Otis Elevator Bronze Medallion 7 1/2″ Diameter – 2 1/2 Pounds. Looks and feels bronze but could be brass and is nonmagnetic. Some fun reading about this famous company from the great Wikipedia at bottom! Seen these called backplates for Otis Elevator motors, Seen similar on old Otis manually controlled traction elevators. Deadman Manual Crank Control Car Switches. Has the up down tabs. Very cool and displayable as is!
Measures a large 7 1/2″ diameter and nice weight of hair under 2 1/2 pounds. just emblem has 4″ diameter. Cover emblem is very legible considering age. Pretty clean with average wear for age and use with its stains, paint splatter, scuffs, scratches, nice Patina and still looks great. Cool historic find.
Guessing made 1920s. Cool Old Otis Elevator Company Cover!! Shipping for lower 48 states.
Please check pictures for description and condition. Have 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.
