Howdy Gang - Kobie here!
Howdy Gang . . .
Let me clarify one thing . . . there is no difference between the 38' and 42' dog tags other than that the machines were made in 38' and 42'. The style of WWII tag is still the same.
The 1938 machine is my favorite because it is the first machine I ever owned and it is still my work horse machine that I count on everyday.
The WWII and "WWII era" tags all have a notch in them - the history and explination of the notch is beyond the scope of this post if you wish to review the "notch" see previous posts on this forum.
One thing that was different between tags was the text format. The text was different from year to year mostly dependant upon where the tags were issued, what branch of service, etc. Nothing was standardized on the text until right before WWII.
This ad id from 1925, you can clearly see the Graphotype machine behind the desk where the woman is sitting. I used this ad because I liked the man's hat.
We have 19 machines in our collection. One machines dates from 1901. Now hold on - before you say 1901 ! - I want 1901 dog tags, there is a problem.
The military did not adopt the WWII dog tags until the late 30's. Prior to the 1930's the military ID tags were round, made of aluminum and where hand stamped using a special kit.
Which by the way we do have three (3) of these "kits" in our collection.
I have posted photos of the WWI "kit" on the web at WWI KIT.
The 1901 machine is a class 6100 or G1 Series machine; it is a hand operated machine that weighs in at 111 lbs.
It is these machines and the history behind them that has me interested in the dog tags. The whole era of when these machines were produced has me greatly excited. One of the things we hear from people all the time is "They don't make them like that anymore . . . ", our reply is No, these were made the way things used to be made, made to last.
Honestly if the machines are taken care of they will work well into the next century and beyond. Our collection of machines is a living museum; all of our equipment works or is capable of work. Watching or looking at things behind glass as in a normal museum is fine but it is much more interesting to see the machines operate in person.
At public sales venues we develope quite a following of on-lookers. Some people will stand in aw and watch the machines operate for 30 minutes to an hour. Others become emotional as it brings back memories of the past for them. One thing is for sure, these machines mean different things to different people.
One of the most memorable experiences was a man that was stationed in the Pacific during WWII who stood there for a while watching the machine before he became very emotional. When asked if he was ok he said . . .
Graphotype machines are found all over the world and were originally patented in 1896. They are STILL in use today but were largely replaced by computers with the advent of the dot matrix printer in the early 1980's. So many of these machines have been carted off to the dump or land fills and others are just left to rust away.
At one time the Addressograph-Multigraph company was one of the most powerful companies in the world. Addressograph and Multigraph merged in the 1930's and became Addressograph-Multigraph Co. It was this merger that accelerated AM Co. into one of the most influential companies in history. Almost every industrial nation and large company world wide were affected by Addressograph-Multigraph and their products.
The actual dog tag machine called a Graphotype was really a support piece of equipment. The Graphotype did not start out as a "Dog Tag" machine. The Graphotype was support equipment that made debossed address plates for the Addressograph machine. When the government went looking to standardize the military Identification Tag they wanted a machine that could make the tags and commissioned several different studies. With the outbreak of the war the government decided why reinvent the wheel and they adopted the Graphotype as their standard "ID Tag" machine.
The Graphotype then became the de facto standard for making ID Tags until the mid 1980's when computerized embossers became available. Graphotypes are still in use today by both the government and in the commercial sector, though not as many as before computers.
The Graphotype was discontinued as a manufactured product in the early 1980's and has not been made since. Addressograph has completely dropped the line and no longer supports the machines.
We are always seeking contributions from anyone if it relates to Addressograph, Graphotypes, dog tags or military can openers. We have been trying to assemble a section of testimonials from outside contributors. Currently we have several submissions but have just not had the time to publish everything we have. We have approximately 80 more pages of information to publish and if time permits we will get to some of it soon.
Yes DogTagsRus is a business but it is much more than that for me and my father, it is a passion. I hope everyone finds this information interesting and informative.
Kobie
DogTagsRus
Howdy Gang . . .
