As a couple of viewers have noted, the London Colosseum was based on the Roman Pantheon, not the Greek Parthenon. I am sorry for the error.

@mattclements1348

4 жыл бұрын

u should put out a raffel,winner gets to have a few beers with ya,ya k ow ask questions,i bet you a lot of ppl would

@garysarratt1

4 жыл бұрын

Darn them to heck for combing through your splendid videos with slide rules.

@gondolacrescent5

4 жыл бұрын

I confess: I have made the same mistake; I am learning to forgive myself...

@OldDood

4 жыл бұрын

It was eye opening (or should I say Ear Opening) to me when we went up the Empire State Building to the top for our first time. (circa 1999-2000) We were surprised to feel our ears 'Pop' since the elevator was so fast at climbing. There is actually two elevators that you ride to the outside deck for the Empire State building. One long main one and then another shorter one. I guess they replaced the elevators in that building since we went up it so I do not know how it is today...I would assume it is similar.

@JamesThompson-oz8kh

4 жыл бұрын

Rats! I thought I would be first to jump on that. Apparently there are a number of sharp-eyed viewers that are quicker than I am.

I swear the history guy could make anything interesting.

@mrkitty777

4 жыл бұрын

That elevated quickly. 😸

@mrdigi2t

4 жыл бұрын

Next up, the curious evolution of the Pooper Scooper, and how it changed how humanity walks. History, that deserves to be remembered. I'm in.

@charlesbaldo

4 жыл бұрын

@@mrdigi2t I tried to think of something he would not do an make interesting. No matter what, I said nah he could do it. Even a simple thing like a pencil eraser could be made interesting.

@TheAuntieBa

4 жыл бұрын

Charles B But only, I think, if The History Guy spoke on it.

@davidvogel6359

4 жыл бұрын

@@mrdigi2t I think I'll pass on needing to know about that but I still would have to watch if he makes it. LOL

The history of elevators has had its ups and downs.

@rjg3876

4 жыл бұрын

It's not the ups and down it's the jerks. Very old elevator joke

@glennso47

4 жыл бұрын

Lots of people got the shaft.

@jbmbryant

4 жыл бұрын

You had to go there...

@chevyon37s

4 жыл бұрын

1stPCFerret they really brought things to new levels

@glennso47

4 жыл бұрын

@@rjg3876 Jerky like the shoe leather-like snack you get in the grocery store?

Elevators kept "Girl from Ipanema" (in)famous for decades.

There I was, dozing off out of boredom in history classes in high school. And here I am today, binge watching history made interesting. Developing interest is key in teaching stuff. Thank you!

@kevinheard8364

Жыл бұрын

So true .... So true I even find myself with a sense of "nostalgia" as somehow, History Guy's telling of his histories brings back many "long lost" emotions. Maybe I'm not the only one??

As a professional musician and record producer, we used to say: "You know you've made it when you hear your tune in an elevator".

@mrkitty777

4 жыл бұрын

😮

@calendarpage

4 жыл бұрын

You know you're old when you hear Jethro Tull in an elevator. I almost passed out when that happened. : )

@halonothing1

4 жыл бұрын

By that logic, Chuck Mangione should be the most successful musician ever.

@Adawg420

4 жыл бұрын

@@halonothing1 Feels so good!

@catjudo1

4 жыл бұрын

Either Dave Grohl or Kurt Cobain said that Nirvana knew they had made it when Weird Al Yankovic spoofed Smells Like Teen Spirit. The day I hear that in an elevator, however, is the day I know that I am officially old. No matter what my teenage daughter might say.

Most city firehouses have a fire fighter that is nicknamed Otis. The “Otis’s” are familiar with elevator mechanics and carry override/master keys and are the go to person during elevator emergencies.

@ex-navyspook

4 жыл бұрын

Another bit of history or trivia that deserves to be remembered. Nice!

@mickeyjanowski9457

4 жыл бұрын

The Otis character on the TV show Chicago Fire just got killed off. Maybe he asked for a raise :-)

@TyMoore95503

4 жыл бұрын

Mickey Janowski It sounds like he got "shafted!"

@blockbertus

4 жыл бұрын

@@mickeyjanowski9457 Well, that is a downer. :(

@mmack7268

4 жыл бұрын

That’s bullshit

Thanks for an interesting subject. My father worked for Otis Elevator from 1940 until 1979 with a 2 year break serving on a RCN Korvette from 1943 until 1945 during the Second World War. He worked his way up from draftsman to the one of the youngest plant works managers at 28 at the Hamilton Ontario Otis Elevator plant (the original Otis Elevator factory was based in Yonkers, NY). In the 1960's he was promoted and transferred to Otis corporate HQ in New York City in the International Division. He retired from Otis at 55 in 1979 as Vice President of Corporate Production. He passed in 1982 at 58 years young. I also worked for Otis Elevator from 1980 until I was laid off in 1992 but worked on many elevator projects including the engineering team for the "inclination" elevators installed at the Luxor Hotel, in Las Vegas.

I'm old enough to remember department store elevators that announced the various items at each stop.

@JrGoonior

4 жыл бұрын

Wabi Sabi “Fourth floor : Hardware, children’s wear, ladies lingerie.”

@marksims6425

4 жыл бұрын

Reminds me of the intro to the TV show “are you being served”

@glennso47

4 жыл бұрын

Some elevators have recorded voices announcing each stop. The elevators at William S Middleton VA Hospital in Madison are an example.

@Mondo762

4 жыл бұрын

@@glennso47 Right, that's what I'm talking about. Those elevators with recorded voices used to be more common in the past.

