Fax Machine
The Technology That Sent Documents Over Wires
Forgotten Technology · 1843
Archived on
Associated With
Xerox Corporation - inventor, developer or manufacturer
Defining Feature
Line-by-line transmission and remote reproduction of documents over communications networks
Status
Preserved - Widespread office use declined with digital communication; preserved in communication and technology collections
Overview
Fax machines transmitted the visual information in documents and reproduced it at another location.
Alexander Bain patented an early facsimile system in 1843, long before telephone-connected office machines became commonplace. Later systems combined synchronised scanning, photoelectric sensing, telephone connections and printing mechanisms.
Commercial systems became increasingly common from the 1960s, with broad office adoption during the 1980s and 1990s. Email and other digital document services later reduced everyday fax use.
Why It Mattered
Fax changed the speed of document exchange by allowing contracts, forms and handwritten pages to cross long distances in minutes. It became part of the everyday infrastructure of offices, hospitals and public institutions before email and online document services displaced much of its role.
From Bain’s Patent to Office Fax
- Scottish clockmaker Alexander Bain patented an early system for transmitting images in 1843.
- Later facsimile technologies combined synchronised scanning, photoelectric sensing, telephone connections and printing mechanisms.
- Commercial systems became increasingly common from the 1960s, with broad office adoption during the 1980s and 1990s.
Scanning and Reconstruction
- A transmitter scanned a document line by line and encoded light and dark areas as electrical signals.
- A receiving machine decoded those signals and reconstructed the page remotely.
- Thermal-paper and plain-paper machines brought the process into ordinary workplaces.
Decline in the Digital Era
- Email, cloud storage, electronic signatures and online document systems reduced everyday fax use.
- Fax remained in limited use where established procedures or compatibility requirements persisted.
- Museum collections preserve its place between telegraphy and internet-based document exchange.
Sources & Records
- International Telecommunication Union — telecommunications history — Identifies Alexander Bain’s 1843 patent as an early precursor to image transmission.
- Science Museum Group — Alexander Bain — Identifies Bain as the inventor of the electrochemical printing telegraph, an early fax system.
Gallery
Credit
Olivetti OFX 330AC design: George Sowden; image reproduced by PORT, photographer not separately identified
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary, criticism, research and historical documentation where permitted by applicable law. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
George Sowden's Olivetti OFX 330AC treats the fax machine as a designed office object, bringing deliberate form to equipment usually remembered for its practical function.
Credit
Fax-machine photograph; reproduced via The Shovel; photographer unknown.
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary, criticism, research and historical documentation where permitted by applicable law. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
Fax machines made paper documents transmissible between offices, with receiving trays and nearby filing storage forming part of the everyday workflow before email attachments became routine.
Credit
Xerox advertising artwork; National Museum of American History Archives, Smithsonian Institution collection; reproduced via Sprint Media.
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary, criticism, research and historical documentation where permitted by applicable law. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
Xerox's 1961 advertisement makes ordinary-paper copying the selling point of the 914, illustrating a related office revolution rather than a fax transmission system.