The Elevator Preservation Blog

Otis Employee 184…Who Are You?

Monday, March 21st, 2011

I recieved the e-mail below with some great photos. We are in search of whom this may have belonged to. Employee number 184 who are you? If anyone from Otis has older records that might be able to identify who this pin might have been worn by we’d love to hear from you.

Original E-mail:

Tom  ,I finally got around to this. Let me know what you think.  I met up with an Otis  mechanic who knows  some retired Otis mechanics so he is going to show them a pin ,see what they say.  We were thinking maybe from the 1950’s or 60’s .50 cents for a lost pin in the in the30’s 0r 40’s would have been a lot of money.    Let me know . I’m also sending this to a rep at Otis who was at our shop It’s possible they still have a record of the ID # on the badge and who wore it .Current mechanics are in 3 digit numbers now . So that could date them better  possibly.   ……………….Scott

If you’ve got any information at all regarding this pin please comment in the space below. Thanks!

Tags: old otis mechanics, Otis Elevator, otis employee, otis employee 184, otis mechanics, otis pin, retired otis mechanics
Posted in Elevators - 1931-1950 | 1 Comment

Great Elevator Americana!

Friday, September 24th, 2010

It is awesome when we get these kinds of e-mails. This one came from Rob who has some great old elevator castings. What makes the photo’s even cooler is the fact that Rob has the history that goes along with them.

 Rob Piron - The half moon dial has been made into a clock using a thrush bearing gauge. It was apparently created as a “42 years of service” award for a retiring G.E. employee credited with inventing a “hydraulic floor indicator” device. The year of retirement is indicated as 1968, but the dial appears older than that – not sure though.

The switch is salvage of unknown origin. I refinished and mounted it on a pole stand. I have another switch buried in my barn similar in style to the Nissen Building variety posted on your site. Again, note sure of the vintages of either of these styles, but I’m curious which style pre-dates which. I was told the Otis globe logo with the “wreath” pre-dates logos without, but haven’t been able to confirm this. 

The brass ID plate came out the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary, Portland, Maine. The car it was removed from was the original installation from 1892; birdcage style cab driven by an electric basement drum machine.

Ideally I would like to ID exact dates on the Otis items; I’m sure that’s a stretch though. They all do have part numbers, so I was curious if dating is possible with these data.

The last pics are for fun; Here is a great pair of extant c 1911 Otis’s located in the Triangle Lodge building in Portland, Maine. They are the last manual passenger elevators in the City.

Tom, thanks for your help. I’ve been an armchair admirer of early building systems since I was a kid and it’s great to see sites like yours breathing new life into these marvels of the past.

Thanks again,

Rob Piron

Pat Carrajat was nice enough to help with identifying some of these pieces.

• The half moon is typical for the period between 1890-1940, no way to identify exact dates unless there is date or a casting number. Some casting numbers can be cross referenced by Otis, this vintage woulb often have 2-4 numbers followed by 1-2 letters followed oby 1-2 numbers
• (i.e. 147TA2 which is a hall button cover or 1898-12 also a button cover. The 1898 does not refer to the year.
• The car switch cover & handle appears to be a type “O”, I should have a parts leaflet and will check. If it’s a “O” it was produced sometime in the 1930’s in all likelihood.
• The capacity plate cannot be dated, the style speaks to me as being early 1900’s or late 1800’s.

Thanks Rob again for sharing not only your photographs of early americana elevator pieces but for also including the history behind them!

If you would like to comment on this post please do so in the comments section below.

Tom Sybert
www.elevatorpreservation.com

Posted in Elevators - 1900-1930, Elevators - 1931-1950, Elevators - Pre 1900's | No Comments

Pacific Coast Elevator Company Video

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Pretty cool video from Youtube user elevatortraction who has some great video’s on his page that relate to older elevators. This one at Antique Elevator at 92 Lonsdale Ave. in North Vancouver, British Columbia is no exception. The elevator was fabricate most likely in it’s entirety by Pacific Coast Elevator Company located in the Los Angeles Area.

Pacific Coast Elevator was a major manufacturer in the 1930’s and beyond. It was purchased in 1946 by Montgomery Elevator Company. It’s not clear whether the products that PECO manufactured continued on or if Montgomery started to phase the components out. If anyone has additional information to share on this please do so in the comments section below.

Thanks again to tractionelevator over on www.youtube.com for sharing this video.  The elevator looks to be original to when the building was built.

Tags: antique elevator video, Pacific Coast Elevator Company
Posted in Articles, Elevators - 1931-1950 | No Comments

Very Unique Piece of LA Elevator History For Sale!

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Back around 1960 my Dad worked for Haughton Elevator Company.  At that time, he was working on removing the elevator cabs from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.  That building was built in 1939.  The elevators were originally built by Otis.  The cabs may have been built by Otis as well, but my Dad isn’t sure.  This fixture is about 2 feet tall/wide and is as original as you can get.

A very unique piece that’s for sale by contacting Tressa at assert_s@yahoo.com Perfect for any period elevator or residential elevator owner looking for an authentic elevator light fixture.

Tags: 1939 Elevator Light Fixture, Haughton Elevator, Union Station Elevator Light
Posted in Elevators - 1931-1950 | 1 Comment