An Introduction to the History of Locks Pt II

Security was called a 'Guardian Angel'

Security was simply a Knotted Rope

For hundreds or even thousands of years, lengths of ropes made of rush and fibers were used to "lock" doors and also tie up walls. The simple technique of a knotted rope became a famous symbol of security. Carefully tied by Gordius who was the King of Phrygia, and known by his name, the Gordian Knot, secured the yoke to his chariot. Its tough untying was pronounced by oracles to be impossible to untie and only possible by the man destined to conquer Asia. However, when Alexander the Great failed to undo the Gordian Knot, he quite simply cut it swiftly with his sword, giving us the modern expression, "to cut the Gordian Knot," meaning a very bold, decisive action, effective when mild measures fail.

Locks from the Orient

The Romans and Chinese made brass and iron padlocks found in Europe and the Far East very popular. They were highly favored because they were portable. The locks operated by keys that turned, screwed, and pushed. The simply constructed push-key padlock had a simple system where the bolt was kept in the locked position by the projection of a spring or springs. To unlock the push-key padlock springs were compressed or flattened by the key, which then freed the bolt and restricted it to slide back. This type of Padlock are universally used in the Orient even today. The design reflects the arts of the countries, and shapes often took the form of animals - horses, dogs, dragons, even elephants and hippopotamuses. Padlocks were presented as gifts in pairs, with little congratulatory messages. 

"First" in Development of Locks

The creation of the first mechanical locks which were made of wood, were probably created by many civilizations at the same time. We can trace records back to show them in use some 4,000 years ago in Egypt. The wooden lock which contained moveable pins or "pin tumblers," that was fitted vertically on the door post, used gravity to drop pins into openings in the cross piece or also known as the "bolt," which secured the door. The lock was operated by a wooden key with pegs or prongs that raised the number of tumblers required to clear the bolt so that it was possible for it to be retracted. This method of locking was the creation of modern pin tumbler locks found today. 
Between the years 870 and 900 the first metal lock appeared, and is an attribute to the English craftsmen. They were simple bolts, made of iron with wards which are obstructions fitted around the keyholes to prevent tampering.
The first use of wards which can be simply explained as fixed projections in a lock was introduced by the Romans who devised obstructions to "ward off" the entry and turning of a wrong key. Wards were notched within a lock into decorative designs, and lock warding became a basic locking mechanism for thousands of years. The first padlocks were very convenient as they could be carried and used where necessary. In early times they were known to merchants traveling ancient trade routes to Europe and Asia.
New concepts and designs for locking various devices were developed in the 17th century in Europe. Bramah locks utilised multiple sliders in a circular pattern to provide great security. Bramah prides itself as the oldest lock company in the world and is continuing to manufacture its famous mechanisms to date.

Primitives

On of the first ever wooden locks was discovered in Persia as Khorsabad in security gate in the palace of Sargon II, who reigned from 722 to 705 B.C. The look and operation was very similar to this wooden cane-tumbler lock. The pegs at the bit end of the key related to the bars, or the pin tumblers, in the bolt. When the key was inserted into the lock, the pegs raised the tumblers so that the bolt could be retracted and the door or gate could be opened.

Locks from the Old World

Gothic architecture with elaborate ornamentation continuing into the Renaissance period had a large influence on the designs of locks and keys. Master locksmiths like Locksmith Local of today were invited to make locks for noblemen or women throughout Europe,  but because this practice, it is difficult to document an antique lock as having been produced specifically in the country where it was being used centuries ago.

German Castle Locks between 14th and 17th century

Between the 14th through to the 17th century was known as one of artistic accomplishment by great craftsmen. Locksmiths were highly skilled metalworkers who were becoming famous across the globe. They were invited on many occasions to construct special locks and keys for noblemen throughout Europe. Using designs such as coats-of-arms and symbolic shapes, they devised intricate wards and bits for locks and keys and were inspired to produce increasingly ornamental locks to harmonise with the architecture of their clients' estates or castles. However, there were very few improvements in locking mechanisms in terms of actual level of security. Security basically depended upon things such as hidden keyholes, trick devices or complicated warding.

Security in the 14th and 15th Centuries

In the 14th and 15th centuries there was very little significant improvement in locking mechanisms, but ornamentation became increasingly popular and elaborate. Craftsmen excelled in the field of metal work and designed and produced locks for gates, windows, doors, chests, and even cupboards. A "Masterpiece" lock wasn't always used on a door, it was designed and produced as a one-off by a journeyman locksmith, or iron monger as a test to qualify him as a Master. Today we have a four part exam which includes a written exam and a variety of challenges to qualify as a master. Masterpiece locks were often displayed without covers to show the working components and parts of the mechanisms, their functions, the decorative designs of lockcases, and way of assembly.

