Xerox introduced the Xerox 914, the first commercially successful plain-paper photocopier, in 1959.
The machine was the landmark product of Haloid, the Rochester company that commercialized Chester Carlson’s xerography process. Carlson had developed electrophotography in the 1930s, and Haloid acquired rights to the technology in 1947 before working with Battelle Memorial Institute to refine it.
The 914 was introduced publicly on September 16, 1959, in New York. It could produce copies quickly and economically on ordinary paper, avoiding the slower and messier wet-chemical methods common at the time. Customers typically rented the large machine and paid according to usage, a business model that helped make it practical for offices.
The name Xerox became strongly associated with copying because of the model’s success. A technical historical distinction is worth noting: Haloid had already introduced the commercial Xerox Model A in 1949. The 914 is more precisely remembered as the first highly successful commercial plain-paper copier, and it propelled Haloid Xerox into a dominant position in office technology.