1920 Paternoster Elevator...The Elevator That Never Stops

[SeaBreeze]

These elevators never stop and only hold two people, this one is from 1920. Has anybody here ever been on one of these? I imagine you have to be alert and step cautiously.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Very interesting, I like the idea!!!

It seems like it would be a little dangerous for small children, the elderly, etc... yet more efficient than a conventional elevator, no waiting just hop on the next car that passes by.

 

[Falcon]

Yes. I rode one in Frankfort, Germany @ the I.G. Farbin building.

 

[SeaBreeze]

Cool Falcon!

 

[jujube]

Yes, in London in 1967. It was a big bigger, though, if my memory serves me. It gave me the creeps as I was always nervous about elevators (I had a bad experience with an elevator as a child and the fear lasted into my 20's). I believe there were called "PaterNosters" because they were like the beads of a rosary.

 

[SeaBreeze]

Interesting Jujube, I never liked elevators but honestly I rarely have to use one. No bad experiences though.

 

[Aunt Marg]

These elevators never stop and only hold two people, this one is from 1920. Has anybody here ever been on one of these? I imagine you have to be alert and step cautiously.

That's crazy!

 

[Aunt Marg]

SeaBreeze. I just can't believe such a contraption would still be allowed in a day and age when lawsuits abound.

 

[SeaBreeze]

A bit off topic, but it's about the elevator shaft that came before the elevator.

The Cooper Union's Foundation Building in Lower Manhattan was completed in 1859. This large six-story brownstone building of Anglo-Italianate style featuring heavy, ornate, round-arched windows was the first building in the world that was designed to accommodate an elevator—four years before such an invention became available for passenger use. At that time, New York was growing vertically and Peter Cooper, the founder of Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science—one of America’s leading private college today—believed that soon people would need elevators to reach the higher floors. Indeed, the development of skyscrapers would not have been possible without elevators. Many architects and engineers of the time must have felt the same, but Peter Cooper—an inventor himself—was one of the first to act.

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2020/04/the-elevator-shaft-that-came-before.html

 

[SeaBreeze]

SeaBreeze. I just can't believe such a contraption would still be allowed in a day and age when lawsuits abound.

Yeah, @Aunt Marg, I doubt they would be allowed these days, people are sue crazy and they likely wouldn't be very careful either.

 

[Aunt Marg]

Yeah, @Aunt Marg, I doubt they would be allowed these days, people are sue crazy and they likely wouldn't be very careful either.

You're right, I could see people getting injured, even killed.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

I saw those open elevators in some movies. It scared the hell out of me that you might get squished by the rising floor of the elevator, and the floor of the next story. Blood and guts all over the place.

 

[hollydolly]

This is one of the few Paternoster lifts we have left in the uk....

 

[Aunt Marg]

This is one of the few Paternoster lifts we have left in the uk....

I can't believe they're still in service today!

 

[Timetrvlr]

The same idea is now used in windfarm towers for maintenance people to ride to the top of those 200' towers.

 

[Sassycakes]

Too bad I didn't know about these when I was young. When my Mom took me and my sister shopping my sister hated using the escalator but loved the elevator. I hated the elevator but loved the escalator. Of course my sister always won and we had to take the elevator. Maybe if my Mom knew about this maybe I would have won at least one time !LOL

 

[Aunt Marg]

Too bad I didn't know about these when I was young. When my Mom took me and my sister shopping my sister hated using the escalator but loved the elevator. I hated the elevator but loved the escalator. Of course my sister always won and we had to take the elevator. Maybe if my Mom knew about this maybe I would have won at least one time !LOL

My mom was always so safety conscious, I'm certain we would have to take the stairs.