You know thosecurious brass boxes in the hallwaysof sometime New York skyscraper ? consider it or not they typify the public - facing element of a communication internet that kept agency buildings humming before email . And damn are they beautiful .
Atlas Obscurajust stake an image - rich featureon the history of the technology . It turns out that the vast majority of quondam mail chutes were built by the Cutler Mail Chute Company of Rochester , New York , which patent a unique design with an flexible buffer bottom that would ensure package did n’t get damaged when they sink dozens of floors . Cutler built some 1,600 mail parachute during a 20 year period that admit the Gilded Age . Heenjoyed something of a monopoly thanks to his patent of invention . signally , about 900 of the organisation are still operating today in New York City .
As for why the chain mail chute were so fine design , that was part of Cutler ’s theme song . Luke Spencer explains how Cutlerworked closely with the architectsof some of New York ’s most famous skyscrapers :
[ Culter ’s ] catalog offered lobby boxes supply with gleaming brass fittings and luxuriant particularisation . He also had the foresight to collaborate with the direct architects of the mean solar day to reserve the aim of individual mail boxes that would match the grandness of specific buildings . Through the Beaux Arts movement to Art Nouveau to Art Deco , Cutler ’s mailboxes became progressively beautiful and flowery . The Cutler Co. worked with designer such as Daniel Burnham ( the Flatiron ) , Shreve , Lamb & Harmon ( the Empire State ) , Sloan & Robertson ( the St. Regis ) and Cass Gilbert ( the Woolworth ) .
We ’re used to celebrate the steeple and lobby of these skyscrapers . Let ’s give those cracked yet beautiful ring armour chutes some credit too !
Head over to Atlas Obscura for more on the by chance entrancing world of ring armor chute , including more photos of Cutler ’s best designs .
[ Atlas Obscura ]
photo via Luke Spencer / Atlas Obscura /Flickr
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