ks, particularly flat ones called "pancake locks," are especially favored by collectors. Commemorative locks, too, have been issued for big events in the United States, and also for special anniversaries of lock companies.
Even more coveted, though, are story locks, which feature elaborate pictures on both sides. These rare padlocks were made in the late 1800s and would have, for example, the face of a man leaning through a window on the front, his mouth as the keyhole, and his legs sticking out the window on the back, with perhaps a dog tugging at his ankle. Collectors have to be wary, though, as some story locks have been reproduced.
"Logo locks" are those made with the name of the end-user company on them as opposed to the lock manufacturer. The first of these were made for railroads, a kind of lock particularly coveted by railroadiana collectors. Many of these are brass and heart-shaped, but they came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. The only defining feature of the railroad lock is that it features the name or initials of the railroad company, from the Northern Pacific to the Santa Fe.
Starting in 1925, the Best Universal Lock Company capitalized on the logo-lock concept with its interchangeable core locks. Since its founding, Best has emblazoned the names and logos of more than 5,000 end-user companies on its plain-looking brass pin-tumbler locks. Logo locks generally found their way to the public through employees of the end-user companies, who received old locks as souvenirs.
Padlock collectors sometimes specialize in locks made for the U.S. military, or those used by the U.S Postal Service. Others are fond of miniature locks. Two especially intriguing categories of padlock-collecting are cut-away locks and trick locks. Cut-away locks are generally locks designed by hardware manufacturers with pieces cut out to show off the lock's inner workings. These were usually used as salesmen samples and in stores to demonstrate how the locks work, although some were made by tinkerers and educators to study locking devices.
Trick locks have been around since the early days of warded locks. Since warded locks were so easy to pick, trick locks also required secret knowledge to spring the lock. You'd have to know to push, pull, or slide special buttons or levers in certain sequences to even reveal the keyhole. Some of these puzzlers require using various keys in a particular order.
Many antique padlocks have corroded completely, while others were melted down in World War II scrap-metal drives, creating a tantalizing scarcity. Padlock collectors should know that it is pretty rare to find an antique lock together with its key, and you won't necessarily be able to get an accurate key made for an antique lock.
Outside of padlocks, some collectors specialize in prison locks, which tend to hit the market when a penitentiary replaces its locking devices. These jail locks are large and heavy, their casings made out of dense metals like iron or steel, their tumblers made from rust-resistant brass. Most of antique prison locks contain a lever mechanism. High-security prisons still use lever locks, but since the mid-20th century, U.S. jails have also been using pin-tumbler locks. While most cells use the same key, the keys for such antique locks (often double-bit spike keys) are rarely found.
It wasn’t until the 19th century that mortise door locks, or locks that are contained inside the door itself, were invented in England. Before the 1830s, all lockable exterior and interior doors used rim locks, which are mounted on the outside of the door. The mortise lock became the dominate form of lock for the next 100 years.
At first, American mortise locks had plain brass doorplates, but as Victorian decorative hardware became all the rage—in revival styles ranging from Spanish, Colonial, Tudor, Gothic, Italianate, Queen Anne, Greek, Flemish Renaissance, and Japanese—doorplates, keys, strike plates, and lock sets became more elaborate.
Antique interior mortise locks are not especially popular with collectors since they are often incompati