Otis Elevator Call Button, Antique Bronze Building Hardware Panel, Weight is little over 1 1/4 pounds. One of the coolest Otis call button I’ve come across.
This looks and feels bronze but could be brass and nonmagnetic. The inner unit is magnetic for guessing iron. Numbered what looks like 1478-SW-2 with the Otis emblem on front. Found some fun reading about this famous company from the great Wikipedia at bottom!
Button measures 8 3/8″ tall, 2 1/2″ wide and 3/4″ thick. This looks to have its original Patina and not all polished up which makes this a nice find. Has scratches, scuffs, stains, tarnishing verdigris, so far from perfect, looks original and untouched.
Push button has its contact picture, Has no housing so must of been left in the wall at time of removal, has nice springy button. Screws remove easy enough. They are snug enough to hold insert nicely.
What’s unusual about this call button is not only its look of course and has the push button internals included which is Awesome! Cool historic find! Selling as collectible only, but if you want to restore it and use it good luck.
Guessing made 1920’s-1930’s. Cool Old Otis Elevator Company Call Button!! Shipping for lower 48 states. Delivery signature confirmation will be required.
Please check pictures for description and condition. Have the more call buttons listed separately.
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.