Padlocks

The Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and other cultures of the Near East, including the Chinese were the first to use padlocks. It was believed that the first padlock was used as a travel lock to secure merchandise from thieves along ancient trade paths, seaboards and waterways where commerce was taking place. Padlocks were made in small sizes to those of tremendous proportions, they represented many shapes such as religious symbols, animals, birds, fishes and hearts. They were operated by keys that had various motions i.e turned, screwed, pushed, and pulled. For better efficiency, letter locks, or combination padlocks, were developed which solved the issue of keys and operated by alignment of letters or numbers on revolving disks, today known as codelocks.

Locking up

Padlocks have been used to lock prisoners and possessions for many years. They were usually made from iron, bronze and brass but the locking mechanisms were often fairly simple and easy to defuse.

Inventive Ingenuity

In the 18th century lock-picking became an art. Most inventors enjoyed the challenge like the burglar with increasingly complicated locking mechanisms to overcome. Amongst many new improvements were keys with changeable bits, "curtains which closed-out" around keyholes to prevent tampering or picking, and "puzzle" or ring padlocks, with this principle developing into dial face and bank vault locks, operating without keys and known as combination locks where you dial in numbers to operate the locking bolt.

The early puzzle padlocks had three to seven rings of characters or letters which released the hasp when properly aligned or dialed in correctly. The dial locks were very similar in operation, and both types were operational to unlock to words or patterns of numbers known only to the owner. 
The Eureka which was a so called manipulation-proof combination lock with five tumblers was faithful to a bank vault used at one time in the U.S. Treasury Department. Patented in 1862 by Dodds, MacNeal, and Urban of Canton, Ohio. The operating dial is a combination of letters and numbers and affords 1,073,741,824 different combinations; to run through them all without interruption would take 2,042 years, 324.

Castle and Chest Locks

Master locksmiths during the gothic era were inspired to produce the most excellent and the finest ornamental locks of all time. This was the period when iron craftsmen and lock artisans (locksmiths) became famous across the globe. They advanced in the technique of forging, embossing, engraving, chafing, and etching of metals such as iron and brass, and were invited to make locks with keys for the courts of Europe.

Security Locks for Treasure Chests

Ever since the early days, treasure chests were secured with strong and very large locks. They were used to protect many things including precious metals, money, jewels, clothing, church vestments, archives and arms, linens and other household articles, bridal finery, and even sometimes for burial of important people like a king or queen. Treasure chest locks were for household use and were very plain and sturdy for chests that were to be transported across many countries. The Locks were mounted inside the chest in a vertical position and when the lid was closed the bolts would spread into the lid securing it in place.

Keys were a Latchstring

As days advanced in the Colonial America, the "key" to the lock of a house was often hung on the outside of the door. Doors were secured by latching it closed on the inside with a pivoted wooded bar which pivoted on one end and dropped into a slot in the jamb. Fixed to that was a piece of string that was threaded through a small hole to the outside. To the visitor the dangling string was an immediate welcome, as pulling on it, raised the bolt which then opened the door. This is where we found our expression "the latch string is always out."

No Secrets in Madrid

Many centuries ago, in the region of Spain, there was a great distrust of locks so to be safe, the householders of a block hired a watchman to patrol the neighborhood and carry the keys to their properties. I suppose similar to a security guard of today. To enter or leave the house, the resident clapped his hands vigorously to summon the watchman to issue his keys, so all coming and going became a matter of public record.

Marie Antoinette's Husband was a Master Locksmith

Louis the XVI who was King of France didn't particularly like the business of being a king, but he was very interested in mechanical labor. Louis spent many hours in his house workshop forging metal and making decorative locks with skills taught to him by another master locksmith named Gamin. Garmin was particularly proud of an iron security cabinet which he secured in a wall to protect his private documents. History says, poor Louis, he was as good a locksmith as he was a bad king.

Safecracking Under Seas

Charles Courtney was intrigued with everything mechanical that he could fix or take to bits as a child. Charles was especially fascinated with locks, and so he pursued his life long career as a lock expert (locksmith). However, he had also ideas to become a diver and do all the things his great, great uncle, Jules Verne, a novelist achieved in his famous book, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. After many years later, Charles Courtney realised his dream because of his talent for picking locks, he was hired as a diver to open safes on sunken ships to find lost treasures. He was the first locksmith ever to do a locksmith job 400 feet under water, and he recovered many millions of dollars for the salvage companies. Charles Courtney went on to achieve global fame as a Master Locksmith and as a known collector of antique locks, many of them now a part of the Schlage collection- a manufacture still producing locks today!.