@TheAuntieBa

4 жыл бұрын

Wabi Sabi I’m old enough to remember a lot of thar - and, the Twilight Zone episode where it’s the night the manikins come alive. I’ll see it soon; my hubby gave me the complete Twilight Zone Blue Ray set.

And this is why The History guy is awesome on so many levels

@Cal-cf2vo

4 жыл бұрын

I see what you did there

@jackfrost2146

4 жыл бұрын

Did you make that up yourself, or did you lift it from someone else. I'll go now...

I’m impressed when he mentioned the Shard building in London he referred to its elevators as “lifts”. Nice switch in nomenclature.

@TheAlanSaunders

4 жыл бұрын

And a pretty good stab at saying 'Australia' in an Aussie accent.

@millomweb

3 жыл бұрын

I've said elsewhere that the UK does have elevators. They're more inclined belt type affairs - best example loading & unloading baggage from aircraft.

@UserUser-ww2nj

2 жыл бұрын

@@millomweb Thats a bit of a loose interpretation of the ''lift '' as we know it . There is also the grain elevator . The type you refer to is a kind of escalator

Another building that owes it's growth to the elevator: the hospital. Horizontal hospitals would take up too much space, vertical hospitals allow for much more efficient movement.

@1959ticktock

4 жыл бұрын

My operation was delayed because the elevator was out of action, and the theatre was on the top floor of the hospital.

@johntabler349

4 жыл бұрын

Good point

@cheriefrench6956

3 жыл бұрын

High rise hospitals cause delays in Dr's responding to cardiac arrest calls. One tall hospital I trained at had one car in the bank of elevators that had an attendant who would exit public fast, board responding MD s and zoom to needed floor or Emergency

@cheriefrench6956

3 жыл бұрын

Harder to evacuate high rise hospitals in case of fires, earthquakes and tornadoes. Ff would have to carry every patient and needed equment down all those stairs. Believe me when you work in them you know the danger.

@kevinmartin2516

2 жыл бұрын

The hospital nearest me has lifts with doors in both sides (so patient trolleys can go forward in, forward out). What I always get wrong, is working out which side is going to open. The answer is, it depends which set of buttons you press, the nearest ones, will open the door that you entered, or if you press the 2nd lot of buttons, then the far side will open. If people press both sets of button, then both doors will open. The planning of these is very complex.

Laughed out loud when Elevator Music played instead of Ye soundtrack! Delightful!

@bryantq3740

4 жыл бұрын

Same here! Sooo funny!

@Thor-rq4lk

4 жыл бұрын

Hilarious!

"How's business?" Otis: "Up and down"

@wonniewarrior

4 жыл бұрын

My stepfather and sister had a ritual banter they went through whenever they visited us. 'Hows life on the hole?' he would ask. My sister would reply 'is has it ups and downs'.

@Scott__G

4 жыл бұрын

Ian Macfarlane ...all those years working as an elevator constructor, you’d think I would’ve heard that before. That was pretty funny, did you just make that up?

@ianmacfarlane1241

4 жыл бұрын

@@Scott__G Thank you - I'm not sure if I made it up or it was tucked away in the recesses of my mind. If appropriate, like many people, I'll try to come up with a quip or occasionally, a pun, and that one came to me, but I've got to imagine that it has been told before. I also enjoyed @Greg Moonen's telescope joke - clever and funny.

@ianmacfarlane1241

4 жыл бұрын

@Greg Moonen That's extremely witty, and I love the thought of someone called Moonen being involved in telescopes.

@CANControlGRAFFITI

4 жыл бұрын

Ian Macfarlane it was a basic dad style joke.. you should get out more.

I remember how old I suddenly felt when I heard a Beatle song on an elevator.

@rcknbob1

4 жыл бұрын

In my case, it was the irony of stepping into an elevator and hearing "Stairway to Heaven".

@JrGoonior

4 жыл бұрын

Bob Stewart OMG!!!! That’s funny!!!😂😂

@rcknbob1

4 жыл бұрын

@@JrGoonior Of course, we could reflect upon the fact that there is only a "Stairway to Heaven", but a "Highway to Hell". Are the traffic patterns that different?

@JrGoonior

4 жыл бұрын

Bob Stewart If you get philosophical about it, the “Highway” is fast and easy, the “Stairway” is slow and more difficult.

@ELCADAROSA

4 жыл бұрын

I was going to comment about hearing Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" as elevator music, but "Stairway to Heaven"? That beats all!

The first elevator I ever rode in was in the 1950s, it had an operator. The most interesting elevator I rode in was the one in the Gateway Arch in St Louis. It resembles a barrel and turns as it ascends and descends.

@COIcultist

4 жыл бұрын

No mention of the paternoster:kzread.info/dash/bejne/hKNnqMWYqaqZoJM.html The film is modern stupid fear mongering. They are very safe. I rode the one in Salford University in the early 1980's. Becoming increasingly rare.

@cathipalmer8217

4 жыл бұрын

I rode in that one in 1969. I thought it looked just like my mother's washing machine - it felt about the same size, too.

@DavidPowellAU

4 жыл бұрын

When I first encountered our city's new Metro, it struck me how like the history of the lift/elevator it was. In contrast to the older suburban trains, they're driverless. And there are doors at the station platforms that control access to the 'shaft': they only open when there are carriage doors opening behind and with them. Even the timetable is more like a shuttle schedule. Basically a horizontal elevator!

@millomweb

3 жыл бұрын

I don't remember my first elevator ride but excluding elevator doors, I remember my first encounter with automatic sliding doors - that was Newcastle Airport, UK. Operated by a pressure mat in the floor.

