Record-Breaker · B1–B2 · 5-minute read
5 floors → 100+
- Where
- New York
- Inventor
- Elisha Otis, a factory mechanic
- The small thing
- A spring and two rows of metal teeth
- Also needed
- Steel frames, which came later
In the early 1850s, elevators carried crates, not people. A small safety catch changed that, and buildings for people began to grow.
The story
Freight only
In the 1850s, factories and warehouses used hoists to lift crates and barrels. The load sat on a platform that hung from a rope. A hoist was a freight elevator, and it was not as safe as the stairs. Ropes broke, and when one did, the platform fell, often killing anyone on it. The stairs were the safest way up, so people climbed. Most buildings for people stopped at about five floors, which was as high as anyone wanted to walk. The upper floors were the hardest to reach and the cheapest to rent out.
The catch · 1854
Elisha Otis was a mechanic at a bed factory in Yonkers, near New York. In 1852 he built a hoist with a simple safety catch. The platform ran between two guide rails with rows of teeth, and a strong steel spring sat on top of it. While the rope was tight, it held the catches away from the teeth. If the rope broke, the spring pushed the catches into the teeth, and they caught and held the platform.
In May 1854, at New York’s Crystal Palace, Otis rode his platform high above the visitors and cut the rope himself. The platform held. Few people reported it at the time, but the idea was out: a hoist could be safe enough to ride.
Passengers · 1857–1870
In 1857, a china store on Broadway installed the first passenger elevator with Otis’s catch. By 1859, Otis had sold 118 elevators. His advertisements said that ten men had died on other kinds of hoists in New York in four years, but not one on his. His hoists were safer, and people began to trust them.
In 1870, the Equitable Life Building in New York opened as the first office building with passenger elevators. They served every floor, so the upper floors were now as convenient as the lower ones, and soon they were more desirable. A warehouse never needed to be 20 floors tall, but a building for people now could be. Offices, hotels and apartments began to grow taller, and later, steel frames took them higher still. It started when the elevator learned to carry people.
Michael’s take
It’s amazing how one small innovation could completely change urban landscapes and skylines forever. Steel frames and curtain walls played important roles, but they would be irrelevant if people had to walk up 70 floors to get to their office or apartment. One of the greatest benefits of the invention was that it increased urban density and made land use more efficient. That allowed for more green space and more vibrant economies within cities.
Explore the English
Optional. About five more minutes.
Words from the story
One pattern: comparing two things
as ___ as · not as ___ as · ___-er / more ___ · the ___-est / the most ___
Same, less, more, most. Short words take -er and -est (taller, the safest). Longer words take more and most (more desirable).
How tall?
− Less
= The same
+ More
The comparison words wrap around the adjective. Only the middle part changes.
More from the story:
- A hoist was not as safe as the stairs.
- The stairs were the safest way up.
- About five floors was as high as anyone wanted to walk.
- His hoists were safer, and people began to trust them.
- The upper floors were now as convenient as the lower ones, and soon they were more desirable.
Pattern practice
1. “A hoist was not as safe as the stairs.” Which was safer?
- the hoist
- the stairs
- both were the same
Check answer
B. Not as safe as means less safe, so the stairs were safer.
2. Two towers both have 20 floors. Which sentence fits?
- The hotel is as tall as the office tower.
- The hotel is taller than the office tower.
Check answer
A. As … as means the same. Taller than means one is higher.
3. Complete the sentences.
a) Otis’s hoists were ______ than the old ones. (safe)
b) Soon the upper floors were ______ than the lower ones. (desirable)
Check answer
a) safer, b) more desirable. Safe is short, so add -er. Desirable is long, so use more.
For teachers: speaking practice
Pairs or small groups, 5–10 minutes. Both tasks use only the pattern above.
- Compare two buildings (controlled). Choose two buildings everyone in the class knows. Make three sentences: one with as … as, one with not as … as, and one with -er than or more … than.
Example: “The library is not as tall as the station hotel.” - Which floor is the best? (freer). Before elevators, the lowest floors were the most desirable. Today, which floor is the best place to live or work: the top, the bottom or the middle? Why?
You could start: “I think the top floor is the best, because it’s quieter than…”
Read more
- Lee Gray, “Elisha Otis’ Improved Elevator” (what really happened at the Crystal Palace), Elevator World
- Lee Gray, “Elisha Otis at Crystal Palace, Part 2,” Elevator World
- American Heritage — “All Safe, Gentlemen, All Safe!”
- Jason Barr, Building the Skyline — Otis, the myth and the top floor
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission — E. V. Haughwout Building designation report (PDF)
- Otis’s 1861 patent, US 31,128 — “Improvement in Hoisting Apparatus”
Images: Haughwout photo by REPLACE_CREDIT, via Wikimedia Commons. Diagram: Otis’s 1861 patent drawing (public domain), marked up by Construction English. Word cards by Construction English.
