The American VT Industry in the 1880s (Part 1)

A look at the industry’s presence in an important business directory at the time

The typical framework used to assess the historical development of a new industry includes the examination of three critical phases: emergence, expansion and maturity. The American vertical-transportation (VT) industry emerged in the 1850s, expanded throughout the 1860s and 1870s and reached maturity in the 1880s. Evidence of the industry’s maturity includes the number of VT companies, their geographical presence (which extended across much of the U.S.) and the diversity of systems and products they marketed and manufactured. This level of maturity was illustrated by the industry’s presence in national business directories that began to appear in the late 1870s. An important source for this investigation was Zell’s Classified United States Business Directory for 1884, which included listings for more than 100 VT companies.^[1] A variety of other sources, including city directories, were also consulted when additional information on specific companies was needed.

Zell’s appears to have utilized city directories as a primary source. They also directly engaged companies selected to appear in their directory in order to offer them a range of publication options. A free listing consisted of the company’s name in a regular typeface. For an additional fee, a company’s name would appear in a bold typeface and, likely for another additional fee, their name could be accompanied by a brief statement about their product line. For example, the listing for Q.N. Evans & Co. of New York was followed by: “Steam and hydraulic safety patent elevators for all purposes.”^[1] Companies could also purchase space for advertisements in the directory, which were available in a variety of sizes. When a company purchased an advertisement, Zell’s included a note under the company’s name directing readers to the advertisement’s location (page number, etc.).

The VT industry headings employed by Zell’s were limited to Dumbwaiters, Elevators and Hoisting Machines. The latter heading referred to material, construction and mining hoists (these companies were not investigated as part of this study). Zell’s also provided an opportunity for businesses that did “not belong to the regular branch of trade,” or that did not “come under the established headings usually given in business directories,” to associate themselves with a particular industry. Companies could purchase a “special heading” that would appear adjacent to a primary product heading, and their company name would appear under that heading. Three “special headings” appeared in the Elevator listings. The first was Elevator Calls, which referred to systems designed to let waiting passengers communicate their location and desired direction of travel to the elevator operator. This heading had been purchased by the American Electric Manufacturing Co. of Chicago, which described itself as: “Manufacturers and dealers in general electrical supplies: hotel and house annunciators, burglar alarms, watchman’s detectors, fire alarms, electric bells, elevator calls, speaking tubes, electric clocks, pushbuttons, switches, wire, etc.”^[2] 

Zell’s noted that the appearance of a company’s name under a special heading was not intended to indicate that it was the only company that offered that particular product; it simply meant that it was “the only firm who expressed a desire to have their business thus particularly classified.”^[1] And, in fact, a preliminary search for other manufacturers of elevator calls (more typically referred to as elevator annunciators) revealed the presence of a robust industry that supplied this critical VT component (this topic will be the subject of a future article).

The other two special headings, Elevators (Freight) and Elevators (Passenger), had been purchased by the Henry J. Reedy Co. of Cincinnati. Reedy likely sought to distinguish himself from his competitors by highlighting these aspects of his product line. The use of these headings also serves as evidence that Zell’s simplistic indexing system did not accurately reflect the VT industry’s overall complexity. In fact, their use of this basic system was somewhat surprising, given that they relied on city directories as primary sources. By the mid-1880s many city directories, such as those published in Chicago, employed a much more detailed indexing system of elevator systems and products. If Zell’s had employed a more sophisticated index, it might have used the following primary headings:

• Passenger Elevators (hand-power)
• Passenger Elevators (steam)
• Passenger Elevators (hydraulic)
• Freight Elevators (hand-power)
• Freight Elevators (steam)
• Freight Elevators (hydraulic)
• Freight Elevators (gas)
• Freight Elevators (hot air)

The latter two categories concerned machines powered by gas or hot air. In the 19th century the term “gas” typically referred to coal gas, which was manufactured by burning coal at a high temperature, under pressure and with a limited oxygen supply. This process produced a flammable gas that was used for interior and exterior lighting, cooking, heating and powering engines (natural gas eventually replaced coal gas in the early 20th century). Hot air or caloric engines relied on heated air to drive their pistons. The application of hot air engines was typically limited to freight elevators.

Although all elevator manufacturers built their own freight platforms, the history of passenger car manufacturing is less clear.

