Yesterday, I posted this photo and predicted most people under 50 would have no idea what it is. Based on your responses, I was correct -- because anyone under that age was never in a manually-operated elevator. In the era before you could just push a button and get to a floor, there was a person (usually a man) whose job it was to make the elevator go up and down using the switch in the photo. The skill was in stopping the elevator car correctly at each floor, so passengers didn't have to jump down or climb up to exit. Today, with virtually every elevator in the world working at the whim of button-pushing passengers, elevator operators have about the same job security as confederate flag seamstresses.Labels: picture of the day