1930s, libraries started to understand that having enough space for archives was a huge undertaking and it was hard to determine exactly how much space would be needed in the first place.  Microfiche was praised during this time, because it significantly reduced the amount of space needed to preserve documents, photos, articles and the like. After WWII, the use of microfiche took off. By the 1970s, information and news was becoming more readily available so colleges and universities across the country needed to find a more effective way to store their archives. Fun fact, did you know that Harvard was the first university to use Microfiche?  

The machines that read the Microfiche looked like oversized microscopes with large, matte screens.  EXPLAIN HOW IT WORKS.

Boston University, for example, used to have 12 microfiche machines, and there were often lines of students waiting to use them, especially in the 70s and 80s.  Maybe even into the 90s just a little.  One gentleman who contributed to the aforementioned? article was the former night staff for the microform and current periodicals department. Can you imagine having that job?  

I feel so bored and tired just thinking about it…first of all, working overnight takes a special person (I really mean that) and then this department was located in the basement of the library to boot.  And on top of that, the smell of some of those old documents must have made for a challenging work shift.  Oh and did I mention that the lighting in most of the microfeech areas was often dim to make it easier for users to see the documents?  So let's review….working overnights, in a dimly lit and probably musty and moldy basement, surrounded by microfiche machines and probably a crap ton of wood paneling. No thanks.  Oh and how much do you want to bet that people chain smoked while using the microfiche?!    Also, this employee noted that at one time, BU had a staff of 40 students who rotated through the Microfilm & periodicals department.  Now there are maybe 1 or 2. 

I remember walking past the microfiche machine in our local library.  I don't remember it being in the basement but perhaps as microfiche machines were phased out, our local library decided to move the last remaining device to a more common and easily accessible area.  This was during the time when our library still looked like something out of the 1960s, just like my college library.  I swear every library and college campus looked like the 1960s threw up on them until the internet and social media became mainstream and outdated facilities would be ripped apart online. And of course renovations that brought places like my college library and academic buildings into the 21st century all happened after I graduated or moved away. PS both of the dorm buildings I lived in during college were completely demolished a few years after I graduated.  PPS, during my last two years of college they added an actual dedicated smoking room to the 3rd floor of upperclassman housing where I lived.  Not subtracted, added.  So just like any college student in 1965 I too could chain smoke my brains out in a tiny room while studying.  But wait, it was the early 2000s.  Again, my college was like the 60s.  But that didn't bother me at all because when I learned we were getting a smoking room, I was ecstatic.  I had already burned a hole in my gloves due to my winter time smoking so the thought of having a dedicated room sounded awesome.  Anyways, by the time I was in college, microfiche was a thing of the past. We can blame the internet for the demise of microfiche. And when my upperclassman dorm was demolished, the smoking room, too, went down with the ship.  A room filled with smoke, went down to dust and ashes.  What an interesting coincidence.

Now on to the final topic of today's show.  I have two words for you:  word and processor.  These devices came out of a need from writers to have something to compose their stories on, something that could do more than a typewriter.  However, our story does in fact start with a typewriter.  In 1872, Thomas Edison patented the typewriter after the first working type writer was released in 1867.  A few decades later, in the 1930s, IBM introduced the electromatic which had undergone some revisions making it easier and faster to type on. Businesses would soon catch on.  Later, the M Shultz company introduced the automatic or repetitive typewriter.  It could store information on the machine which could be accessed at a later time.  Further, this version could make copies without the help of a separate device like carbon paper, a photocopy machine, etc.  Later models could print even faster, and editing was easy without having to retype the whole document.  

IBM introduced the Mag card in 1969 and this innovation made word processing more readily available to the general public and businesses. In 1972, Lexitron and Linolex were winning the race as they created their own word processing device but it had a video screen to display what was being typed.  Information was stored on cassette tapes and users could hold off on printing until they were ready to do so.  Just one year later a company called Vydec starting using the IBM developed floppy disk for storage.  These early discs could hold 80-100 pages of documents, compared to 1-2 pages of earlier models.  The helpful thing about floppy disks was that they allowed software programs to be stored on them instead of having to be hard-wired. It made it much easier and economical to update software on word processors.  In contrast, a typewriter could save work, but memory was often stored on a separate component and it was quite large, almost the size of a kitchen trash can.

The Mag Card II was released in 1975 and it cost 11,500 at the time which is roughly 68,000 in today's money.  In 1976, IBM controlled 80% of the market for word processors.  But that all changed in 1977 when a company named Lanier introduced the No Problem Word Processor which held the top spot for word processor sales.  During the mid-late 1980s, special features like spell check, mailing list programs, and the ability to have more than one document open at a time. Even when computers came along, their most popular use was for word processing.  And it was the computer which ultimately led to the demise of the word processor. In 2009, just 2 companies made word processors.  

In speaking with my parents about this of this technology, they mentioned that they too came into contact with overhead projectors, microfiche, and the occasional word processor, especially during college.  I find that fascinating as me and my sister grew up in the 80s and 90s and my parents for the most part grew up in the 50s and 60s yet some of the technology wasn’t drastically different.  Although they never did get to experience the joy of computer lab day and playing Oregon Trail on an Apple II E computer. 

I hope you enjoyed this look back at some of the retro technology found in classrooms, libraries and college campuses all across the country in the 1980s, 1990s and in some cases the 60s and 70s as well.  

Make sure you visit popcultureretrospective.com to connect with me!  Here you can find links to blog posts, guest profiles, leave a review or even shop for PCR Podcast merchandise.  Please also be sure to email me or leave me a message about any favorite memories of the show or favorite episodes you have.  We are slowly coming up on the 5 year anniversary of the podcast and I always love connecting with listeners.  I hope you will join me for my next episode where we will take a look at another fascinating facet of the 80s, 90s and early 2000s in memory of my sister.  Until then…