History
Alexander Miles
While this 19th-century inventor had a unique contribution to elevator history, the story has been corrupted over the decades. In October 2015, ELEVATOR WORLD received an email suggesting that the...
Early Elevator Guide Lubricators
A look back to the turn of the 20th century reveals the rocky start of these important devices. One of the first American elevator books was H. Robert Cullmer’s Elevator...
Remembering Soimet
A business marked by mutual trust and friendship By Elizabeth Vrdoljakedited and translated by Carmen Maldacena, EW Correspondent For many years, SOIMET – Sociedad Industrial Metalúrgica (Metallurgical Industrial Society) –...
The Early History of Cable-less Elevator Systems
Early designs for cable-less, self-propelled, multicar elevator systems that inspired such designs as the MULTI Not long after the official announcement of ThyssenKrupp’s MULTI system (“A Paternoster for the Future,”...
What Might Have Been
David L. Lindquist’s radical Empire State Building elevatoring design could have altered the course of vertical-transportation planning in the 20th century. The January 1931 issue of Architectural Forum included an...
Moffatt Machinery Manufacturing Co.
Self-sufficient Charlotte, N.C., company possessed remarkable business model. One of the most familiar sayings about curiosity reminds us that the last place we tend to look for something interesting is...
Heurtebise Elevator Construction Co.
A unique glimpse into the world of 19th-century French elevator manufacturing Between 1876 and 1885, the French publication Les Grandes Usines: Études Industrielles en France et a L’étranger published detailed...
Early Machine-Room-Less Elevators
A brief history of the beginnings of the groundbreaking machine-room-less (MRL) elevator Perhaps the most difficult kind of history to write is a history of contemporary events. Beyond the obvious...
Early Electric Elevator Controllers, Part Two
Continued examination of a 1913 elevator catalog explains the technical operation of controllers, accessories and safeties, and sheds new light on the role of the elevator operator. In 1913, Cutler-Hammer...
Early Electric Elevator Controllers, Part One
The first of a two-article series on Cutler-Hammer’s 1913 catalog bulletins that offer a unique glimpse into the world of early electric elevator controllers The inventors of the electric elevator...
