There Was a Time, However

There was a time, however, when I wanted nothing more than to be a "citizen journalist"--or maybe a "citizen publisher".

When I was about ten years old, I decided that there was an opportunity for someone like me to establish a neighborhood newspaper. My mother was unusually supportive of my ideas and didn't hesitate to provide me with the necessary means to carry them out. In this case she told me that what I needed was a hectograph. We went straight to the Sears Roebuck catalog and she called in the order. Within a few days, I had my hectograph which at the time was state of the art technology for neighborhood newspaper publishing.

A hectograph was a simple tool. It was a wood masonite and wood tray, approximately 9 X 12 inches and one inch deep. The hectograph kit contained a kind of jel which we poured into the tray and let it set up. The kit also contained stencils. I laid out my newspaper articles on the stencils, placed the stencils on the gel, and one by one, put sheets of paper on the gel to pick up the ink.

What was the outcome of this little endeavor? I am not sure I know myself. My memory of this is somewhat vague, but for whatever reason my interest in exploiting the entrepreneural side of the activity quickly faded.