# Xerox machines and Brownies

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xerox-machines-and-brownies/203186>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [September 22, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xerox-machines-and-brownies/203186 "2003-09-22T21:57:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xerox-machines-and-brownies/203186/1 "2003-09-22T21:57:28Z")

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In the 1977 Cecil Adams article prominently displayed today, [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_235a.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_235a.html), ol’ Unca Cece quips:

> [@](#):
>
> it’s a simple photographic process, not that much different from what happens in your Brownie.

I assume the kind of “Brownie” being referenced here is not:[list=A][li]the fudge-based cakelike treat baked in a square pan,[/li][li]the mythical fairy-like forest creature, or[/li]some kind of slang for the Browning automatic rifle.[/list]If so, what kind of a “Brownie” **is** it?

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**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xerox-machines-and-brownies/203186/2 "2003-09-22T22:01:50Z")

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Drat. It looks like someone else already started up a thread here on this very topic:

[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212809](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212809).