The Safemakers and the Yeggs

In the early 1800s countries banks were housed in crude buildings. Safes were just simple wooden shafts or strongboxes reinforced with a sheet of iron and secured with padlocks. This was seen as "easy money" for criminals to break in and damage the safe, or in some cases carry it away for cracking behind closed doors. So the race began between the safe makers and safe breakers, or "yeggs" as they used to be called. Manufacturers started to build and produce solid iron safes with key-operated deadbolt locks but yeggs soon defeated them cleverly by pouring explosives into the keyholes and blowing the doors straight off their hinges. For better protection, lock makers developed combination locks without keyholes to prevent this, later combining them with little mechanisms. Vaults of steel were concreted and built into the structures of banks. Multiple locking procedures were devised and so passed the era of the yegg.

Pleasing a Lady

Catherine the Great who was known as Czarina of Russia from 1762 to 1796, had one of the most extravagant lock collections of her era. Catherine absolutely admired the fine workmanship of Locksmiths and artisans who designed ornamental faceplates for locks and created padlocks in fancy forms to please a lady or a favored child. It's a fact that a famous Russian locksmith gained his freedom from banishment to Siberia by my making a chain for Catherine. She was so impressed with his craftsmanship that she pardoned him.

Americana

During the middle of the 1700s, locks were few and far in the Colonies and most were copies of European mechanisms. There was a huge demand for sturdy door locks, padlocks and vaults during the founding of the Republic so the American lock industry had its start. Each native craftsman had his own ideas about security, and between the years of 1774 and 1920, American locksmiths or lockmakers patented somewhere in the region of 3,000 varieties of lock devices. Amongst them was the patent for a "domestic lock," by Linus Yale, Sr. This very lock was a modification of an old Egyptian pin-tumbler principle that utilised a revolving cylinder.
In the early 1920s, Walter Schlage progressed the concept of a cylindrical pin-tumbler lock by putting a push-button locking mechanism between the two knobs. Much emphasis was on security but equally was the importance of the modern design. The lock became a large part of the actual door design. This was when it was first possible to select styles of locks, metals, and even finishes.

Elegance seen in Metal

Locks and keys were highly ornate during the middle ages. Iron started to be worked cold and it was no longer necessary for the Locksmith or metal worker to work quickly at the forge. He could now use a file, a cold chisel, and a saw with extraordinary skill. The master locksmith would design special locks for cathedrals and churches in the shape of a cross which embellished them with elaborate decorations and designs.The master locksmith also acquired expert skills in repoussé , ornametations, overlays, embossing, chaffing, piercing, and created delicate fretwork in the popular scroll and leaf patterns of the period. Everything you would need to be considered as great in your trade.

The Mystery surrounding the Key

Keys represented authority many years ago with security and power. Gods and goddesses, as well as saints are described as holders of the keys to many great and historic places such as the Kingdom of Heaven, to Bottomless Pit, to Gates of Earth and Sea. Kings and emperors, nobles of the court, and cities combined the symbol of the key into things such as banners, coats of arms and even official seals. Delivery of keys to a castle, fortress, or city was a ceremonial event.

Keys from the Time of Nero to Queen Victoria

This key was a symbol of a man's status, his authority. In Egypt many years ago, the importance of the "head of the household" was determined by the number of keys he owned. The keys were large and were carried by slaves usually on their shoulders as they were heavy. If he was fortunate and had several slaves, or key bearers as they were called, he was considered to be a man of great wealth and authority. So the key became an intricate part of the culture. Locking up your personal property, the key symbolises the desire for privacy and security for our valuable possessions. From the early Roman period to the 19th century the emblem keys may include a master key or two, but we're not sure to date.

The Ceremony of the great Keys

In the Tower of London, you will see the warder who is dressed in a red tunic and wearing a Tudor hat. He is called a Beefeater. Specifically, he is an Honorary Yeoman of the Guards and a member of the Queen's bodyguards. If you ever go to the Tower of London and speak to him, you may hear the story of the Ceremony of the Keys. Every evening, the Chief Warder locks the Tower gates and takes the keys to the headquarters in the ancient fortress. The sentry calls out "Halt! Who comes there?" "The Keys." "Whose keys?" "Queen Elizabeth's keys." Everyone presents arms and the warder calls out, "God preserve Queen Elizabeth." The guard responds, "Amen." Still tonight and every night, this traditional ceremony of Britain continues. The yeoman still to date repeats the same words and that has never been changed in 450 years.