Happy Friday. This is The Shake 🤝: the real estate newsletter that takes the stairs to success every week… 🥁 timely

Here’s what we got this week:

• The Escalator Evolution 🔧 

MARKET RADAR

The Escalator Evolution 

Imagine not having escalators today… we’d all feel like Rocky Balboa after dragging our luggage up an airport staircase

Get this: the escalator wasn’t even created with a real practical use in mind. It was only for entertainment in the beginning… that’s showbiz baby

Well actually, the REAL infancy of escalators dates all the way back to ancient Egypt

We know what you’re thinking… andddd

The clever Egyptians created a rudimentary track consisting of tree trunks to transfer stone cubes to construction sites.

Fast forward thousands of years and we arrive at the time when Elisha Otis was devising the safety mechanism that would render elevators suitable for public use.

Others were experimenting with mobile stairway devices that would eventually evolve into the modern escalator.

The inception of a contraption resembling an escalator occurred in the mid-19th century, two years after the introduction of the first passenger elevator.

In 1859, Nathan Ames conceived something he named "Revolving Stairs," immortalized in history as US patent number 25,076 and widely recognized as the world's inaugural escalator.

Unfortunately, Ames couldn't translate his invention into practicality; he passed away in 1860, and the contraption remained unrealized. Its design was an equilateral triangle, requiring passengers to board the stairway at the base and disembark at the apex.

The earliest functional form of the escalator received a patent in 1892 from Jesse W. Reno, and it was introduced in 1896 as a novelty attraction at Coney Island, a New York-based amusement park. It transported the passengers seven feet in the air at an incline of 25 degrees.

About 75k people rode it in 2 weeks... product market fit 👍️ 

During that same decade, George H. Wheeler patented a mobile stairway featuring a moving handrail and flat steps necessitating entry and exit from the sides. In 1898, Charles D. Seeberger acquired Wheeler's patent and collaborated with the Otis Elevator Company (aka Elisha Otis) to develop the first step-based moving stairway.

Seeberger coined the term "escalator" by combining "scala" (Latin for steps) with "elevator," which was already in common usage in the United States. He registered it as a trademark for this type of moving stairway.

The two heavy hitters, Jesse W. Reno, and Elisha Otis, quickly emerged as the primary driving forces behind escalator advancement.

In 1900, Reno addressed the issue of the inclined wheel tread's heel - successfully implementing a cleat-type moving stairway in an elevated station in New York City.

During the same year, the Otis Company exhibited a step-type moving stairway at the Paris Exposition and later installed it in a Philadelphia department store upon their return to the United States.

In 1911, Otis bought out Reno's innovations, becoming the exclusive manufacturer of escalators.

The company offered both step-type and cleat-type escalators and, between 1900 and 1920, installed approximately 350 units, primarily in department stores and public transportation facilities.

Today, you can find all sorts of different types of escalators in a wide variety of locations.

One of the most impressive escalators in the world is the Central-Mid-Levels escalator system in Hong Kong. It's the world's longest outdoor escalator system with a total length of 2,600 feet.

Remember, you can’t take the elevator to success… but maybe there’s an escalator.

If you’re now wondering how an escalator actually works 👇️ 

FIN 🤝 If you enjoyed this week's edition, don’t be selfish — share with a friend!

^{DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research. &E}