The roots of Xerox Corporation and its history of innovation started growing back in 1938. In October of that year, patent attorney Chester Carlson (1906–1968) invented the first xerographic image. Carlson believed that the world needed an easier and cheaper way to make copies of important documents. Previously, carbon paper, printing presses, or retyping were required to create a document copy.

However, it took nearly ten long years before Carlson could find a company that would develop his invention into a useful product. The Haloid Company, a small photo-paper maker in Rochester, New York, took on the challenge and promise of xerography. In 1949 Haloid introduced its first xerographic machine. Slow and messy, it required several steps to produce a decent copy—but it worked.

Birth of the Office Copier

Not until 1959, twenty-one years after Carlson invented xerography, was the first convenient plain-paper office copier unveiled. By...