Department Store Escalators Study
Well, if you like escalators (and who doesn't?), you'll like this. Here's some hot department store escalator action for you, via YouTuber, CoastersNSich, who provided this description for the video (and is way too much into escalators, lol):
"Riding the escalators at Famous-Barr in Downtown St. Louis. You will notice three different types of escalators. First, a modern Schindler escalator (used for floors 1-4) with glass balustrades, no more than 5 years old. Next, an earlier Westinghouse model (floor 4 to 5)with steel art deco-style balustrades and design. Finally, two wooden Otis escalators (Floors 5 to 7), possibly from the 1930s - wooden escalators but with steel steps.Cool video, CoastersNSich! Though personally, I could think of better music to accompany the visuals if I had my druthers. But hey, it's your baby, you rock it. :)
Ever since my childhood, I've loved riding the many escalators in the big old downtown department stores - St. Louis is fortunate to have this one. This store is set to be rebranded as Macy's this fall as a result of the Federated-May merger."
Note: Video is Flash format. If you don't see it, you must temporarily disable your ad-blocking programs.
posted by Keith @ 8/17/2006
6 Comments:
wow, i work right around the corner from this famous-barr. gotta go check it out sometime.
I prefer the more current escalators to the ones from the 30s.
Oh, I'm in the minority that don't like esclators. I've been terrified of them all my life (getting on and off of them). I got over my fear as a teenager, but then I got it all over again when I fell down one at the Sears at the old Newmarket North/Newmaket Fair mall in Hampton, VA.
Thanks for posting this! Growing up in a small community a couple of hours away from St. Louis, I always looked forward to our yearly holiday shopping trips. Part of the fun was riding up and down all of the big escalators, of course! Having lived in St. Louis for the past 23 years (yikes!)I've seen the various changes made to the downtown Famous-Barr, and the one I dislike the most is the change to new style escalator, such as seen in the video. The escalators on the lower floors used to all be stainless steel, and the one attached to the main level, whether up or down was just gorgeous! I shouldn't complain too much as it's nice to still have a large department store downtown. Thankfully, Macy's recognizes the importance, and the store is undergoing remodel/expansion. Hopefully, they'll stop at stripping out any historic character...
Yes, I'm the one who made this video, so thanks for spreading it around!
The Reibold Building in downtown Dayton, OH also has the same kind of 30's wooden Otis escalators on floors 1-3 found in the St. Louis store. Followed up by some newer Otis ones from 3-5. First built in the late 1800s, it used to be a department store, maybe Elder-Johnston (which later morphed into the Elder-Beerman chain) and now houses Montgomery County offices and services.
There are no longer department stores in Downtown Dayton - the newer Elder-Beerman is now offices, and the old Rike's was imploded in 1999 for the Schuster Performing Arts center, but you can still ride old department store escalators in Dayton!
You can also visit downtown Pittsburgh's Kaufmann's (now Macy's as well). It has the very old wooden Otis escalators with wooden steps from floors 11 to 13, but those no longer operate as there is no retail space up there. Still, there's like 3 banks of newer Otis escalators, and 2 banks of elevators, a great place to get lost!
And don't forget Macy's Herald Square in NYC - the old all-wood Otis' are still working there!
Ever notice the wooden escalator in "A Christmas Story?" It's after the parade and right before the visit with Santa. That was Higbee's in Cleveland. It's closed now, and the building is being used for offices. My siblings and I loved riding the wooden escalators whenever we went downtown, so I always watch for that shot in the movie.
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