@Gail1Marie

Жыл бұрын

@@cathipalmer8217 No place for the claustrophobic, either. Not the elevator OR the low-ceilinged observation level at the top.

Recognizing that this episode wasn't a deep dive into elevator technology, I still was a little surprised that hydraulic lift elevators didn't get a mention, given their widespread modern use in buildings usually less than 5 stories.

Your channel reminds me of Paul Harvey's rest of the story.

@GalenGreenlaw

4 жыл бұрын

Check out Mike Rowes “The Way I Heard It”

@032319581

3 жыл бұрын

Wonderful complement! Paul Harvey was awesome!

As a boy growing up in small town USA in the late 50s, I still remember two buildings downtown that had elevator operators. I always looked forward to riding those elevators.

@hilupianoservice

4 ай бұрын

The Midland Theater in Kansas City had an operator into the 80s, and I think at least one building in Chicago still has them.

@tamijoiskewl

3 ай бұрын

I'm of the Otis family and I always look for the Otis name on the threshold! There aren't many around anymore, or family sold out years ago. The Otis elevator company still exists but other competitors are much more known. I too remember spending many trips up and down our towns first elevator!

When I was a kid the Sears in Bangor had an attended elevator and one day I was allowed to go to the toy department on my own. Being a rather nerdy kid I headed to the elevator to see its operation but the attendant was not there. I had seen the elevators operation many times before so I got on board and took myself to the 5th(?) floor without incident. I don't think elevator operation was all that difficult if a nerdy 8 year old could figure it out.

@TheFlatlander440

4 жыл бұрын

Yes, it was called "Car switch" operation.

@annebradley6086

3 жыл бұрын

A five yr old taught me how to use a vice when I volunteered at a hospital. No kidding 😁

@Gail1Marie

Жыл бұрын

Ruth Bader Ginsberg's son attended a private school with an elevator operator, and he did the same thing. The school called her husband and told him their son had "stolen" the elevator. The father's response: "Well? How far could he get with it?"

I thought I knew the history of the elevator. Now I do. When I was a kid in the 1960’s in South Carolina my mother was a manager of one department in a regional chain department store. It had three above ground stories and a basement. There was a small elevator probably close to 5x8 feet that was attended by a sweet black lady with white gloves. The control was a vertical wheel like device that had a handle and mounted on the wall. Pushing the handle counter clockwise made the elevator descend and pushing clockwise made it rise. She had to time it just right to stop the elevator even with the floor and she was always spot on. Then she would manually pull back a thick brass “screen” and open the door. Being the sweet kid that I was she would let me handle the controls but my timing wasn’t comparable to hers and I usually had to bump the control a time or two to get it situated properly. As we jounced up and down she would look down at me and smile. Growing up in the 60’s was awesome!

@MadBiker-vj5qj

4 жыл бұрын

That's just a lovely story. :-)

@MichaelSHartman

4 жыл бұрын

A sweet story, and it brought out the skill required to properly operate an elevator, and underlined why the operators strike succeeded.

@kevinconrad6156

4 жыл бұрын

There was an elevator like that still in use in a sporting goods store in downtown Philadelphia in the 1980's.

@larrybrennan1463

4 жыл бұрын

@IngLouisSchreurs What an interesting person you must be at parties.

@captainskippy6622

4 жыл бұрын

IngLouisSchreurs you’re an ass. You don’t know me and probably not a damn thing about my country and upbringing. I pointed out she was black because she had a pivotal and important job. Without her skill and knowledge everyone would be using the stairs. Everyone in the building respected and appreciated her. The owner of the business, in what was admittedly uncommon for the time, hired people of color and they held various jobs. I’ll be the first to admit it was difficult for blacks at the time. But don’t you dare call me a racist! I grew up in an Army family. My parents best friends were a black couple and again, contrary to norms at the time, we all frequented each other’s houses and many social events. So take your uppity liberal socialist elitist attitude and stick it.

For a second I thought I was watching Technology Connections....

@CharlesFigueroaJr

4 жыл бұрын

I was like "Where is the scrolling Patreon supporters and clever closing joke?"

@jasonwomack4064

4 жыл бұрын

It caught me offguard, I had to fight the sudden urge to disassemble electronics.

@PhillyRacer121

4 жыл бұрын

Came to the comments section just for this.

@TintelFruit

4 жыл бұрын

12:36 yes

@tigerkill420

4 жыл бұрын

Agreed

*Technology Connections intenfies*

@DarkAudit

4 жыл бұрын

*Historically smooth jazz*

Thank you sir, once again ....I happen to be an elevator tech in NYC and have been for over 33 years. My company, Schindler Elevator along with Otis and Many others, have been using steel belts as of late, much lighter than steel ropes, and there are elevators in use that use magnets, the same theory behind maglev trains. We here in NYC have several buildings that are well over 100 floors, and there are many the world over. The computers that control elevators are quiet sophisticated and are hard to compare to units of old. In my early days, I saw everything from water hydros to drum elevators. You did a fine job with the history and I throughly enjoyed your deep dive into what I find to be a fascinating field.

@godfreypoon5148

4 жыл бұрын

Is your database of installed elevators called the Schindlers List?

Loved the”elevate us” pun at the end!

@kotori87

4 жыл бұрын

*groan!* yeah that one was pretty special :)

@ibindare

4 жыл бұрын

And the Muzak during the outro.

One of the three best history channels on KZread. Techmoan, Technology Connections and The History Guy.

@Wallyworld30

4 жыл бұрын

JrGoonior You missed the best one Mark Felton Productions!

@JrGoonior

4 жыл бұрын

Marty Moose Haven’t seen that yet...

@EddieErion929

4 жыл бұрын

The best is fire of Learning by far! And this guy!

