R. Towne, published by John Wiley & Son, New York, in 1904. “The early efforts at decoration in hardware were feeble, crude and meretricious. Credit is due to the Russell & Erwin Manufacturing Company for being the first to perceive the opportunity for better things in this field and by the introduction of their designs in ‘Compression Bronze,’ about 1872, to introduce ornamental hardware thoroughly excellent in design and admirable in execution.”
That the introduction of the perfected “American Lock” came so late in history is the more remarkable as, in one form or another, locks are contemporaneous with civilization. The desire to keep valuable possessions safe from marauders was evident even in the Golden Age. Two thousand years before Tut-ankh- Amen enjoyed his brief period of greatness the Egyptians used cumbersome locks of wood. You may see them depicted in the mural decorations of the Great Temple at
Karnak. Straight bars of heavy wood sliding through two wooden staples; one on the door, the other on the jamb. In the door was cut a large keyhole, through which the wooden key was inserted. Bronze or wooden pegs in the end of the wooden key correspond to as many holes in the wooden bolt of the lock; and when the door is shut it cannot be opened until the key has been inserted and the obstructions to the free movement of the bolt removed by raising up the pins that fall down
into the holes of the bar, corresponding to the pegs in the key. Incredible as it may appear, the mechanical principle on which the Egyptian lock is founded is exactly the same as in the modern cylinder lock of the most improved construction. How many centuries of patient labor preceded the invention of locks we do not know. It is sufficient to say that the lock, in one form or another, was common to all ancient peoples. Locks secured the doors of the palaces in Nineveh. The British Mu
Segment from a Grecian Vase, showing the completion of the toilette of a Greek lady. An attendant is restoring the jewel case to the cabinet. Note the curious sickle shaped key. The operation of the lock is shown in the diagram illustrating a typical
Greek door in use circa 500 B. C.
Early Egyptian keys. The method of use is shown in the lower diagram. Historically this appears to be the first effort to make
a door secure
That the introduction of the perfected “American Lock” came so late in history is the more remarkable as, in one form or another, locks are contemporaneous with civilization. The desire to keep valuable possessions safe from marauders was evident even in the Golden Age. Two thousand years before Tut-ankh- Amen enjoyed his brief period of greatness the Egyptians used cumbersome locks of wood. You may see them depicted in the mural decorations of the Great Temple at
Karnak. Straight bars of heavy wood sliding through two wooden staples; one on the door, the other on the jamb. In the door was cut a large keyhole, through which the wooden key was inserted. Bronze or wooden pegs in the end of the wooden key correspond to as many holes in the wooden bolt of the lock; and when the door is shut it cannot be opened until the key has been inserted and the obstructions to the free movement of the bolt removed by raising up the pins that fall down
into the holes of the bar, corresponding to the pegs in the key. Incredible as it may appear, the mechanical principle on which the Egyptian lock is founded is exactly the same as in the modern cylinder lock of the most improved construction. How many centuries of patient labor preceded the invention of locks we do not know. It is sufficient to say that the lock, in one form or another, was common to all ancient peoples. Locks secured the doors of the palaces in Nineveh. The British Mu
Segment from a Grecian Vase, showing the completion of the toilette of a Greek lady. An attendant is restoring the jewel case to the cabinet. Note the curious sickle shaped key. The operation of the lock is shown in the diagram illustrating a typical
Greek door in use circa 500 B. C.
Early Egyptian keys. The method of use is shown in the lower diagram. Historically this appears to be the first effort to make
a door secure