a
reference to the Robotyper, a
brand of
automatic typewriter, introduced in the 1930s and used throughout the mid-twentieth century, that could
produce a number of copies of an original letter. The typist manually typed the original letter on a
machine that recorded it on a paper
tape in a
code consisting of small perforations. The typist then placed the perforated
tape on the Robotyper, manually typed an
individual's name and
address on a new letter, and then the
machine typed the rest of the text automatically by reading the perforated
tape. This could be done over and over to
produce many letters
having the same text, but addressed to
different people.