I have several folding keys of this style but do not know much about them. Anyone have any info on where keys like this are from, age, anything else? Thanks!
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I have several folding keys of this style but do not know much about them. Anyone have any info on where keys like this are from, age, anything else? Thanks!
Reminiscent of the old Ilco Steel Folding Blanks Nos. 1400-1402, see thumbnail attached from Catalog No. 7 Supplement dated 1/1/1926.
"Folding keys were invented for store door rim locks, indicating large rim locks were still much in use. With the folding key, unwieldy stem length could be reduced by one-half."*
Your key is of cast construction and even older, likely nineteenth century.
*from 150 Years of Builders' Hardware: Forms, Use & Lore (c) 1993 by Maud L. Eastwood, pg. 43.
Pete Schifferli
Thank you, Pete.
Here is another. 9.25" opened. Do you think this was ornamental or an actual key?
I think both of your examples are actual keys and I would guess that they were made at the end of the 1700's or the beginning of the 1800's. While they show an innovation with their functionality the design is not yet complete because it does not supply a facility for attaching to a ring or chain for carrying.
BBE.