Going up in style: 20 gorgeous ornate antique elevators

1800s, 1900s, 1910s, Vintage homes & gardens, Vintage maps & illustrations, Vintage store catalogs

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Why take the stairs while you can ride up in comfort inside one of these antique metalwork ‘cage’ style elevator cars, made with beautiful ornate iron? Just tell the bellhop what floor you want.

As lovely as they were, very few of these ornate ironwork elevators remain today, most having been demolished with the rest of the building as architecture has moved onwards and upwards.

Victorian elevators (1890)

From J W Reedy Elevator Manufacturing Company

Metal Victorian passenger elevator enclosures (1901)

Manufactured by the A B See company

Edwardian metal “cage” enclosures for antique elevators (1905)

From Fred J Meyers Manufacturing Company

Metal Elevator Car

The framework is made of Channel Steel, the lower part of flat Basket Work. The Scroll Work is all handmade, with a mirror on each side.

Antique Copper-Plated Elevator Enclosure

On this design, we show our antique copper finish. This massive, handsome pattern is suitable for large fine Office Buildings, Banking Houses, etc. Can be made of any of the various metals and finished in any of the different finishes.

Metal elevator car

The Scroll Work is all handmade flat steel. The corner and center posts are Steel Tubing. The mirrors on each side are beveled French plate glass.

Metal Car for antique elevators

The lower part of this, car is made of Steel Plates ornamented with Fancy Brass Wreaths and ornaments, upper part of Quarter Twist Flat Steel With Scroll Border and Beveled Plate Mirrors on each side of car.