Here is an image of vintage Yale 8 cut keys found on eBay, see thumbnail attached; note that the finger side is identical to the Forest Service key originally posted by wvanauken on October 11th.
Pete Schifferli
Printable View
Billy, perhaps that century old error should have been Nov. 2, 1880? I found that date on other goods patented by Yale & Towne in that era. See US Patent 234,089 issued to Warren H. Taylor "Apparatus for slotting metal".
Every major lock company had at least one outstanding inventor of locks and builders' hardware. In the case of Yale & Towne, the man was Warren H. Taylor. Taylor entered the employ of the Yale Lock Shop of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts in 1869. At the time of his death in 1914, he was superintendent of the bank lock department. He was also one of the largest stockholders of the company.*
*from Locks and Lockmakers of America, rev. 3rd edition, (c) 1976, 1997 by the late Thomas F. Hennessy, pg. 70
Pete Schifferli