# DYMO label machines
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [November 12, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032 "2023-11-12T17:25:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2023, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/21 "2023-11-12T23:57:59Z")
I used my Brother P-Touch to slap labels that read “Urinal. M. Rutt” on the hugely expensive new water fountains installed at work.
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### Author:  [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/22 "2023-11-13T00:55:38Z")
We had one of those as a child and I remember playing with it. I don’t know if it was ever used for anything other than having fun.
In Japan, they have _tepura_, (from テープラベル _tape raberu_, how they write “tape label”) label makers. They will print English letters, hiragama and katakana.
They have a wide variety of tape, including iron-on which was very useful when my kids were at daycare and the dozens of items such as clothes, washclothes and towels that needed to be labeled.
The nice thing was that you only have to input the name once and then print out as many labels as needed.
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### Author:  [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2023, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/23 "2023-11-13T14:12:25Z")
Better than Awesome if you have one that hooks to your PC.
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2023, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/24 "2023-11-13T14:18:17Z")
It’s not like I do not have one. Still, you have to appreciate the awesomeness of old-school labels:
[ ](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.g8RatTMT5p899xwc10-CCQHaEY%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=ae9c6284aa63d93c1aba969b539b11705ba93d3075b4421d6b19a79961b8b61c&ipo=images)
[ ](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marklittler.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F10%2FMacallan-1938-handwritten-1.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=5d0a91f0413d21c997f610074a029e73b025f053be380574bfd21549b5df4ad7&ipo=images)
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/25 "2023-11-13T15:23:37Z")
I have the “Flamethrowers” label in my truck.
Interestingly, the Dallas Cowboys still use a vintage Dymo label maker to put the players name on the helmet.
[ ](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/private/t_new_photo_album/cowboys/eoiee42qsb76azi64ptj.jpg)
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### Author:  [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/26 "2023-11-14T16:14:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Were they the ones that had a big dial at the top that you’d use to set the letter, and then squeeze a big trigger to stamp that letter onto the tape and advance the tape one character?
My dad used one of those to create labels for most of my stuff (pencil boxes, etc.) when I was in elementary school. I thought it was neat, and the labels always stayed put.
Many years later (2000 or so), I was taking an elective class in my senior year of high school…I think it was called ‘peer tutoring,’ but most of us were sent over to the elementary school to act as teachers’ aides. I remember being very surprised when the teacher I was assisting handed me a Dymo labeler and the attendance list so I could create labels for the students’ cubbies. It was old tech, but it worked, and the labels were fairly easy to remove at the end of the year.
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### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2023, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/27 "2023-11-14T17:34:39Z")
I still have one somewhere !
I’m surprised you can still get the tape for it.
I must dig it out…
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/28 "2023-11-16T17:58:27Z")
> [@pjd](#):
>
> I’m surprised you can still get the tape for it.
What do you mean? Hell Dymo still sells the classic label maker. It can be yours for $11.59 from Amazon.
[ ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81MIO3e2iYL._AC_SL1500_.jpg)
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### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2023, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/29 "2023-11-16T18:35:00Z")
Mine’s more like this one (it’s got to be over 40 years old) :-
[ ](https://www.thejournalshop.com/cdn/shop/products/item-dp114-s-02-dl.jpg?v=1652653877)
I thought they would have been made obsolete by the more versatile printers like
the brother P-touch thing by now.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/30 "2023-11-16T18:58:21Z")
I imagine there may be places where the old-fashioned Dymo works better? I wonder if it can be used to imprint Braille.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2023, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/31 "2023-11-16T19:07:23Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> I wonder if it can be used to imprint Braille.
[Yes it can.](https://lssproducts.com/content/521057.pdf)
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### Author:  [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2023, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dymo-label-machines/993032/32 "2023-11-18T23:11:15Z")
> [@mixdenny](#):
>
> The DYMO came out in 1958. It must have sold well as I recall them being used everywhere by the time I was in high school (1960-64). What an awesome idea it was! My favorite use for them is in the Bond film where he flies the “Little Nelly” gyrocopter. The entire instrument panel is done in Dymo labels so if it was cool enough for “Q” it was good for anybody. You can see the instrument panel starting at 2 minutes:
>
> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFozWDLne7c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFozWDLne7c)
Unreal. Watched “Thunderball” YESTERDAY. Indeed, Little Nelly. Just a hilarious yet practical bit of stunt work.
Dad had a few Dymo label makers. I think there is still one hiding in the lap drawer of his ( my old ) desk. He’s been dead for 17 years.
They had a certain ruggedness lacking in Brother PTouch machines.
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