How Were Graphs and Charts Prepared in the 1950s?

[moon_custafer]

Searches: graphs and charts 1950s gouache
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hand-drwan graphs in the 1950s
office graphs before desktop printingThis is one of those things you never think about until it comes up -- I assume that prior to

Comments

[reapermum]

Try googling Drawing Office. It produces some nice images from your period.

[dorsetgirl]

I can't help with the 1950s but my experience from the 1980s suggests that people simply didn't bother with graphs to anything like the extent we take for granted nowadays.

I had various jobs producing "management information" in the late 1970s and early 1980s and everyone just got on with reading the numbers. When I first got a PC in the office (I'm guessing 1985-6), complete with SuperCalc and a rather fancy plotter, I introduced the department I worked for to the idea of graphs for their weekly numbers. It simply wasn't something they'd expected before, nor would anyone normally have had the time to prepare them before then.

I can't remember any meetings before the mid 1980s where people expected graphs as a matter of course, and I had a number of jobs which involved talking about numbers. So personally, I would expect that your character might have a bit of a moan about people who are too stupid to interpret the numbers without people drawing them pretty pictures!

[louisedennis]

How urgent is your query? I could ask my parents who were both working in science type professions by the 1960s but it might take a day or two.

I also have my grandfather's MSc Thesis from 1936. It has several graphs, charts and maps in it which have been glued in but I'm not sure how they were produced. At first glance they look hand-drawn but the writing is too regular so they were either hand drawn by a professinal or printed in some way.

[moon_custafer]

Not urgent; it's just something I've got in the works and I need an excuse to have two characters both working late without them really being the same job description.

[bleodswean]

The Husband, who is a professional map maker descended from a long line of such, says no. He says it would be the accountant's job. YMMV.

And hey you. :)

[reynardo]

I agree it ought to be the accountant's job, but it's also something that might be thrown to the newest apprentice draughtsman if things were quiet.

Also, any graphs are likely to be simple block or bar graphs, and a lot of the time would be just black-and-white, with lines or dots to indicate different regions. I have (somewhere) a book on how to prepare graphs and such for printing, where you don't want the expense of colour so you have to use all sorts of textures and such to differentiate areas. You could also buy books of sheets of texture (such as fine wavy lines, dots, etc) that you'd cut out and stick, rather than having to do them by hand.

[moon_custafer]

Ooh, Letraset textures (like Ben-day dots) hadn't occurred to me!

Draughtsman has actually been working there for at least a year (they got the accountant when they merged with another small firm), but he's an obliging sort, and it might also be possible to play it as "You remember what the graph from last year's meeting looked like, show the new guy how to do one in the same style."

[corvideye]

Rub-on dry transfer lettering might also be a possibility for lines and labels. There was also very skinny (1/16"-1/32" wide) graphic tape in black and various colors used for lines on bulletin boards and graphic design stuff, could be used for the axes. Chartpak actually still makes it but it's rare now. (I work at an office and drafting supply store that actually still carries a little, but it's not available in nearly the range it was in the 70s-80s).

[thekumquat]

More tables, fewer graphs, and lots of Letraset for final versions for publication. Precious little colour - they would have had photocopiers or carbons or Banda copies at least, but no colour copying.

Likely to have had someone slightly superior to the usual typist pool doing technical drawing.

[moon_custafer]

Thanks.

[moon_custafer]

For anyone reading this in future, I found this link on Letraset, which gives lots of useful detail.

ETA -- Aw dammit! Except Letraset didn't exist until the late 'fiftiess, and my scene takes place mid-'fifties. Back to the drawing board (perhaps literally).

ETA2 -- Zip-a-Tone was a predecessor to Letraset. Looks like my draughtsman will be gluing down bits of printed acetate and then trimming them with a razor blade; then probably photo-reducing the image. I can probably hand-wave a lot of the fine detail by describing it from the PoV of the accountant, who's a bit light-headed from the glue fumes.

[inamac]

Pre-Letraset (and for some time after) you would use stencils (plastic sheets with holes in the shapes of the letters that you could put a fine-pen (Rotring) through).

ETA - you can still buy architectural stencil templates - with lettering in a variety of styles. And other useful shapes.