Escalator

Hello there. Have you ever felt like you were gliding up or down without even moving your feet? That was probably me. I'm the Escalator, but you can think of me as a set of magical moving stairs. It’s so much fun to ride me. You just step on, hold the handrail, and whoosh. I carry you smoothly to the next floor. Maybe you’ve met me at a big shopping mall, a busy airport, or a train station. Before I came along, getting around those big places was a lot of work. Imagine having to carry heavy shopping bags up flight after flight of stairs. Phew. Your legs would get so tired. People huffed and puffed all the time. I was invented to make life easier and give everyone's legs a little rest. I thought, 'I can make mornings easier.' and I couldn't wait to start helping.

My story began a long, long time ago with two clever inventors who had similar ideas. The first was a man named Jesse W. Reno. He was a wonderful thinker, and on March 15th, 1892, he got a special paper called a patent for his idea of an 'inclined elevator.' That’s a fancy way of saying a ramp that moved all by itself. My very first job wasn't in a store or an airport, though. It was somewhere much more exciting. In 1896, I became a ride at a famous amusement park in New York called Coney Island. I wasn't for getting from one floor to another; I was just for fun. People would line up just to ride my moving ramp up a small hill. They would giggle and cheer as I carried them. It made me so happy to see their smiling faces. While I was making people laugh at the park, another smart man named Charles Seeberger was working on his own version of me. He was the one who gave me my name, 'Escalator,' which I think is a very grand name. He also gave me the flat, wide steps that you see today, which make it much easier and safer to stand on. My big moment came in the year 1900. Charles took me all the way to a huge world's fair in Paris, France. People from all over the world came to see amazing new inventions, and I was one of them. At first, some people were a little scared to step on me, but once they tried it, they were amazed. They had never seen anything like me before. I felt so proud showing everyone how I could carry them up to the next level without any effort at all.

After a while, the best ideas from both Jesse W. Reno and Charles Seeberger were put together. My moving ramp idea was combined with the flat steps, and I became the helpful machine you know today. Now, my job is very important. I work hard in busy shopping malls, helping shoppers with their arms full of bags. I zoom people through giant airports so they don’t miss their planes. I carry crowds of people in subway stations deep underground. I help grandmas, grandpas, moms, dads, and kids just like you. I make sure no one has to get all tired out just from climbing stairs. I love my job because I get to give everyone a little lift when they need it. I help make big, busy places feel a little bit easier to explore. So the next time you step onto my moving stairs and feel that smooth, gliding ride, I hope you’ll smile and think of my story and how I went from being a fun park ride to a helper all around the world.