Artifact Friday: Graphotype

This 1940s graphotype machine is our newest addition to our collection here at the museum. On loan through Ozark Survival Supply, the graphotype is a highly interesting and historical machine that served in identification for soldiers during World War II. These machines were used to make dog tags, address graphs, and industrial nameplates and were not originally made for dog tags. Different variants of the graphotype would have features such as sliding, hand wheels, and a typewriter like keyboard. This particular graphotype has a switch to turn it on, a typewriter-like keyboard, and a plate roller to hold the dog tags while imprinting. The Machine would deboss, stamp into the plate, and would appear as type writer lettering on whichever plate you used to imprint on. The graphotypes were used to imprint dog tags because the military realized that there needed to be a more mass-scale production of dog tags with the war starting. These machines would be in basic training camps, ships, and bases in both Europe and the Pacific. These machines became integral to the war effort; being able to identify soldiers was key to families, fellow soldiers, and remembrance of the war. Come check out our graphotype and be able to get your very own.