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1883 Ad Otis Brothers Safety Steam Elevators Factory - ORIGINAL GROC1

1883 Ad Otis Brothers Safety Steam Elevators Factory - ORIGINAL GROC1

Regular price $47.95 USD
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This is an ultra rare small original 1883 color print ad for the Otis Brothers and Company. The company would later go on to construct elevators inside of the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, the Eiffel Tower and the Skylon Tower.

This is one of the most rare grocery-related original advertising items we have procured. It is from a rare trade journal printed in original letterpress manner (you can feel the emboss, deboss feel to the letter printed areas of each ad). Images were woodblock prints for most and are amazing. The journal this was removed from only went to grocery owners and industry buyers. A one-of-a-kind item in this condition and size. There will likely be some bleed through on all originals from this collection as the stock was thin. Extraordinary and important historical ads.

CONDITION

This 128+ year old Item is rated Very Fine. Light aging throughout. No creases. No natural defects. Some light surface rub. No tears. No water damage. Please note there is printing on the other side of the page.

  • Product Type: Original Print Ad; Color
  • Grade: Very Fine
  • Dimensions: Approximately 9.5 x 2.25 inches; 24 x 6 cm
  • Authentication: Serial-Numbered Certificate of Authenticity w/ Full Provenance
  • Protection: Packaged in a custom archival sleeve with an acid-free black board (great for display, gift-giving, and preservation)

Otis Elevator Company.

The Otis Elevator Company emerged from humble beginnings in Yonkers, New York to become the worldÕs largest manufacturer of vertical transportation systems, ultimately influencing the design of buildings, cities and the manner in which we live and work daily. It is estimated that the equivalent of the entire world population is transported by the Otis Elevator Company every three to nine days, statistically making it the worldÕs most popular transportation company.

Contrary to popular belief, Elisha Otis did not invent the elevator, but rather the safety mechanisms employed to prevent an elevator from falling if the hoisting rope should fail. Otis invented the safety mechanisms for his employer in 1852, selling his first two safety elevators within New York City in 1853, the first to Benjamin Newhouse who installed the elevator in his furniture factory located at 275 Hudson Street, and his second to Searles and Williams. After selling an additional unit in 1853, sales stagnated from late 1853 to early 1854. Otis, a natural showman, famously decided to promote his new invention at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in New York City in May of 1854; it was a decision that would change the world.

With a large and awed crowd gathered in the Crystal Palace, the main exhibition hall of AmericaÕs first WorldÕs Fair, Elisha Otis was hoisted into the air aboard one of his safety elevators. Once elevated, Otis commanded an axman to cut the only rope holding the platform on which he stood. The collective audience shrieked and gasped, but the platform fell only a few inches before coming to a halt. Otis repeated his demonstration during the course of the Fair, effectively altering peopleÕs perception of the safety of elevators, which to that date were widely known to be not only unsafe, but also increasingly lethal.

Following the WorldÕs Fair, Otis received continuous and increasing orders. The first commercial passenger elevator was installed in the E.V. Haughwout and Company department store at Broadway and Broome Street in New York City on March 23, 1857. Upon the death of Elisha Graves Otis in 1861, the company, previously known as the E.G. Otis Company, became the N.P. Otis & Brother Company of Yonkers, New York, ElishaÕs sons, Charles R. Otis and Norton P. Otis, taking over the company. On 8 November 1867 the firm of Otis Brothers & Company was formally incorporated. By 1868, Otis had developed steam passenger elevators with elaborate cars and additional safety devices and by the 1870s, there were 2,000 Otis elevators in service as architects, builders and cities increasingly built upward.

Otis continued to make improvements to its elevators while pursuing other means of moving people. By the mid-twentieth century, large number of Americans began moving out of urban centers, while population centers outside of the United States continued to grow. Recognizing these emerging markets, in the early 1960s Otis merged with Ascinter, a small elevator company in France, followed by more than thirty mergers and acquisitions by 1970 in Germany, Portugal, Austria, Scandinavia, Switzerland and Spain, followed by OtisÕ association with Sumitomo and Matsushita to form Nippon Otis in Japan. In 1976 the Otis Elevator Company was acquired by United Technologies, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary while pursuing joint ventures in China, Russia and a Korean acquisition that formed LG-Otis in 2000.

Headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut with over 61,000 employees, the Otis Elevator Company has changed how we build and where we live. Since itÕs incorporation, Otis has installed its elevators in some of the most famous structures in the world, including the Eiffel Tower, the Hotel del Coronado, World Trade Center, Petronas Twin Towers, Empire State Building, Buri Khalifa, CN Tower and the Skylong Tower.

Copyright 2016, Period Paper LLC

Keywords specific to this image: Antique Advertising, 94 Liberty Street, New York

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