In the advertising and sales department, the addressing machine is used to excellent advantage for addressing follow-up letters, booklets, circulars, and catalogs. Its use makes it easy to send advertising literature to all customers at frequent intervals. The machine is not recommended for a prospective customer's follow-up list, unless a large number of follow-ups are to be sent; but when a man becomes a customer, it may be safely assumed that the name is permanent.
Of the machines now on the market, one of the best known is the _addressograph_. This machine is made with both card addresses and chain addresses. The card machine, which is shown in Fig. 21, is the most practical for the uses to which the machine is put in the average office. With this machine, metal frames the size of an index card are used. These frames are made in two styles, one of which has a metal printing plate, while with the other, the name and address are set in rubber type. With the first style, the printing plate is made by stamping the letters on a sheet of metal. This makes a permanent address, which cannot be changed without making a new plate.
[Illustration: Fig. 21. The Addressograph Addressing Machine _Addressograph Co._]
Fig. 22 shows the rubber type frame. The name and address are set up in the type frame, and can be changed at will. Type taken from old addresses can be used over and over again. When an address is set, a proof is printed on a card, which is placed in the upper half of the frame. This card is large enough for notations, and can be arranged for recording any information desired.
The metal frames are provided with tabs printed with letters, names of towns, numbers, or other special information, and are filed in card drawers, as shown in Fig. 23. They may be filed in any of the usual ways adapted for card systems; a customers' list may be filed according to states and towns, and the names in a certain town addressed without disturbing the balance of the list.
[Illustration: Fig. 22. Metal Frames for Rubber Type _The Addressograph Co._]
To operate the machine, the address plates are first transferred to the magazine on top of the machine. The contents of a drawer can be transferred without handling. The plates are automatically fed to the printing point of the machine, from which they are returned to the drawer, which is placed under the machine, in the exact order in which they were filed. When the address frame reaches the printing point, the address is plainly visible on the card, so that any name can be skipped.