Otis Elevator Company Plaque. Looks bronze or brass and nonmagnetic. Found some fun reading about this famous company from the great Wikipedia at bottom!
Otis Elevator Company Call Button Plate. This look bronze or brass and nonmagnetic. Numbered what looks like 1478SW1 with the Otis emblem on front. Found some fun reading about this famous company from the great Wikipedia at bottom!
Plate measures 2 1/2″ wide x 8 3/8″ tall x 3/4″ deep. Nice weight at hair over 1 pound.
Has scratches, scuffs, stains, tarnishing verdigris, paint splatter, dings, nice Patina showing good age and still looks Awesome! What makes this unusual is the condition and original Patina. Has not been polished to death and all shined scuffed and fine scratched. Cool historic find worthy of a proper finish restoration or leave original as found.
Guessing made 1920’s-1930’s. Cool Old Otis Elevator Company Call Button!! Please check pictures for description and condition.
The booming elevator market
In 1852 Elisha Otis invented the safety elevator, which automatically comes to a halt if the hoisting rope breaks. After a demonstration at the 1853 New York World’s Fair, the elevator industry established credibility.
Otis elevator in Glasgow, Scotland, imported from the U.S. in 1856 for Gardner’s Warehouse, the oldest cast-iron fronted building in the British Isles.
The Otis Elevator Company was founded in Yonkers, New York, in 1853 by Elisha Otis. When Elisha died in 1861, his sons Charles and Norton formed a partnership and continued the business. During the American Civil War, their elevators were in high demand due to the shipment of war materials. Businesses throughout the United States purchased them. In 1864, with the partnership of J.M. Alvord, the company became known as Otis Brothers & Co. In 1867, Otis opened a factory in Yonkers, New York, the city where the company was founded.
In 1925, the world’s first fully automatic elevator, Collective Control, was introduced. In 1931, the company installed the world’s first double-deck elevator in New York City.
Otis opened a factory in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1965.
Fayette S. Dunn became president of the company in 1964, succeeding the late Percy Douglas.
