Padlock and Key
Padlock and Key
- Description
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Small, heart-shaped padlock with steel shackle, locking mechanism and small key with double circle opening in oval bow. Front of body is stamped incuse "M. W. & CO" in arched roman letters above keyhole. Alms box and padlock DL*245425.0078-.0079 were used together. Maker is Mallory Wheeler & Co., a lock and hardware manufacturer in New Haven, CT, 1834-1913.
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Collection boxes have been used for centuries to solicit money for religious institutions and charities. Even those with little to spare might contribute coins anonymously to a strategically placed box. Unfamiliar in some American communities in the 1700s, these boxes became more commonly used in the United States in the 1800s.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- key
- padlock
- date made
- 1834 - 1913
- place made
- United States: Connecticut, New Haven
- Physical Description
- brass (body material)
- steel (shackle; locking mechanism; key material)
- iron (locking mechanism material)
- Measurements
- overall, padlock with key: 1 in x 1 1/4 in x 1 in; 2.54 cm x 3.175 cm x 2.54 cm
- ID Number
- DL.245425.0079
- catalog number
- 245425.0079
- accession number
- 245425
- Credit Line
- Gift of Kenneth E. Jewett
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
- Giving in America
- Domestic Furnishings
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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