Vintage and Antique Safes

We are a part of eBay Affiliate Network, and if you make a purchase through the links on our site we earn affiliate commission.
The predecessors of modern safes were antique wooden strongboxes bound with iron hoops, similar in construction to barrels. Until the 19th century, these so-called “iron chests” were designed to prevent theft, but offered little to no protection...
Continue reading
The predecessors of modern safes were antique wooden strongboxes bound with iron hoops, similar in construction to barrels. Until the 19th century, these so-called “iron chests” were designed to prevent theft, but offered little to no protection from fire. The first-known American safes were produced in the early 19th century, and were typically wooden boxes covered with iron sheeting that was banded and secured with cast-iron nails. These safes’ visibly oversized nail heads earned them nicknames like “knob chests” or “hobnail safes.” Some manufacturers first soaked their wood with salt water, providing minimal fire protection as long as the wood remained semi-damp. During the 1820s, Jesse Delano of New York City pioneered a mixture of clay, lime, plumbago, mica, potash lye, and alum that could be used to fireproof the wooden lining of safes. In 1833, C.J. Gayler patented his double fireproof chest, which consisted of two nested boxes with space for air or other incombustible materials between the two. Chests of the day typically weighed anywhere from 300 to 5000 pounds, though one custom-made Gayler model for the Chambers Street Savings Bank weighed around 11,000 pounds. After one of Gayler’s chests survived a major building fire, they were dubbed “salamanders,” due to the creature’s mythological connection with fire. In England around this time, Thomas Milner developed a fireproof safe using a casing made from tin-plate and sheet iron (lining both the interior and exterior), which surrounded a non-conducting composite of hardwood, sawdust, and alum. This mixture somewhat insulated the safe’s contents when exposed to the high heat of a fire. Milner patented the design and launched his company, Thomas Milner and Son, in Liverpool in 1830. However, the Great Fire of New York in 1835 proved that most “fireproof” safe designs were worthless, as very few survived the conflagration. During the 1830s, Daniel Fitzgerald had begun experimenting with...
Continue reading

Best of the Web

Early Office Museum
This site showcases pre-1920 office antiques, including paperweights, writing ink, paper...
Most Watched

Best of the Web

Early Office Museum
This site showcases pre-1920 office antiques, including paperweights, writing ink, paper...