@kct1975

4 жыл бұрын

I completely agree with you!!!!

@Wallyworld30

4 жыл бұрын

@@kct1975 If you enjoy Naval History I highly recommend Drachinefel as well!

Manual elevators didn't go away in 1945. As a High School kid during the Seventies I ran a manual elevator in a five floor office building.

@notsosilentmajority1

4 жыл бұрын

There are still some elevators run by operators in buildings in NYC. I'm sure there are other places as well.

@Cyberpuppy63

3 жыл бұрын

The Eatons department store, right here in Hamilton had them until they closed, mid 90's.

Did you know an elevator chimes once when going up and twice when going down? This is an accessibility feature mandated by the ADA in the US.

@josephgaviota

4 жыл бұрын

I did _not_ know this, and now I will pay attention to it.

@sallygomez8799

Жыл бұрын

Never paid attention to it!!

@AaronOfMpls

Жыл бұрын

Technology Connections has an excellent video about that: kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZmycuY-EZ8m3hLA.html EDIT: Also, turn subtitles on -- he has some fun ways of marking the chime noises in there.

@fl0atpvnk

Жыл бұрын

Thanks, Alec from technology connections!

I love learning the history of things people use everyday and never give a thought to.

@josephgaviota

4 жыл бұрын

Exactly.

One of my first jobs was working in the stockroom at the top of a department store. This included using a lift with the metal scissor gate which I hated as I had come close to trapping my fingers in on more then one occasion. Especially when opening it. So I used to slam it open or shut as hard as I can moving my fingers out of the way as I did so. And I was not alone in doing this. Even the stockroom manager used to do it, roundly cursing it as he did so.

@absalomdraconis

4 жыл бұрын

They should have designed a finger shield into it, would have been a good place to put their branding & everything.

12:35 Technology Connections theme as "Elevator Music"

@ogjk

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah I heard that to. I interpret that as a challenge to Technology Conection to make an elevator video as well haha.

@ChadWSmith

4 жыл бұрын

@@ogjk He's done a couple. :) kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZmycuY-EZ8m3hLA.html kzread.info/dash/bejne/mGWaydx7dZWsls4.html

This episode was very uplifting because it reminded me of the only electrical elevator we had in our small town in the 1960s. It was in the five-story Masonic building and was operated by an elderly black woman who opened and closed the cage door and managed the operating lever. We also had a rope and pulley operated cargo lift elevator in our two-story hardware store, which was certified annually by a state inspector. We used it from the late 1920s until the 1970s, when the state decertified it. Because we could no longer lift material upstairs, the upper floor storage room became frozen in time. The few items we could store upstairs had to be manually carried up the staircase, but eventually rain rot through the roof made it unsafe to use the second floor for this purpose. This presented a bit of a problem because the lavatory was on the second floor, so in order to use it one had to be careful where to step, lest a foot went through a floorboard. Everything began to decay, including an old 48 star flag, unused display cases, a glass cutting table, and sales record books dating back to 1909 (a different store had been used across the street prior to the construction of the new store around 1929). In the end an electrical spark ignited a fire that burned the place to the ground. Aside form a safe, the only other things I salvaged were a few hundred bricks from the outer wall which I used to pave a walkway in front of my house. When I sold my home and moved away, I took a couple of leftover bricks as a reminder of a time and place that is no more. All this because of a a faulty elevator.

I used to make deliveries in KC mo back in the 80's and lots of older buildings had freight elevators with those metal cage doors that popped from above and below to meet in the middle and you used a lever to move the elevator. And I remember the Muelbach Hotel on 12th street had elevator operators using that lever with no buttons. Very fancy elevators. And in the state capitol of Ks in Topeka had an open air elevator in the center of a large area under the dome that moved very fast and was essentially a cage. I had the honor of being a page there while in the 6th grade back in the 60's.

12:36 Groove on that Technology Connections (KZread channel) slow jam.

@ogjk

4 жыл бұрын

Hopefully challenge is accepted.

When I was a kid in New York back in the late 60s and early 70s elevator operators were still a thing. And remained a thing in industrial warehouses around the city for quite some time after.

@orangelion03

4 жыл бұрын

It was considered a union job, Teamsters, akin to truck drivers.

@mikitz

2 жыл бұрын

Also, going on a strike can be detrimental when your job is already completely obsolete.

@kevinmartin2516

2 жыл бұрын

Often it was a case of some buildings had multiple owners (large number of owners, owning a small number of apartments). This meant that it was difficult getting agreement to spend money on upgrades!

@Bobrogers99

Жыл бұрын

I worked in an office building in Boston in the 1950s, and Helen and Peggy were our two elevator operators. I think all the elevators in office buildings in the area had operators.

As an employee of Otis for over 43 years now, I'm glad I found this great presentation! I had a colleague who re-enacted the Elisha demo for our 150 years (I think!) at a trade show down here in Oz that was quite entertaining!

What impressed me most about some of the older lifts was the beautiful artwork in them. New York still had some older models from the 1920s and 30s ( with operators too) being used in the early 70s. Wood interiors with carvings or paintings on the ceilings made you feel safe and calm. Now we nothing more than cold steel and metal walls with blinding reflections and used coffee cups on the floor.

I remember this fictitious slogan: Otis elevators: guaranteed never to let you down.

@pugle1

4 жыл бұрын

...Only, they do, but in a controlled fashion ;)

@fredblonder7850

4 жыл бұрын

I thought that was “Good to the last drop”, or was that Maxwell House?

@ex-navyspook

4 жыл бұрын

@@fredblonder7850 If it's not, it should be.

I wonder how many professions "striked" Themselves out of a job.

