info on antique Herring Farrel Banker's safe please...

[Dean Nickel]

Love to get better pics of the bolt work and the locks inside and out. Nice find!

[bbcci]

Hi Matt, Looks like you have you have your work cut out for you on this one. A nice looking safe! Can't wait to see what to see what it looks like when your done.
I took this excerpt from a Terry Andreasen reply.
"FARREL–HERRING SAFE COMPANY 1869-1885, Philadelphia, PA
1861 merger between Herring & Farrel, but they kept the names separate until 1869. The two factories remained in Philadelphia and New York. Safes manufactured at the Philadelphia plant were labeled as Farrel-Herring and safes manufactured at the New York plant were labeled as Herring-Farrel.

In 1885, the concerns were consolidated under the Herring label, though some safes were still labeled as Farrel occassionally. In 1892, the Herring Safe & Lock Company, including the Farrel Safe works, merged with "Hall's Safe & Lock Company" and the "Marvin Safe Company", to form "Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Company". HHM lasted until they were acquired by Diebold in 1959. During a subsequent "anti-monopoly" suit brought against Diebold, they were ordered to close down or sell HHM and the York Safe company.

Ok, now you have a brief history of the safe companies. If your safe has the Farrel-Herring logo on the Castor supports, the safe would be from the 1869-1885 period. Accurately IDing, ageing or evaluating the safe will require photos."

There is also a great picture on this site of what appears to be original artwork on a similar model.
herring farell safe

Hope that is some help. Bill