When President George W. Bush, Yoko Ono, and Diane von Furstenberg need a leg up, they turn to Putnam, the rolling ladder company.

For more than 100 years, the company that Samuel Putnam founded in lower Manhattan has offered trestle ladders, step stools, pulpit ladders, industrial steel ladders and, most important, the famous “Classic No. 1” – the rolling library ladder.

Before 1980, Putnam made all their ladders from red oak. Today, they also offer ladders in cherry, ash, hickory, beech, walnut, birch, maple, teak, and mahogany. Wood just makes ladders, while Putnam makes ladders roll.

Customers can choose the wood, the stain, and the hardware, which is available in everything from chrome to oil-rubbed bronze to satin nickel. In 2001, President and Mrs. Bush ordered an unfinished walnut ladder with powder-coated black steel fixtures for the library at their ranch in Crawford, Texas.

But some things stay the same. The factory is still in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, and its foreman has been with the company since 1956. Ten years ago, Gregg Monsees took over the family firm from his father, Warren, who had run it since 1950 and still comes to the office in downtown Manhattan almost every day. Together, the two have climbed the ladder of success, even though they don’t see eye-to-eye on the wood. Warren Monsees admires walnut ladders, while Gregg prefers mahogany.