Let me clarify one thing . . . there is no difference between the 38' and 42' dog tags other than that the machines were made in 38' and 42'. The style of WWII tag is still the same.
The 1938 machine is my favorite because it is the first machine I ever owned and it is still my work horse machine that I count on everyday.
The WWII and "WWII era" tags all have a notch in them - the history and explination of the notch is beyond the scope of this post if you wish to review the "notch" see previous posts on this forum.
One thing that was different between tags was the text format. The text was different from year to year mostly dependant upon where the tags were issued, what branch of service, etc. Nothing was standardized on the text until right before WWII.
We have 19 machines in our collection. One machines dates from 1901. Now hold on - before you say 1901 ! - I want 1901 dog tags, there is a problem.
The military did not adopt the WWII dog tags until the late 30's. Prior to the 1930's the military ID tags were round, made of aluminum and where hand stamped using a special kit.
Which by the way we do have three (3) of these "kits" in our collection.
I have posted photos of the WWI "kit" on the web at WWI KIT.
The 1901 machine is a class 6100 or G1 Series machine; it is a hand operated machine that weighs in at 111 lbs.
It is these machines and the history behind them that has me interested in the dog tags. The whole era of when these machines were produced has me greatly excited. One of the things we hear from people all the time is "They don't make them like that anymore . . . ", our reply is No, these were made the way things used to be made, made to last.
Honestly if the machines are taken care of they will work well into the next century and beyond. Our collection of machines is a living museum; all of our equipment works or is capable of work. Watching or looking at things behind glass as in a normal museum is fine but it is much more interesting to see the machines operate in person.
At public sales venues we develope quite a following of on-lookers. Some people will stand in aw and watch the machines operate for 30 minutes to an hour. Others become emotional as it brings back memories of the past for them. One thing is for sure, these machines mean different things to different people.
This is me running my 1938 machine at a local show.
One of the most memorable experiences was a man that was stationed in the Pacific during WWII who stood there for a while watching the machine before he became very emotional. When asked if he was ok he said . . .
We love to show our machines off and we encourage people to come and inspect them close up and in person. They only thing we will not allow is for the public to operate the machines, they are dangerous when in operation for someone that is untrained or unskilled such as children. But none-the-less, we have our ?¢‚Ǩ?ìgroupies?¢‚Ǩ? that come to watch the machines and we welcome them with open arms.
Graphotype machines are found all over the world and were originally patented in 1896. They are STILL in use today but were largely replaced by computers with the advent of the dot matrix printer in the early 1980's. So many of these machines have been carted off to the dump or land fills and others are just left to rust away.
At one time the Addressograph-Multigraph company was one of the most powerful companies in the world. Addressograph and Multigraph merged in the 1930's and became Addressograph-Multigraph Co. It was this merger that accelerated AM Co. into one of the most influential companies in history. Almost every industrial nation and large company world wide were affected by Addressograph-Multigraph and their products.
The actual dog tag machine called a Graphotype was really a support piece of equipment. The Graphotype did not start out as a "Dog Tag" machine. The Graphotype was support equipment that made debossed address plates for the Addressograph machine. When the government went looking to standardize the military Identification Tag they wanted a machine that could make the tags and commissioned several different studies. With the outbreak of the war the government decided why reinvent the wheel and they adopted the Graphotype as their standard "ID Tag" machine.
The Graphotype then became the de facto standard for making ID Tags until the mid 1980's when computerized embossers became available. Graphotypes are still in use today by both the government and in the commercial sector, though not as many as before computers.
The Graphotype was discontinued as a manufactured product in the early 1980's and has not been made since. Addressograph has completely dropped the line and no longer supports the machines.
We are always seeking contributions from anyone if it relates to Addressograph, Graphotypes, dog tags or military can openers. We have been trying to assemble a section of testimonials from outside contributors. Currently we have several submissions but have just not had the time to publish everything we have. We have approximately 80 more pages of information to publish and if time permits we will get to some of it soon.
Yes DogTagsRus is a business but it is much more than that for me and my father, it is a passion. I hope everyone finds this information interesting and informative.
Kobie
DogTagsRus
