Blueprints were created by using a dyeline machine. The original drawing was done with black ink on a thick tracing paper and then fed into the rollers on the machine. The machine contained a large roll of light sensitive paper which was exposed to the original drawing (hence the transparent tracing paper); the image was then fixed with an ammonia based fluid. You could produce loads of copies from the original ... the copies were usually blue in colour due to the process, hence, blueprints. Dyeline machines came in different sizes and were quite common until the rise of computers and pen plotters and more recently wide-format inkjet printers. They were a pain to use because you had to wash the machine clean at the end of each session.
The are a few print shops who still have 'legacy' dyeline equipment for odd jobs when required.