By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – When I say the name Otis, what do you think of? There's Redding and Rush if you're music fans, but for the majority of us who live or work above a second floor, most likely Otis is a name we see every day. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
Of course, Otis is synonymous with elevators - and escalators, and moving walkways. I guess anything that transports us vertically or horizontally indoors.
Elisha G. Otis was an American inventor who in 1853 established a freight elevator. The difference between this one and all those prior - his elevator was safe. It made everybody very happy and a tad more confident. Now, elevators have been around, primitively speaking since the 3rd century BC. Of course, they were operated by human, animal or water wheel power. It was the mid 19th century when steam-operated power elevators began use for conveying materials in factories, mines and warehouses. And it was January 15, 1861 when Otis patented his "improvement in hoisting apparatus." In 1870, the hydraulic crane replaced steam-powered. And that was the year people began having a choice; do I take the stairs or do I take the elevator? Who knew from exercise?
Then came the invention of the electric elevator in 1880. In 1903, Otis introduced the design that would become the standard in the elevator industry - the gearless traction electric elevator. These could be installed in buildings in any height and at much higher speeds. As Otis Elevator Company realistically points out, what would our cities' skylines look like without the elevator?
Today, elevators move the equivalent of the world's population every 72 hours, at speeds greater than 500 feet per minute. And in case you're wondering, passengers began being tortured in 1922 with the invention of - elevator music. For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.