KITNERBOY REDOUBT
28 documents · 1853–1925 · 20 of them page-counted

The brochure library

Trade literature of the safe and vault industry, from the first published arguments about whether a lock could be picked at all to the catalogues of the 1920s. Every document here was published before 1931 and is in the public domain in the United States. Nothing is paywalled, nothing needs an account.

OLD MARKETING IS A LIE DETECTOR. It records what a trade promised before the standards arrived — and what it quietly stopped promising after.
By decade
1850s 31860s 71870s 31880s 61890s 21900s 21910s 31920s 2

1850s 3 documents

Rudimentary treatise on the construction of locks Rudimentary treatise on the construction of locks Hobbs, A. C · 1853 PDF · 13.8 MB
A dissertation on locks and lockpicking and the principles of burglar proofing : showing the advantages attending the use of the magic infallible bank lock ... invented by Linus Yale Jr. ... / manufactured and sold by Linus Yale, Jr. & Co. A dissertation on locks and lockpicking and the principles of burglar Linus Yale, Jr. & Co. · 1856 PDF · 5.5 MB
Rudimentary treatise on the construction of door locks : for commercial and domestic purposes : with Mr. Smyth's letter on the Bramah locks Rudimentary treatise on the construction of door locks : for commercia Hobbs, A. C · 1858 PDF · 17.9 MB

1860s 7 documents

An experimental research to increase the protection of safes, against fire, dampness, rust and frost; An experimental research to increase the protection of safes, against Horsford, Eben Norton, 1818-1893 · 1863 PDF · 827 KB
Fire prevention and fire extinction, including fire-proof structures, fire-proof safes, public fire-brigades, private means for suppressing fires, fire-engines, fire annihilators, portable fire-escapes, water supply. With memoir and port. of the author Fire prevention and fire extinction, including fire-proof structures, Braidwood, James · 1866 PDF · 7.1 MB
Fighting fire for twenty-six years Fighting fire for twenty-six years Herring, Farrel & Sherman, New York. [from old · 1867 PDF · 10.7 MB
Notes and sketches of the Paris exhibition Notes and sketches of the Paris exhibition Sala, George Augustus, 1828-1895 · 1868 PDF · 24.7 MB
The Battle of the Safes, Or, British Invincibles Versus Yankee Ironclads The Battle of the Safes, Or, British Invincibles Versus Yankee Ironcla George Augustus Sala · 1868 PDF · 3.5 MB
The Construction of Locks and Safes The Construction of Locks and Safes Hobbs, A. C · 1868 PDF · 9.2 MB
Why the Safe Deposit Co. of New York, no. 146 Broadway, corner Liberty Street, is a public necessity. Why the Safe Deposit Co. of New York, no. 146 Broadway, corner Liberty Safe Deposit Company of New York · 1868 PDF · 3.6 MB

1870s 3 documents

James Sargent's descriptive catalogue of patent magnetic bank and safe locks James Sargent's descriptive catalogue of patent magnetic bank and safe Sargent, James. [from old catalog] · 1870 PDF · 4.4 MB
Protection from fire and thieves : including the construction of locks, safes, strong-rooms, and fireproof buildings : burglary, and the means of preventing it : fire, its detection, prevention, and extinction, etc. : also a complete list of patents for locks and safes Protection from fire and thieves : including the construction of locks Chubb, George Hayter, Sir, b. 1848 · 1875 PDF · 14.9 MB
Chatwood's Safe Depot [Catalogue] Chatwood's Safe Depot [Catalogue] Chatwood's Safe Depot · 1876 PDF · 370 KB

1880s 6 documents

Catalogue [and Price List] No. 7 : Yale Lock Mfg. Co. (1880) Catalogue [and Price List] No. 7 : Yale Lock Mfg. Co. (1880) Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company · 1880 PDF · 69.5 MB
On the development and distribution of primitive locks and keys : illustrated by specimens in the Pitt-Rivers collection On the development and distribution of primitive locks and keys : illu Pitt-Rivers, Augustus Henry Lane-Fox, 1827-190 · 1883 PDF · 3.6 MB
Time locks at PO vaults Time locks at PO vaults U.S. Mint · 1885 PDF · 788 KB
Absolute protection : fire and burglar-proof safes Absolute protection : fire and burglar-proof safes W.H. Butler (Firm), author · 1886 PDF · 2.0 MB
Clean and oil time locks Clean and oil time locks U.S. Mint · 1887 PDF · 800 KB
Cost of repairing oiling time locks Cost of repairing oiling time locks U.S. Mint · 1887 PDF · 775 KB

1890s 2 documents

Combination locks for vaults safes Combination locks for vaults safes U.S. Mint · 1895 PDF · 720 KB
1899 Cary Safe Catalog Buffalo NY 1899 Cary Safe Catalog Buffalo NY Cary Safe Company of Buffalo New York USA · 1899 PDF · 7.7 MB

1900s 2 documents

Safecraft Safecraft Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Co.; Stickley, Gustav · 1904 PDF · 969 KB
Yale & Towne Padlocks Catalog 1908 Yale & Towne Padlocks Catalog 1908 Yale & Towne · 1908 PDF · 6.9 MB

1910s 3 documents

Key locks and door bolts : catalogue number fifteen Key locks and door bolts : catalogue number fifteen Sargent & Greenleaf Co · 1917 PDF · 11.1 MB
The Safe-Cabinet Company Catalog - The World's Safest Safe - 1919 The Safe-Cabinet Company Catalog - The World's Safest Safe - 1919 Safe-Cabinet Company · 1919 PDF · 6.9 MB
The safe-cabinet The safe-cabinet "the world's safest safe." Safe-Cabinet Company · 1919 PDF · 6.9 MB

1920s 2 documents

The Truth About Testing Safes The Truth About Testing Safes Brearley Service Organization, National Associ · 1923 PDF · 39.2 MB
Locksmithing and general shop information : containing an exceptionally complete and comprehensive treatise on the entire field of locksmithing together with a liberal assortment of useful information collected and arranged for not only locksmiths but those doing similar work in hotels, office buildings and institutions of various kinds, hardware dealers, novelty shops and etc., in fact for anyone engaged or in any way interested in the locksmithing business Locksmithing and general shop information : containing an exceptionall Routson, H. W. (Howard William), 1879- · 1925 PDF · 8.7 MB
Rights and take-down Every file is public domain in the United States by age: published before 1 January 1931, copyright expired 95 years after publication. Scans come from the Internet Archive and the libraries that digitised them — each record names the scanning institution. If you hold rights you believe are still live in your country, write to the desk and the document comes down while we check, no argument.

Total: 28 documents, 283 MB. Page counts are recorded where the scanning library supplied them — 20 of 28 documents, 2,456 pages in all; the rest are not counted rather than estimated. Checksums for every file are published on its record page.