The calculation of a hypothetical situation makes a striking point. Since they do not need to walk around or up and down stairs delivering materials along with obligatory pleasantries, employees are able to stay in their offices and their workstations. Passenger elevators are not tied up with the transportation of materials and can therefore accomplish the purpose of moving people quickly and efficiently. The company added the cogent argument that its system also saved money, 'don't waste the valuable time of high priced help in running up and down stairs with goods.' While the cost of help in 1914 must appear ludicrously low in today's dollars, the point is particularly relevant today. Inside are abundant photographs of virtually every major hotel, club, hospital, restaurant, department store and office in the country that had acquired one of its electrified systems. It 'saves miles of steps for busy feet,' announces a 121-page brochure from a former Chicago dumbwaiter manufacturer dated 1914. While the elevator has generated a body of knowledge-it even has its own online museum-the dumbwaiter has been virtually ignored despite its long-time use in a multitude of building types. Another difference is that today's dumbwaiter-despite its name-is smart, a significantly less costly alternative to the elevator, employs state of the art technology and promotes safety. Placed beside each guest, they replaced curious servants or slaves and were intended to encourage free and unrestricted conversation. Different from the wine elevators he installed on both sides of Monticello's dining room fireplace that led directly to the wine cellar below, they were small free-standing tables whose several shelves held food, dishes and silver. For one thing, Jefferson's dumbwaiters, while certainly silent, did not move. But dumbwaiters of the twenty first century are a far cry from those hand-crafted European devices. It has saved labor and efficiently solved the eternal challenge of moving objects from one floor to another. Since the late 18th century when Jefferson adopted the French custom of using several of them for dinner parties, the dumbwaiter has joined our lexicon.
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