Dumbwaiters are very popular today and are found in many homes. A dumbwaiter is a type of freight elevator, which is generally much smaller than a traditional elevator and is used to transport goods throughout the house. In the early 1900’s almost all public buildings had them. In large cities, like New York, they were very popular in apartment buildings and, since they seldom had elevators, dumbwaiters were used to transport groceries between floors.

While most tenants in apparent buildings used the dumbwaiter as it was intended to be used, some creative people found a different use for their dumbwaiters. The practice of dumbwaiter singing became popular and was first reported by the New York Times, in 1909.

The practice of street signing often led to the police being called and was frowned upon by many people, so in an attempt to woo a young lady, four men came up with an interesting twist to the street serenade.

After consulting the buildings maintenance man, the four men began to sing their love song through the dumbwaiter shaft. It woke up many of the tenants and there is no record of whether the young girl heard them, but the idea was very clever and after being reported by the New York Times, likely lead to many others trying it.