It's been a long time for me to have seen one. I remember the department stores operator would announce what was on each floor from the bargain basement upward for clothing, furniture, appliances, etc. He also had to jiggle it around to make sure the elevator was aligned exactly to the floor. They were just part of the passing scene, now gone forever.
My dad once worked in a department store that had the crank type elevator, and sometimes on Sundays when they were closed he’d set up displays, make signs, and such and I’d sometimes help out. So I’d too get to run the elevator, sometimes the main one and sometimes the freight one in the rear. And so yes it took some adjustment to get it level. Why the cars weren’t made self leveling years ago, I wouldn’t know. But they had a mystique.