The Stairs That Climb Alone

The word "escalator" was first a registered trademark. And at Macy's in New York, one still uses wooden escalators installed in the early 20th century, among the oldest in the world still in service.

The word "escalator" was first a registered trademark. Jesse Reno patented in 1892 an inclined plane with cleats, first installed as an attraction at Coney Island in 1896; the Otis firm perfected the device and deposited in 1900 the name "Escalator," a contraction of "escalade" and "elevator."

The department store is its ideal use. The escalator pours a continuous flow of customers through floors, without the waiting interruption of the elevator, exposing each to aisles during the ascent. And at Macy's in New York, one still uses wooden escalators installed in the early 20th century, among the oldest in the world still in service.

Becoming too common, the term "escalator" would end up losing its trademark protection, fallen into common language—a phenomenon called "genericide." The wooden steps at Macy's remain its patrimonial witness, vestige of an urban comfort invented to make people buy as much as to make them climb.