@chrispza

4 жыл бұрын

Dean Robert Printers. Theirs was a skilled, well-paid profession, and many misused their privileged status to demand ever-increasing perks. The British printers' union was egregious in this regard. Newspaper-owners and printshops found it cheaper in the long run to buy expensive electronic kit than to deal with the constant threat of stoppage.

@wschart

4 жыл бұрын

Air traffic controllers

@dbmail545

4 жыл бұрын

In 1968 ( I think) Leon county Florida teachers went on strike for more pay. Turned out to be a strategic error. So many legislators had their children in Leon county schools that they passed a law designating ALL school personnel, teachers and support as essential employees like fire fighters and police officers. A "no strike" provision has been in every contract since.

@annebradley6086

3 жыл бұрын

It's just a drop in the bucket compared to what these Evil NWO's have done to us riding on a fake pandemic. macrotrends.net show the death rate has not changed this year from last year. Neither Trump or Biden should be elected. Pence should be placed as President. PubliusRoots.com

As always, with the History Guy touch added, history is no longer one of the most boring subjects on the high school roster of classes. A torture session to gain credits needed to graduate! Thanks HG! Another bit of history comes to life !

12:36 I suddenly feel a technology connection...

@ogjk

4 жыл бұрын

Hopefully he accepts the challenge.

I alway thought it strange that the "Otis Elevator Company" office (had to have been a sales office) in Dayton, Ohio, was a single story building.

history guy, in the 1970's I was in a building in Frankfurt Germany that had a "Pater Noster" elevator. It took some courage to jump into the little booth at first and you had better be paying attention because you had to step off as it streamed pass the floor you needed to get off on. Also, why didn't the brakes work on the elevator in the Empire State Building when the bomber crashed into it. If I remember from your podcast, the lady survived because the cables underneath the car cushioned her fall .

@TheFlatlander440

4 жыл бұрын

The "brakes" are also controlled by a separate cable which controlled a speed regulator. If all the cables are severed, you free fall.

@tonyk1584

4 жыл бұрын

@@TheFlatlander440 Oh!

@davidvogel6359

4 жыл бұрын

@@TheFlatlander440 wasn't that in the video?

@randycollins9698

4 жыл бұрын

They "think" the air pressure in the shaft actually slowed the car just enough for her to survive. Elevator lore has it she ask the elevator service tech what to do if this should occur, apparently he gave her great advise, lay flat on the floor across the middle of the cab. It distributes your weight on impact and the middle is the strongest in case pokey things come through the floor.

My boyfriend's dad bought this old building in Zumbrota, MN. that served as a funeral home in the 1800's. In the back was this huge 8x8 elevator that emptied and filled with water to carry the coffins to the 2nd floor. First time I'd ever seen that! Very cool.

The development of self-powered elevator carriages on rails instead of cables is fascinating. There can be more than one per shaft, they can move horizontally, even go on one-way trips and park somewhere out of the way. They can do all the things a trolley could do. We're probably not even a decade away from having them thoroughly tested and proven robust enough to start installations. The Star Trek turbolift is gonna be real.

I went to school at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in the late 90s -- which were the last years of the old building. In the building existed what I believe were the last two elevators with hired operators in the city. I have to admit it was nice to know your elevator on a first name basis and the express runs to the 10th floor were appreciated. The school moved to a new building in 2000 and I followed it there and I assume those manually operated otis elevators were replaced after we left but I have to admit really loving that system for the two years I was in that building. I'm most likely the very last generation to have ever experienced it.

@brentfarvors192

Жыл бұрын

Cant recall if I evef had an operator, but definitely experienced the "what we can do in here without one", phase...No cameras; Didnt last long...

@wizardmix

Жыл бұрын

@@brentfarvors192 Not completely understanding your comment. I think anyone who lives today would have 1 to 2 weeks of withdrawal from their constant information fix. Perhaps the youngest generations would have it the hardest. That said I think some value would be gained and certainly some appreciation for how we got here would be had. That's why I appreciate being an adult before it happened. Anyone born in the mid to late 70s would have been trained to live in the world without BUT we're also the generation who has no problem functioning with.

@brentfarvors192

Жыл бұрын

@@wizardmix I cant help you...

@Gail1Marie

Жыл бұрын

The Bradbury Building in Los Angeles has the classic open-cage elevators with an elevator operator, seen in the movie "The Artist." (It's also featured in more other movies and TV shows than I could count, including "Blade Runner.")

I work for the "elevator music" company, love telling people the story of the company's founding...most people chuckle and find the history pretty cool! Also, the company was started by a WW1 vet, General George Squire, and pioneered sending the muzak over existing power lines to NY high rise buildings....way ahead of its time for the 1920s!

@Gail1Marie

Жыл бұрын

I worked in a business in downtown Minneapolis 50 years ago, and discovered that (at least there) the Muzak played on a two-week loop. Every other Friday at 3 p.m. it played a distinctive song that had tom-toms (THUMP-thump-thump-thump-THUMP-thump-thump-thump).

I worked for Otis in the mid 1980's on their next highrise elevator. At the time, there were over thirty safety features that all have to be reporting "safe" for the elevator to function. I was pretty impressed by how much effort was put into these features.

Two elevators worth mentioning from the former British Empire are the Marine Building in Vancouver, BC and the CN Tower in Toronto ON. I've been up (and down) both of them, and each building was, in it's hey day the tallest building in the commonwealth. If you have a chance, take the 'lift' in the Marine building. The lift cars are inlaid with intricate woodwork, a true marvel of craftsmanship in 1930, just before the Depression took hold.

