Introduction
Before viral memes, there was “xeroxlore”—the underground culture of photocopied jokes, subversive cartoons, and mysterious pamphlets passed around in offices, factories, and bureaucracies. Xeroxlore occupies a shadowy place in conspiracy culture: proof that even the most controlled environments breed their own dissent, coded messages, and rumor mills.
Origins
As photocopiers spread in the 1970s and 80s, so did a new kind of samizdat: hand-drawn comics mocking management, warnings about office surveillance, and coded notes about whistleblowing or labor agitation. “Xeroxlore” became a way for employees to vent, resist, or even secretly coordinate.
The Conspiracy Theory
Some claim xeroxlore was monitored by intelligence agencies, who saw such anonymous literature as a threat to corporate and state stability. Others say some “jokes” hid real codes for activists, union organizers, or even Cold War spies. As digital surveillance increased, xeroxlore is remembered as the last golden age of anonymous dissent.
Core Principles and Beliefs
- Office folklore is a form of resistance, sometimes containing genuine secrets.
- Management and intelligence agencies surveilled and sometimes infiltrated xeroxlore networks.
- Modern meme culture grew from these secret traditions.
Controversies and Criticism
Critics see xeroxlore as harmless pranks, but the persistence of anonymous pamphlets and workplace “whistleblower memes” remains a concern for institutions.
Key Examples
- Anonymous leaflets about “company spies” in 1980s factories.
- Joke newsletters that doubled as real union organizing tools.
Critical Analysis
Xeroxlore is a reminder: wherever there is power, there will be secret resistance—sometimes hidden in plain sight.
Influential Literature: Pro & Contra
- Elizabeth Tucker – “Copycats and Xeroxlore” – Univ. of Illinois, 2003.
- Sam Dean – “The Unprintable Office” – Penguin, 2007.
- Alan Dundes – “Office Jokes” – University of Illinois, 2005.