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Filmed January 2019.
Today, I just want to wish everyone a VERY HAPPY Martin Luther King Jr. Day!!! I figured in Celebration of the day honoring this great American Hero, we of course need to celebrate with something EPIC!!!! Something AMERICAN Made, and high quality that was manufactured from hard working Americans.
That's right, we are celebrating by riding this AMAZING, HISTORIC, 99 YEAR OLD AMERICAN MANUALLY CONTROLLED Traction Elevator dating back to when the Hotel Jacaranda was originally built in 1920!!! Next year, this hotel and this beauty of an elevator will be 100 YEARS OLD!!! This thing is VERY HIGH QUALITY and rugged with all American parts and completely handcrafted like all Antique, Historic and Ancient Elevators are, and as the name suggests, this is LITERALLY AN AMERICAN ELEVATOR!!! MY VERY FIRST AMERICAN ELEVATOR!!! And the 3RD to have been found and uploaded on KZbin!!! The only other 2 known installations are in San Francisco and New York City, but they are a brand based in Louisville, KY. I'm VERY HAPPY to have found the 3rd American Elevator to be uploaded on KZbin, and the amazing thing is, IT'S IN FLORIDA!!! I'm thinking though these Manually Controlled Elevators are Historically Protected though, unlike Vintage Automatics which is why the Codes haven't killed these. This was also my FIRST Manual Elevator that isn't in ANYWAY an Otis, and as much as I LOVE Manual Otises, I've been wanting to see another brand of Manual Elevator for a long time!!! I unfortunately could only get 1 quick ride as the housekeeper was VERY BUSY, and I couldn't operate this, and I couldn't go up to 3, but hey, I at least got to ride it, and I got a good look at it and some still pics, and let me tell you, it was VERY WELL WORTH IT!!!
This thing is Single Speed, so it is a bit rough starting and stopping, and this thing isn't the smoothest, I almost wonder if it has wooden guide rails, and as you can see, It is a PAIN to level. But otherwise, not too shabby, this thing runs EXCELLENT, is absolutely GORGEOUS and is pretty much TOTALLY ORIGINAL from 1920 with the Original EPIC Electric Traction Motor, Controller, Crank, Gates, call stations, Birdcaged cab and everything!!! The Only thing that was replaced/added is the alarm bell!!!
This is only truly AMAZING, nearly 100 year old Elevator, with LOTS of Character, in MINT CONDITION that is TOTALLY ORIGINAL with the BEAUTIFUL Crank with the Native Indian On it and everything, and I hope it stays this way for MANY years to come!!!!
That all being said, Happy MLK Day, and enjoy the video!!!
Installed: 1920