12:35 wow golly that's some tasty muzak I feel like it has some kind of connection to technology

I lived in a four story apartment building in San Francisco built in 1912. The old Otis elevator had steel walls that went up four feet, then elaborate metal filigree that not even a small child could not get their hand through, all the way to the ceiling. There was a sliding door from the hall the elevator facing the halls and a sliding gate inside. I only used the elevator if I was tired as the building had wide stairways in the halls. I liked to run up them. The elevator would not work unless both doors were completely closed. This could be a problem when people forgot to close the doors all the way. You would have to find out which floor the elevator was stuck on and close the doors. I loved being able to see the counter weights going up and down through the filigree whenever I rode it.

The enthusiastic muzak over the closing remarks was an especially nice touch

When getting into the elevator in the Space Needle at the 1962 Worlds Fair in Seattle, WA, I could feel the car rising and falling a half inch or so, as the wind pushed on the 500+ foot exposed cables. The glass walls did not help my acrophobia.

@marsgal42

4 жыл бұрын

I've ridden the elevators up the CN Tower. Excellent view, but I can see how it could make people nervous. The opposite extreme might be the Empire State Building. Since it was somewhat over-engineered it's cramped and dark inside, almost claustrophobic.

@GH-oi2jf

4 жыл бұрын

steevee1945 - With the most recent renovation, the observation deck now has a glass floor and retaining wall.

@kevinmartin2516

2 жыл бұрын

@@marsgal42 Yes I went on the CN Tower. I dived in and turned around so I could grab a front spot. Only to discover that what I thought might be a popular location, I ended up on my own and everyone else cowered at the back!

Did Otis "Pirate" someone else's invention? You know, cause every Good story has Pirates in it....

I'm elated with the history guy lifting my spirits with the ups and downs, highs and lows of the history of the elevator. The history guy is elevating us to new heights.

I've been watching your channel for over a year and you finally hit home. I'm a IUEC Elevator service technician for Otis Elevator Co. for the past 31 years. I'm very impressed with your research on my profession. You pretty much summed up our whole NEIEP apprenticeship year 1 module in 15 minutes. Bravo' I learned all this and was tested on it my first year in our union. God bless the IUEC, they're the ones who make it all happen. The best and strongest Union in the country. Fantastic job, The History Guy.

History that's uplifting!

@servinguptheclassics2053

4 жыл бұрын

I see what you did there

@STARDRIVE

4 жыл бұрын

It can bring you down too..

@RhettyforHistory

4 жыл бұрын

@@STARDRIVE Depends on how you push it's buttons! ;)

The Biltmore House has a beautifully done Otis elevator that was built in 1895 and still functions last I read.

Thanks for covering this and for giving the Crown Prosecutor due credit.

Sprague was also instrumental in the development of what we now call light rail transit, as well as the technology of multiple-unit operation. The next time you see two or more locomotives pulling a train, thank Frank Sprague.

That was an interesting video. I can remember going to one store in Bellingham that had an elevator operator in the early 1960s I think it was the Woolworths store. At this time they still had the freight elevators that came up out of the sidewalk to move freight to the basement.

The Hassayampa Inn in Prescott AZ still has a working Otis elevator. There is an attendant that works it for you.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel

4 жыл бұрын

Actually, Otis is still in business and there are working Otis elevators all over. The elevator at the Hassayampa was installed in 1927.

@lachlanbird9688

4 жыл бұрын

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I was disappointed that you did not mention the , OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY manufacturing plant that was in Stockton , California ! (My home town) The buildings are still in use today as an industrial park , I have been inside some of the original shops there , including where the machine shop was located .

@IvorMektin1701

4 жыл бұрын

@@lachlanbird9688 I'm surprised they didn't turn it into a meth lab 😂

@663rainmaker

4 жыл бұрын

Celita G W Cheyenne Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 The Majestic Bldg! 1603 Capitol Ave used to operate a original Otis Elevator!! Still in operation today! Super Dependable too.. parts are getting few

@justme8837

4 жыл бұрын

@@663rainmaker that's so cool.

It's not the fall that hurts, it's the sudden stop.

I love these snippets because I have read History for 60 years. But, the elevator attendants were not completely eliminated in the 20's. Growing up in the 50's in Chicago there were quite a few buildings, mostly dept. stores such as Sears, Wieboldts, Grants, Marshall Fields, and others who I remember as a young boy having elevator operators. Some clever owners had only good looking girls for obvious reasons. They were slow and stopped at every floor, but no one seemed to care. It was a sign of the times, we weren't always in a hurry for no reason. I remember those elevator rides with my family. We were filled with eager anticipation as to where we were going, even though we rarely knew where that was. As always, Thank you.

Good Pun at the end there."Elevate Us Even More" Excellent Pun. As always very informative and also why Otis seems to be growing what seems to be larger every day. Thank You

Tip: when adding bgm to a track have at least half or a third as loud as your main voice track. So if voice is set at -6db, set the bgm to -18db. That Muzak was hella loud.

@ronfullerton3162

4 жыл бұрын

For an old geezer like myself with hearing loss, it was loud enough to make hearing what the HG was saying rather hard.

@HSMiyamoto

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, 6-12 dB Is the right difference whenever you want to layer two sounds over each other.

@helenevans1109

4 жыл бұрын

Anybody remember the movie "Airplane" with the "raindrops are falling on my head" gag?

The best elevator ever is the one at the Shady Rest Hotel in Hooterville. It doesn't ever move, but the talking bird will say "Going Up" when anyone steps inside the cabin. Uncle Joe had the elevator installed because he says it "classes up the joint"

1896 Ward Leonard electrical drive system became universally adopted in elevators up to the 1980s, when electronics took over. It gave fine control and a smooth ride. Great episode! Thanks.