The category labeled Passenger Elevators (hand-power) would have been divided into two sub-categories: Residential Elevators and Invalid Lifts. Although the terms were used somewhat interchangeably, not all residential elevators were marketed as designed to meet the needs of disabled individuals. Two additional categories of freight elevators would have also been present: Sidewalk Elevators and Carriage Elevators. The latter were typically large hand-powered platform elevators designed to lift carriages and wagons in multistory livery stables and warehouses (this specialized elevator system will also be the subject of a future article).

Zell’s listed 113 companies under the headings Dumbwaiters and Elevators. A preliminary investigation was conducted to determine the products manufactured by each of these companies in order to understand the overall structure of the VT industry during this period. While this effort yielded information on 90 companies, the quality and quantity of information found varied considerably. Thus, the following analysis represents an initial attempt to describe the industry’s makeup in the mid-1880s. This research (which will continue) does, however, provide an understanding of what may be labeled the American VT industry’s “first mature phase,” and it establishes a critical framework for future work.

The manufacturers of VT systems were divided into two distinct groups. The first group included companies that described themselves as machine shops, foundries, iron works, etc. In each case these companies manufactured a wide range of industrial products, which included elevators. As an example, the Whittier Machine Co. of Boston described themselves as: “Manufacturers of boilers, and all kinds of tank work. Also steam heating; steam and hydraulic elevators; steam engines; paper, rubber and sugar refining machinery; water, steam and gas valves; hydrants; service supply; ship steerers; (and) brass and iron castings.”^[3] This group, which included 30 companies, was, in fact, representative of the type of company that had played a critical role in the industry’s emergence in the 1850s and its expansion in the 1860s. The second group, which consisted of 45 companies, was comprised of companies dedicated to the production of VT systems. The majority of these companies were primarily established in the 1870s and early 1880s, and their presence reflected the increasingly specialized nature of VT manufacturing.

The companies included in these two groups typically manufactured a range of VT systems. There were, however, companies that were more specialized. Of the 22 companies listed in Zell’s that manufactured dumbwaiters, eight of these were exclusively devoted to dumbwaiter production. Six companies specialized in the production of elevator safeties. Of the nine companies that manufactured residential and/or invalid elevators, only one company, the Chicago Parlor Elevator Co., was exclusively devoted to manufacturing these elevators. They described their product as an: “Automatic Passenger Elevator: complete without engine, steam or water. Desirable for residences, light delivery in stores, mills, factories and high buildings generally; affording means of easy, safe and rapid transit for passengers and invalids.”^[4] Although all elevator manufacturers built their own freight platforms, the history of passenger car manufacturing is less clear. While the basic assumption is that all manufacturers built their own cars, one company listed in Zell’s, Frame & Patten of Boston, was listed as elevator car builders. Unfortunately, very little is known about the firm other than the fact that both partners were skilled carpenters.

The geographic distribution of the VT companies listed by Zell’s includes a few surprises. It was not surprising to find that the majority of companies (69) were located in the Northeast: Connecticut (New Haven), Maryland (Baltimore), Massachusetts (Boston, Lynn, Salem and Worcester), New Jersey (Jersey City and Newark), New York (Brooklyn, Buffalo, NYC and Rochester), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) and Rhode Island (Providence). The Midwest featured the next largest cluster of companies (33), which were located in Illinois (Chicago), Michigan (Detroit), Missouri (St. Louis) and Ohio (Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo and Zanesville). Only four companies were listed as located on the West Coast, all of which were in San Francisco. The South’s sole representative was Louisville, Kentucky, which was home to seven companies. The absence of the majority of Southern states from Zell’s VT listings is intriguing. These states were well represented in other areas of the directory, thus Zell’s was clearly engaged in gathering information from this region. If this record is correct, and the South truly lacked VT manufacturers, this raises a question about who supplied the South with elevators during this period. This question will be addressed in Part 2 of this article, which will continue the exploration of the American VT industry in the 1880s.

References

[1] Zell’s Classified United States Business Directory for 1884 (Sixth Issue), Philadelphia: United States Publishing Co., Ltd. (1884)

[2] American Electric Manufacturing Company Advertisement, The Electrical World (September 4, 1886).

[3] The New England Business Directory, Boston: Sampson, Murdock, & Co. (1886).

[4] Chicago Parlor Elevator Co. Advertisement, Carpentry and Building (December 1884).