1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class as a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:11,640 Speaker 1: a show that takes you on a ride through the 4 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: ups and downs of everyday history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: in this episode, we're talking about the early days of escalators, 6 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: an invention that delivered all the fun and convenience of 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: stationary stairs, but without all that pesky exercise. The day 8 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: was March eighteen ninety two, Jesse Wilford Reno received a 9 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: patent for what would later become the world's first working escalator. 10 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,480 Speaker 1: The inventor was born on August four, eighteen sixty one, 11 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He moved east as an adult 12 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: and began studying engineering at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. 13 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,480 Speaker 1: Reno's idea for the escalator was reportedly inspired by the 14 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: steep geography of the campus. The school is built on 15 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: the side of South Mountain, and as a result, the 16 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:14,680 Speaker 1: students had to climb a lot of stairs to get around. 17 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: It's easy to imagine how this would inspire a student 18 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,479 Speaker 1: with a mind for mechanics to dream up a way 19 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: for a machine to do all the heavy lifting. But 20 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: Reno actually wasn't the first person to design an escalator 21 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: like device. In eighteen fifty nine, a lawyer turned inventor 22 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: named Nathan Ames patented his design for a machine that 23 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: allowed people to quote, ascend, and descend from one story 24 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: of a building to another without exerting any muscular strength. Unfortunately, 25 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: Ames wasn't an engineer, so his design never made it 26 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: off the drawing board. A similar thing happened thirty years 27 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: later in eighteen eighty nine. That's when an amateur inventor 28 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: named Lehman Souder was granted a patent for the Stairway, 29 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,359 Speaker 1: a moving staircase linked by a chain and propelled by hydraulics. 30 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: Once again, though Souder didn't have the engineering know how 31 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: to actually build the machine, but James Reno did. After 32 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: graduating with degrees in mining and mechanical engineering, he took 33 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: a job at the Edison Company, where he worked on 34 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: the electrical systems for railway projects. In eighteen ninety one, 35 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,400 Speaker 1: at the age of thirty, Reno began drawing up plans 36 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: for what he would later refer to as the inclined elevator, 37 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: the endless conveyor, and the moving Stairs. Originally the design 38 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: was part of his proposal for an underground subway system 39 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,239 Speaker 1: in New York City. Passengers would be transported from city 40 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: streets down to the subway tunnels on one escalator, and 41 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: then carried back up by another. Reno's proposal was rejected 42 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: by the city, but he didn't give up on the 43 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: idea of a moving staircase. On March fift Reno secured 44 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: a patent for his design. Unlike the escalators were used 45 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: to today, Reno's version featured a single vertical platform rather 46 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: than a series of steps, so think of it more 47 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: like an inclined treadmill. The platform traveled upwards along a 48 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: conveyor belt set at an incline of twenty five degrees. 49 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: It could be powered either by a generator or by 50 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: a directly connected electric motor. Safety features included a set 51 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: of rubber coated handrails that moved along with the conveyor belt, 52 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: as well as a pair of shallow landings and comb 53 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: like teeth at either end of the belt so that 54 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: clothes and feet couldn't get caught in the mechanism. Unlike 55 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: his predecessors, Reno was able to take the next step 56 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: and actually really build a prototype of his invention the 57 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: world's first functioning escalator four years later. In the machine 58 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: was ready for his big debut, but it wasn't installed 59 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: in a subway, or a department store, or any of 60 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: the places you'd expect to find an escalator today. Instead, 61 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: Reno set up his inclined elevator as an exhibition at 62 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: the Coney Island Amusement Park in New York City. For 63 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: the next two weeks, visitors got the thrill of a 64 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: lifetime as they rose seven feet in the air at 65 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: the relaxed pace of ninety ft per minute, about a 66 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: third of the average human walking speed. It may seem 67 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: somewhat tame today, but the quote unquote ride drew quite 68 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: a crowd. At Coney Island's Iron Pier. The machine could 69 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 1: transport about three thousand people per hour, and over the 70 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: course of its two week engagement, roughly seventy five thousand 71 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: people took that trip. A report in The Street Railway 72 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: review saying the praises of Reno's escalator, calling it quote 73 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 1: manifestly superior to vertical elevators because people are handled by 74 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: it continuously and without delay, and no attendant is required. 75 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,720 Speaker 1: Several months later, the same prototype was moved to the 76 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: Manhattan side entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge. It opened to 77 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: the public on December twenty nine as part of a 78 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: one month trial meant to demonstrate the inventions practical use. 79 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: A magazine called The Electrical Age took notice of the display, 80 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: noting that the invention quote may prove, in the course 81 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: of time to be one of the most popular devices 82 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: used in office buildings or apartment houses. A more immediate 83 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: application was found in New York's multi story retail stores. 84 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: Reno's escalators had been installed in the Bloomingdale Brothers department 85 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 1: store at Third Avenue and fifty ninth Street. Following this success, 86 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: Reno moved to London and founded the Reno Electric Stairways 87 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:17,479 Speaker 1: and Conveyors Company in the early nineteen hundreds. Around the 88 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: same time, improvements on Reno's design began to pop up 89 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: in patents around the world. The most notable was designed 90 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 1: by an explorer named George Wheeler. His patent featured actual 91 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,720 Speaker 1: steps and was more in line with modern escalators. Wheeler 92 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:38,239 Speaker 1: never built his machine, but he eventually sold the patent 93 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:42,799 Speaker 1: to an entrepreneur named Charles sie Burger in nineteen hundred. 94 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: Sie Burger partnered with the Otis Elevator Company, and together 95 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,039 Speaker 1: they built a working model for the Paris Exposition. Along 96 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,279 Speaker 1: with its more efficient design, the Otis version of the 97 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: machine also had a much catchier name, the escalator, a 98 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: combination of elevator and scala, the Latin word for steps. 99 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 1: Over the next decade, Reno built and installed more than 100 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: twenty escalators in mass transit systems in both England and 101 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:16,360 Speaker 1: the US. However, the company wasn't growing as fast as 102 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: Reno had hoped, and he was having a hard time 103 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: turning a profit. By nineteen eleven, his commercial prospects were 104 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: so bleak that he sold the whole operation, along with 105 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: his patent, to the Otis Elevator Company. Within a decade, 106 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: Otis had installed more than three hundred and fifty escalators worldwide, 107 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: primarily in department stores and subways. The company remained the 108 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: undisputed leader in both elevators and escalators for decades to come. 109 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: In fact, up until the mid twentieth century, Otis owned 110 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:54,560 Speaker 1: the trademark for the term escalator, meaning that other manufacturers 111 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: were forced to come up with some clunky alternatives, like 112 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: the electric stairway and the motor stare that finally changed 113 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty when the U. S. Patent Office ruled 114 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 1: that the term escalator had become a catch all word 115 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: for any kind of moving staircase and was therefore no 116 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: longer able to be trademarked. Jesse Reno didn't come up 117 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: with the coolest name for his invention, and he was 118 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,239 Speaker 1: far from the first person to dream of not having 119 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: to walk upstairs, but he was the first to make 120 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: that dream a reality and to prove to the world 121 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,959 Speaker 1: that such a machine could serve a safe, practical purpose 122 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: in daily life. So on, behalf of lazy people around 123 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:44,679 Speaker 1: the world. Jesse Reno, We salute you. I'm Gay Bluesier, 124 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 125 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you enjoyed today's show, 126 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t 127 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: d i HC Show. You can also rates or review 128 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: the show on Apple Podcasts, and you can write to 129 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: me directly at this day at I heart media dot com. 130 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: Thanks as always the Chandler Maze for producing the show, 131 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 132 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,560 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History Class.