Vintage Otis Elevator Company Plaque, looks and feels bronze but could be brass. Nonmagnetic. This one’s hard to find so I snatched this up when I saw it. It’s so nice I’m guessing this was proudly wall mounted inside a beautiful antique Otis elevator!
Some fun reading about this famous company from the great Wikipedia at bottom!
Measures 4 1/16 x 2 1/4″ x 3/8″ thick. Nice weight for size at little over 6 oz. This emblem is pretty clean with less than average wear for age with its minor stains, scuffs, scratches, dings with an awesome Patina and looks great. Cool historic find. Numbered what looks like 26-NP-4
What makes this unusual is the is the outstanding Otis logo, Patina and Its Rarity.
Guessing made 1900s – 1940’s. Cool Old Otis Elevator Company Sign Emblem or Plaque!! 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.