That outro music, I swear I know it from somewhere, my brain seems to think it's the melody of a Sonic the Hedgehog level theme but I can't think of which one... Also hearing Technology Connections theme music threw me a bit lol!

You know are old when you hear your favorite rock anthem turned into elevator music.

@josephgaviota

4 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure if that makes me happy or sad :-/

In my late teens I spent about six months working in a factory that had three manual elevators. One had an operator but the other two were do-it-yourself. If the elevator wasn't on your floor you had to take the stairs (fortunately it was only three stories), get the elevator, bring it back, and then load your stuff. The controls were a lever that opened the door and two pushbuttons ("UP" and "DOWN") that you held and then released at just the right moment. I actually got pretty good at stopping the car at the right place. Oregon City, Oregon, has the only outdoor municipal elevator in the U.S., which is one of only four in the world. It connects the central business district, on the banks of the Willamette River, to a neighborhood on top of a 90-foot bluff. The original, water-powered, elevator was installed in 1915. The current elevator is an automatic elevator, with only two stops. Nevertheless, it has an operator. I suspect the operator is there mostly to discourage vandalism. The elevator was, naturally, made by the Otis Elevator Company.

I worked for an insurance company which insured Otis Elevator. Safe risk. Very well made and maintained. You remind me of my physician not only in appearance buy mannerisms. I like him a lot. He was going to retire, but I told him I would have to look for a new doctor. He said, okay, I won't retire until you croak. His exact words. I can't hold him to it, but it was a nice gesture.

"Did anybody watch this video using an elevator?" "Nope, it was the stares."

I once knew a guy who was a one-way elevator operator. He was on the up-and-up.

@user-ss2ly1ir6j

4 жыл бұрын

Ba-RRRUM-PUM ! I got a million of 'em !

Nice job, really enjoyed that. There is a book: "Faster" that has information; not about how high a lift can go, but, technology to make them faster without getting people sick. How fast can you go, no one wants be in a slow lift. Make it "Faster", it's a delicate balance.

Love the pauses before "lift". If you had more time, I guess a mention of the old Paternoster (now sadly outlawed in the UK) would have been fun. As would a mention of the very modern ThysennKrupp cable-less elevator which will also go sideways as well and up and down.

@markrossow6303

3 жыл бұрын

I got to ride the contiuous belt pater noster in U.S. Army HQ in Frankfurt 4th grade it also appears briefly in "Night Train to Berlin" movie

I remember my mother having a conversation with an American and saying "we call them lifts", he said we invented them to which she replied we invented the language. Parents can be embarrassing!

@raytrevor1

4 жыл бұрын

Elevator or lift. Seems that they are only for going up!

@chrisneedham5803

4 жыл бұрын

So what my Mother invented the 'pork chop' ......... well maybe not

@josephgaviota

4 жыл бұрын

@@chrisneedham5803 Dr. Evil's father invented the question mark. Well, that's what they said in the movie ...

@paulredinger420

4 жыл бұрын

And he said. " yes, but we perfected it."

Cute! Ending the segment w/ "elevator" music. Or, would that be musac? Thank you for this very uplifting history lesson.

@radon360

4 жыл бұрын

Or Muzak: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muzak Possibly a seed for a future, more encompassing topic on this channel, perhaps.

I have to hand it to you mate. I would never have thought a video about the history of elevators could possibly be interesting. As you're never failed to hold my interest yet, I thought I'd give it a go, and indeed it was very interesting. Thanks for that.

I live in Europe and many appartments buildings still have pre ww1 elevators, with wood doors inside and a cage outside . Some are otis brand. I love the charm of those old elevators....

When young, I remember riding in an elevator that lacked a "13" button on the floor selector panel. Was this a common practice in older buildings?

@rabbi120348

4 жыл бұрын

Often floors would actually be numbered ... 11, 12, 14, 15... Great scene in "Oh Gd" where John Denver gets in the elevator and goes to the 26th floor to meet Gd -- in a 17-floor building.

@phalynwilliams4119

4 жыл бұрын

Yes, oftentimes 13 was omitted because of the number’s association with bad luck. The letter “A” would replace the number 13.

@bobbulat1393

4 жыл бұрын

In East Asia it was either 3A or M

@bobwild9995

4 жыл бұрын

I know of one building that the 13th floor is a mechanical mezzanine marked with a "M"

@glennso47

4 жыл бұрын

When the building only had 11 or 12 floors yes!

There are plans? to build an elevator to outer space. I have a 1903 copy of a Sweet's Construction Catalogue. It has many lift systems to get materials especially mortar for bricks up the sides of buildings for use by people working on scaffolds.

If you ever get to Tampa, FL you should make reservations at Berns Steakhouse. In addition to great food, they have a very old Otis elevator. Be sure to take the kitchen tour & make reservations for desert, which is served upstairs.

Dear History Guy Would you one day cover the life of Richard Trevithick? The man invented the steam locomotive, the steam carriage, took on the Watt company, revolutionised mining pumps and gave us high pressure steam. Yet he died a poor man, and is mostly forgotten by history. Love your work. Matt from England.

Back in the 1980's, I had a friend who worked for the Haines Company who made the Criss-Cross telephone books that you could find the person who had the number by looking up the phone number or the street address. He brought me and another friend to various cities where they would hire delivery people from a motel to deliver the new book and pick up the old ones. He rented me a hatchback Ford Pinto and I delivered/picked up books to office buildings in the downtown areas. In St. Louis, some of the office buildings had elevators that each only serviced 10 floors at different levels.

12:00 They struck themselves right out of work.

