Uncle John's Great Big Bathroom Reader by Bathroom Readers’ Institute
Authors: Bathroom Readers’ Institute
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rope broke, the spring releasedand shoved two hooks into the guide rails, holding it in place and preventing it from falling.
Otis’ contraption was simple, and was intended primarily to carry freight. But it was actually the first “safety” elevator—the first one that could reliably carry human passengers.
STARTING OVER
Not long after, the Bedstead Manufacturing Company went out of business and Otis lost his job. He decided to head west to join the California Gold Rush...but before he could leave, another furniture company hired him to build two new “safety hoisters;” two men had recently been killed using an old one.
The company paid Otis with cash, a gun and a carriage which convinced him to stay. On September 20, 1853, he opened a business in Yonkers selling “Patented Life and Labor Saving Hoisting Machinery.”
Seeing is Believing
Unfortunately, Otis couldn’t sell even one more elevator. So he decided to demonstrate his contraption personally. He entered it in an exhibition on “progress in industry and arts” at the Crystal Palace in New York City. When a substantial crowd had gathered, Otis climbed into his hoist, went up about 30 feet, and as onlookers gasped in horror, had his assistant cut the rope with a knife. The rope snapped, the hoist lurched briefly...and then stopped in place. “All safe, gentlemen, all safe,” Otis called down to the crowd.
Public demonstrations like this generated some sales, but business remained slow for the first few years: Otis sold 27 hoists in 1856, all of them designed to carry freight. In 1857, in an attempt to expand his business, he designed his first passenger elevator, a steam-powered model capable of lifting 1,000 pounds 40 feet per minute.
UNSUNG HERO
Otis died from diphtheria in 1861 at age 49. He left a business that employed fewer than a dozen people and was only worth about $5,000. The first true skyscraper was still many years off, so it’s likely Otis never fully realized the impact his invention would have on mankind.
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Surveys say: If you watch at least 2 prime-time comedies a week, you probably drive a foreign car.
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UPS AND DOWNS
Otis’s sons, Charles and Norton, took over the business following his death. In 1868, they patented a speedier and more elaborate steam elevator. But since there were no electric controls, the elevators required a lot of manpower: Someone had to ride inside the car to operate it (via a rope connected to the steam engine in the basement), and elevator “starters” had to be posted on every floor. Their job was to yell into the elevator shaft to the elevator operator whenever someone needed a lift.
The shouting system was crude, but it worked. The only problem was that it meant buildings could only be as high as the elevator starters could shout. Also, since the elevator was powered by a steam engine that burned coal, the elevator shaft eventually filled with steam and thick smoke, limiting the amount of time people could stand to spend riding in it. This also served to restrict the height of buildings. Elevators, which made tall buildings feasible, were starting to become an obstacle to further growth.
Picking up the Pace
That changed when the first high-speed hydraulic elevator was introduced in the early 1870s. It could travel an amazing 700 feet per minute—which created new problems: Otis’s original safety mechanism stopped a falling elevator instantly by grabbing the guide rails that held the elevator in place. It worked fine when the elevator was only travelling 40 feet per minute. But at 700 feet per minute a sudden, jarring stop could be as bad for the passengers as letting the car plunge to the ground. The Otis brothers fixed this in 1878 when they patented a braking system that slowed the elevator gradually. In 1890, they perfected the first electric elevator...and the skyscraper era was underway.
OTIS FACTS
Today, the Otis Elevator Company is the largest elevator company on
Otis’ contraption was simple, and was intended primarily to carry freight. But it was actually the first “safety” elevator—the first one that could reliably carry human passengers.
STARTING OVER
Not long after, the Bedstead Manufacturing Company went out of business and Otis lost his job. He decided to head west to join the California Gold Rush...but before he could leave, another furniture company hired him to build two new “safety hoisters;” two men had recently been killed using an old one.
The company paid Otis with cash, a gun and a carriage which convinced him to stay. On September 20, 1853, he opened a business in Yonkers selling “Patented Life and Labor Saving Hoisting Machinery.”
Seeing is Believing
Unfortunately, Otis couldn’t sell even one more elevator. So he decided to demonstrate his contraption personally. He entered it in an exhibition on “progress in industry and arts” at the Crystal Palace in New York City. When a substantial crowd had gathered, Otis climbed into his hoist, went up about 30 feet, and as onlookers gasped in horror, had his assistant cut the rope with a knife. The rope snapped, the hoist lurched briefly...and then stopped in place. “All safe, gentlemen, all safe,” Otis called down to the crowd.
Public demonstrations like this generated some sales, but business remained slow for the first few years: Otis sold 27 hoists in 1856, all of them designed to carry freight. In 1857, in an attempt to expand his business, he designed his first passenger elevator, a steam-powered model capable of lifting 1,000 pounds 40 feet per minute.
UNSUNG HERO
Otis died from diphtheria in 1861 at age 49. He left a business that employed fewer than a dozen people and was only worth about $5,000. The first true skyscraper was still many years off, so it’s likely Otis never fully realized the impact his invention would have on mankind.
----
Surveys say: If you watch at least 2 prime-time comedies a week, you probably drive a foreign car.
----
UPS AND DOWNS
Otis’s sons, Charles and Norton, took over the business following his death. In 1868, they patented a speedier and more elaborate steam elevator. But since there were no electric controls, the elevators required a lot of manpower: Someone had to ride inside the car to operate it (via a rope connected to the steam engine in the basement), and elevator “starters” had to be posted on every floor. Their job was to yell into the elevator shaft to the elevator operator whenever someone needed a lift.
The shouting system was crude, but it worked. The only problem was that it meant buildings could only be as high as the elevator starters could shout. Also, since the elevator was powered by a steam engine that burned coal, the elevator shaft eventually filled with steam and thick smoke, limiting the amount of time people could stand to spend riding in it. This also served to restrict the height of buildings. Elevators, which made tall buildings feasible, were starting to become an obstacle to further growth.
Picking up the Pace
That changed when the first high-speed hydraulic elevator was introduced in the early 1870s. It could travel an amazing 700 feet per minute—which created new problems: Otis’s original safety mechanism stopped a falling elevator instantly by grabbing the guide rails that held the elevator in place. It worked fine when the elevator was only travelling 40 feet per minute. But at 700 feet per minute a sudden, jarring stop could be as bad for the passengers as letting the car plunge to the ground. The Otis brothers fixed this in 1878 when they patented a braking system that slowed the elevator gradually. In 1890, they perfected the first electric elevator...and the skyscraper era was underway.
OTIS FACTS
Today, the Otis Elevator Company is the largest elevator company on
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