{"id":303,"date":"2012-07-09T10:49:25","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T15:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soslocksmith.com\/blog\/?p=303"},"modified":"2014-01-02T13:16:47","modified_gmt":"2014-01-02T18:16:47","slug":"locksmith-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.soslocksmith.com\/blog\/locksmith-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Locksmith History"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Locksmith\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Locksmith<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

History Tidbits on Locks and Locksmithing<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong>The lock and key are daily customary instruments in lives of New Yorkers.\u00a0 We trust that the lock on our door will keep ourselves, our loved ones, and our belongings safe and secure inside our charming abodes.\u00a0 We also trust that a safe will protect our valuables from unwanted hands and eyes.\u00a0 We trust that our offices will not be infiltrated over the weekend.\u00a0 We place a lot of stock and good faith in these rather exquisite apparatuses, probably without any knowledge of how they function or the history behind how they were made and came into such common usage amongst today\u2019s societies.\u00a0 Furthermore, we don\u2019t really stop to consider the nature of the locksmith or the process he must go through for proper lock and safe installation <\/a>and lock and safe repair.<\/p>\n

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\"firstpintumbler\"<\/a>

first pin tumbler image by historiallocks<\/p><\/div>\n

Ancient Locks<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Locks have undergone an evolution over time, as is the trend of all design in life.\u00a0 The common belief is that the first locking mechanism was made in ancient Egypt roughly 4000 years ago.\u00a0 It was a straightforward pin tumbler<\/a> type lock made of wood. The wooden bolt secured the door while the pins fit onto pegs in top of the wood block, hence the first locking mechanism.\u00a0 Since 1000 B.C locks have become exponentially more complex.\u00a0 The idea of the lock then spread across the ocean to Greece who developed the idea for a door lock by about 700 B.C which consisted of a latchstring on the outside of the door and a bolt on the inside so that the homeowner could lock the door from the outside.\u00a0 The key, which was a bow shaped piece of metal that could fit into the slit in the door and unlatch the bolt to get back inside.\u00a0 Later the Romans adopted and expanded upon the latchstring lock and created the warded lock<\/a> into which indentations were carved in specific patterns to fit a specific key; they also created the padlock<\/a>.\u00a0 Locks, even today, are constantly being adapted and improved upon, the lock from Rome then made its way throughout Europe and beyond.\u00a0 China invented the combination lock around the same time period which involved a puzzle of sorts, only the correct combination of symbols on the lock would release the bolt and open the lock.<\/p>\n

Intermediary Locks<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Locking mechanisms continued to progress from Barron\u2019s double-action lever tumbler lock<\/a> in 1778, to Jeremiah Chubb\u2019s unpickable detector lock<\/a> in 1818, to Linus Yale Senior\u2019s \u201cQuadruplex\u201d bank lock in 1844 and his son Linus Yale Junior\u2019s major advancement with the development of the modern cylinder pin tumbler lock in 1861 (said to be one of the greatest advancements in the history of lock design), to Medeco Security Center\u2019s high security technologies and locking mechanisms in 2012.<\/p>\n

In the 18th<\/sup> century locks were still made by hand as opposed to mass produced with machinery, meaning that there was still a very prominent design element involved with locksmithing<\/a>.\u00a0 Locks became an important aesthetic for its doors design.\u00a0 The \u201clook\u201d of the lock almost became more important than its functionality, especially throughout the Middle Ages when locks were being designed in a particularly ornate fashion.\u00a0 But nonetheless lock making and locksmithing continued to progress.<\/p>\n

The 19th<\/sup> century was the period of the \u201cGreat Lock Controversy,\u201d which described a time when a locks\u2019 bind was the most important element, rather than its visual appeal.\u00a0 Locksmiths grew into the habit of trying to pick their competitors locks and manufacture unpickable locks.\u00a0 Joseph Bramah who wrote “A Dissertation on the Construction of Locks<\/a>\u201d\u00a0 created a lock that could not be picked in 1784 and called it The Challenge Lock.<\/a>\u00a0 He offered a reward to anyone who could pick his lock.\u00a0 Bramah\u2019s lock remained true to its title until 67 years later it was picked open by an American locksmith named Alfred C. Hobbs in 1851 at The Great Exhibition in London.<\/p>\n

Modern Locks<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Today, we are in the heart of the digital age even with regards to such aged devices as locks. \u00a0As stated, locks evolve with societies. \u00a0Today, keys aren\u2019t even necessities anymore; there are codes, cards, intercoms, time locks, electronic locks, and alarms, just to name a few innovative alternatives.\u00a0 There are even electronic cardkey and codes to access elevators and for access to certain floors in a building.\u00a0 As you can see, there is much more to locks and the history locksmithing than the customary day-to-day lock up of our homes, businesses, or safes.\u00a0 SOS Security and Locksmith has been offering locksmith services from the same location in Chelsea, New York City since 1973.\u00a0 SOS Locksmith NYC is the #1 provider of SSS Siedle intercoms, the market leader in building communications and security in the digital age.\u00a0 SOS Locksmith NYC is the only authorized Medeco Security Center<\/a> in New York City.\u00a0 SOS Locksmith offers a Locksmith Dictionary<\/a> which comes in handy when learning about locks and the locksmith process.\u00a0 So give SOS Security and Locksmith and one of the knowledgeable technicians will be happy to discuss with you anything you\u2019d like to know about locks or locksmith\u2019s in New York City.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re still interested, here is an interesting locksmith\u2019s timeline featuring many points that helped to shape our security systems today!<\/p>\n