@user-ss2ly1ir6j

4 жыл бұрын

That's unions for ya. The greedy wheel gets the boot

@johntabler349

4 жыл бұрын

Unions are often terribly short sighted

@erictaylor5462

4 жыл бұрын

@@johntabler349 All they really care about is their own bottom line. If you can't see beyong your next check, you are bound to screw yourself.

@josephgaviota

4 жыл бұрын

True that ... now we have the "Fight for Fifteen" crowd ... who are being replaced by kiosks.

"Elevate us even higher!" Its great how certain story element's allow a great pun! 🤔😁

History Guy: As always, this is an excellent video. In January, 1945, an army B-25 Mitchell medium bomber flew into the Empire State building between the 78th and 80th floors. Elevator operator Betty Oliver fell 75 floors and survived the fall with major injuries. Supposedly, it's still the world's record for surviving an elevator fall. It's certainly not a record I want to break.

The music at the end! 😂

Tech connections- "elevator music! why that SOB."

the industrial elevators ive used had two gate doors you had to pull down,(one for the lift,one for blocking the shaft) before the lift could work. Simple limit switchs on the gate doors keeps elevator from moving if gates are up.

Many mid-height buildings today (12 floors or less) feature hydraulic elevators with a solid metal shaft. Those require a hole deep into the ground of the same depth as the building is tall. In places like Embassy Suites hotels, their glass-enclosed elevators show off the simple shaft moving the elevator up and down gracefully instead of ugly cables. My father was a maintenance man in a building that had hydraulic elevators. When he first started working there, the elevators would fail to reach the top floors for several hours after having been used to move heavy freight and the elevator technicians were called in to fix the problem on a regular basis. One day, my father met the elevator technician and a conversation ensued where the technician admitted that there was nothing he knew that could fix the problem. Most of his training and expertise involved cable elevators. So, my father took the elevator guy down to the underground control panels for the elevators and told him (and showed him) that if he would simply adjust the valve for the hydraulic fluid, it would increase the hydraulic pressure and provide enough force to move the elevator to the top of the building. Of course, that solved the problem immediately and permanently.

Was really hoping you would have discussed the "inclinators" in the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas. A different type of elevator that actually moves in a diagonal line. Those were a very interesting experience to ride in.

@rdaltry777

4 жыл бұрын

Also the St Louis Arch. As you go up, the elevator cars begin to tip to one side, then they periodically straighten out.

@TheFlatlander440

4 жыл бұрын

Yep, I was on the Otis Elevator engineering team that helped designed those inclination elevators. Interesting enough, we actually borrowed the design concept from the Eiffel Tower elevators which were also an original Otis design.

Next time you're in an elevator with strangers, whisper conspiratorially, "Hey, wanna smell something weird?"

@glennso47

4 жыл бұрын

Who invented the elevator music to make the elevators go up and down?

@glennso47

4 жыл бұрын

Or perhaps "you wanna rub my hairy legs?" Perhaps "you wanna see some pictures?"

@JrGoonior

4 жыл бұрын

Glenn Lego Uncle Joe the doctor says it’s time for your medication...,

One does not hear over very many accidents in modern elevators. My wife has a cousin or rather I should say had a cousin who, in his duties as a night watchman was doing his rounds and press the button for the elevator and the door opened to an empty shaft and he walked in to a long drop to a bottom some 20 stories down. Safety and elevators since the 70s, has Improved but his children still remember that terrible day.

My grandfather was an elevator operator well into the 1970s. Surprisingly many Manhattan (NYC) buildings still have manual elevators with a gate inside and manually operated doors. Converted lofts for example. Office buildings have manual freight elevators in the rear, separate from the automatic passenger elevators. My NJ storage unit is in a building that was once a paint factory. The freight elevator is manual: a lever for "up" and "down" with only 1 speed per direction! No "slow" for leveling off!

"This is Otis Elevator singing his new hit, 'I've Had My Ups and Downs'." Firesign Theatre By the way, 40 feet/second = 27 mph which is pretty quick for a vertical ride of say 1000 feet.

@gregbrockway4452

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks, I was just reaching for my calculator when I saw this comment. Are you sure about those numbers though? Remember, everything you know is wrong.

@rabbi120348

4 жыл бұрын

@@gregbrockway4452 I've always remembered from HS Physics that 60 mph = 88 ft / sec, so I pulled up the calculator and that's what I got - 60 mph x 10/11 (for a sanity check).

@gregbrockway4452

4 жыл бұрын

Lol!, I don’t doubt your mathematical skills at all, that’s the title of one of Firesign’s albums.

@orangelion03

4 жыл бұрын

We're all bozos on this elevator.

@gregbrockway4452

4 жыл бұрын

Bob Rabinoff-Don’t crush that dwarf, hand me pliers

I once had a flying chair in my house, but it involved an angry former wife.

@user-ss2ly1ir6j

4 жыл бұрын

I had a flying glass ashtray and a touch-tone phone. I think the chair would beat my episodes. I say..'DTB' [dump the bitch] lol

@johnklumpp7901

4 жыл бұрын

@@user-ss2ly1ir6j I understand that using a Flying Tackle with one's fishing gear may help one to land Flying Fish? You know your Cabin Cruiser is on the BIG side when it includes a Three-Story Elevator (or Lift).

It's a marvelous invention but I still worry about getting stuck in one. I felt better years ago when someone managed the elevators. Sadly that's another job that was taken away from people. Now each day more stores are closing also. It's really depressing. Thank you for another great video

Happy to say I served my engineering apprenticeship with Otis Elevator Co., before UT took over. Was a good firm back then. Thanks for posting.