I have a distinct memory, as a child, of going to events in the city (New Orleans in the early-mid 80s), and parking in big parking garages with attendants who would take our car. I remember that the parking attendants would use a sort of tiny continuous elevator to go between different levels – there was no door, and it continuously moved, slow enough to step on, like a belt-driven escalator, except it was entirely vertical. The “belt” or whatever had a small step alternating with a grip, so attendants would step on the “step” and hold the “grip” as it ascended (or descended, on the other side) to the next level. As a child this fascinated me and I really wanted to ride it, but of course I was never allowed.
The OP’s description sounds more like a manlift than a paternoster. A paternoster has enclosed compartments while a manlift just has steps and handholds. I don’t think there have ever been any paternosters in the United States.
I thought that paternosters and manlifts were basically equivalent. Certainly I’ve heard “paternoster” refer to compartment-less “manlift”-type elevator systems.
I’ve never seen any in the US, but I’ve seen them in movies, where they are generally shown to be in use in Europe. One of the more interesting appearances is in the fully restored Metropolis, where they have one in Josaphat’s apartment building. Josaphat, as aide to Frederson, the Master of the City, could be expected to be very well paid and live in a high-class housing unit, so it’s interesting that the elevator system in his dwelling is basically a big conveyor belt with regular “steps”, but no walls.
The condo buildings in downtown Chicago called Marina City have a manlift for the valets who park residents’ cars in the lower levels. You can see this in this video at about 1:20.
There’s one in the show Dalziel & Pascoe in episode 1 of season 3. There is also one (man lift) in the opening credits of The Driver (1978). You can find any number of Youtube videos. They get banned for obvious health and safety problems and then grandfathered back in due to popular sentiment.
I believe that the movie Rosemaries baby had one, allowing the creepy nun to vanish into the ceiling in an unsettling manner. If I recall correctly, this was unplanned, but when they saw it at the location, they decided to use it.
I was riding one down once with a laptop bag over one shoulder and carrying a brief case (which I found out was a no no). There are warning signs telling you when your approaching the top or bottom but I wasn’t paying attention. I fell to the floor and hit an E-stop cable. I was glad I was going down and not up.
As I noted in another thread here recently, when I worked at Quaker Oats in the late 1990s, I got to ride on the manlift at our grain mill in Cedar Rapids, IA a few times. Definitely not something for the timid or unsteady, and you really don’t want to look down.
There was a technique for getting on and off them (smoothly). Does anyone know what would happen if someone didn’t get off before the top? The E-stops I hit were around the perimeter of the base and I just fell into one.
There were a number when I was living out in Budapest in the late 90s and early 00s. I think some of them may still be there. I enjoyed them as a change of pace.
As for the manlift, I know I’ve seen them in the last ten or so years here in Chicago at one of the parking garages. I can’t for the life of me remember which one, though. It may very well have been the one at Marina City – I did visit someone who lived there in that time period, but I don’t recall parking there (though I very well may have.)
