I've been in an elevator that was being operated by a human. And that was the norm, until about the 1950s or 1960s when electronics became good-enough to allow

I've been in an elevator that was being operated by a human. And that was the norm, until about the 1950s or 1960s when electronics became good-enough to allow those lowly passengers to control lifts for themselves, and save the wage-cost of several full-time employees for each lift. I think the last time I saw a human lift-operator was around the 1980s. A good lift-operator could judge the lift well enough that there was no lip at all between the lift's floor and the building's floor. Some couldn't and there might be a 6-inch step to make, and that was dangerous. Today, electronics has removed that problem almost entirely and we never think about it. And then indicating what was on each floor: 'Going up. First floor: home appliances, credit department, crockery and glassware.' And that was apart from listening to questions, being able to tell you which floor you wanted for your purchases, and telling you that you had arrived at that floor. Of course there were all those lift operator jokes: 'Going up. ladies' dresses. Going down, ladies' underwear.'