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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    2
    Country: United States

    Question Actual or Promotional lock

    Greetings! I inherited a hand full of locks and have found pictures of similar in all cases but 1. I believe it is gold plated. The date is 1884 - Smith & Egge, Bridgeport, Conn. Lovey detail.

    Has anyone seen a padlock that is similar?

    Thanks so much,

    Tess

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    1,485
    Country: United States

    Default

    Pictures would be helpful if not mandatory for comments. See http://www.antique-locks.com/showthr...-to-your-posts for instructions. Smith & Egge was mostly known for their counting padlocks, as used on registered mail for example. I've never heard of a gold plated Smith & Egge but many companies occasionally would make such things as retirement gifts.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    2
    Country: United States

    Default Photo options

    Hi,

    I thought I had uploaded photo! Sorry! I am doing something wrong, obviously. When I browse my photos, the click upload I am directed to a site does not exist page.

    I'll try again later!

    Tess

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    California, USA
    Posts
    216
    Country: United States

    Default Actual or Promotional lock

    Having not seen a picture of your lock, I can't comment on it.
    However, I can provide some information about the company. The following is from my book, Unlocking the Portals of History:

    "Friend William Smith (1828-1917) was an ardent supporter of the early Republican Party, and was a member of a newly formed group of young Republican men known as the 'Wide-Awakes." They wore capes and marched in parades with oil torches. Upon the victory of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, Friend W. Smith was appointed postmaster of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Serving nine years in this position, he established a relationship with the government's postal service that would take a different turn.
    About 1873, the U.S. Post Office Department advertised for a new letter box lock. Friend William Smith and Frederick Egge together invented a padlock and were successful bidders. The firm of Smith & Egge Co. was established in 1874, and manufactured all the post office locks for the mail bags in United States as well as Mexico, Haiti and Chile. In 1877, the company incorporated under the name Smith & Egge Manufacturing Company."

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