Vintage Pair Otis Elevator Company Emblems. Nonmagnetic. but screw is magnetic. I see there are a few types and sizes, so this is the smallest I’ve seen at 7/8″ diameter emblem. Still have their copper wash intact.
Some fun reading about this famous company from the great Wikipedia at bottom!
These emblems are pretty clean with less than average wear for age with its tarnishing, greening, stains, scuffs, scratches, with nice Patina and still looks great. Cool historic find. Both have screws and cone washer, one washer has small kink and screws showing age and doesn’t thread all the way in but catches well enough to mount. I rotated screws and no problem with the female threads on buttons. I see they make earrings and pendants out these little Otis buttons!
What makes this unusual is the condition compared to few others I’ve seen.
Guessing made 1920 or earlier. Cool Old Otis Elevator Company Sign Emblem or Plaque!!
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.
