Otis (i knew only one half of that name --- not sure if thats the right answer :)

I think your question was about escalators and you got answers about elevators.

Some of the first stairlifts to be produced commercially were advertised and sold in the USA in the 1930s by the Inclinator Company of America.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stairlifts

Inclinator

Elisha Otis invented the elevator in 1853.

Here's a short history of the elevator:
"Primitive elevators were in use as early as the 3rd century BC, operated by human, animal, or water wheel power. From about the middle of the 19th century, power elevators, often steam-operated, were used for conveying materials in factories, mines, and warehouses.

In 1853, American inventor Elisha Otis demonstrated a freight elevator equipped with a safety device to prevent falling in case a supporting cable should break. This increased public confidence in such devices. Otis established a company for manufacturing elevators and patented (1861) a steam elevator. In 1846, Sir William Armstrong introduced the hydraulic crane, and in the early 1870s, hydraulic machines began to replace the steam-powered elevator. The hydraulic elevator is supported by a heavy piston, moving in a cylinder, and operated by the water (or oil) pressure produced by pumps.

Electric elevators came into to use toward the end ...more