Episode 1 – The Merry Gamers
In today’s society the profession of locksmith often goes virtually
unnoticed and unrecognized (except when you actually need one, usually
in a hurry, but, I digress…). In this series we will explore some of
the history, fact, and fiction surrounding the trade of the
locksmith. As with all explorations, we may find ourselves venturing
into places that are anticipated and some that may be quite
unexpected. Let’s begin our journey!

The Fiction
Let’s imagine a parlor game (yes, I know, an antiquated concept in the
age of online massively parallel multiplayer games but humor me…). In
this parlor game, similar to a game of trivia, a player chooses a card
with a question for the other players. They answer some arcane
factoid, garner points if they’re right and go hungry if they’re
wrong. Let’s pretend we’re the omniscient narrator: Timmy is drawing
a card, he reads, “What is the origin of the word locksmith?” …the
crowd is hushed. No one seems to know the answer. The clock is
ticking, the sand in the hourglass is running out. Ding! Times up.
And the answer is…”

The Fact
… nobody knows. The origin of the word “locksmith” is incredibly
murky. Although many sources have guessed or proposed to offer a
derivation, the truth is that there is no consensus. Without
consensus, therefore, we must infer that nobody knows for sure.

A Little History
According to an article in the 1912 edition of Scientific American,
authored by Frederick Converse Beach and George Edwin Rines, there is
the opinion that the art and science of the locksmith are as old as “…
the history of and references to it found in literature of every
nation.” Although wood was probably the first material used, the
Egyptians, Hebrews, and Greeks appear to have employed brass and other
metals. It is this transition into metal that gives rise to the term
“smith”; a person that works in metal. With the invention of the key
and lock, fabricated from metal, again from antiquity, we have the
beginnings of the word, “locksmith.”

The earliest known form of lock appears as a simple door slide or draw
bar, usually positioned on the inside of a door and moved into a hole
in the surrounding frame or structure. The Chinese may have offered
the next advance in locks with the tumbler lock. In this mechanism,
the slide or lever, “… entered a notch in the bolt, which could not be
moved till the tumbler was lifted by the key.”

After the tumbler lock, we see an evolution of the invention with the
Etruscans and the warded lock. The Roman locks were of this design
also. This type of lock introduces the idea of a spring or some
other component that, when used with the key, provides a feeling
similar to that of a tumbler (but does nothing to increase the
security of the device.) In about 1650 a fourth kind of lock
appeared. Invented by M. Regnier, a director at the Masée
d’Artillerie at Paris. These four kinds of locks are the foundation
for all modern locks.

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