Bankers Dustproof Time Lock Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, 4 movements
A. Circa 1910. An extremely rare four movement example with automatic bolt motor. The etching on the front door shows a 'custom' design, fairly crude (uneven letter spacing) compared to their standard door associated with the three movement lock. No other examples of a four movement Banker's safe lock with the bolt motor are known to exist, 5.5"h x 7.75"w x 2.75"d. Case #1619, movement #2275982, 2275985, 2275986, 2477327. file 127 Banker's Dustproof began in 1906 as a subsidiary of Victor Safe and Lock Company, maker of the "Cannonball" model of safe; one of the most popular safes made and was a late entry into the time lock business. The clean lines in the manner of the emerging popular deco style of the day is reflected in the design. Around 1902 with the sale of E. Howard & Co. to the Keystone Watch Case Company, E. Howard exited the time lock business. Therefor, unlike most time lock companies that used either E. Howard or Seth Thomas movements, this company used 18-size Model #4 pocket watch movements supplied by the Illinois Watch Company. The movements had a separate crystal covering the watch movements much like on a conventional pocket watch providing exceptional protection from contamination compared to other time lock movements. Mosler Safe Co. was another company that used movements supplied by Illinois Watch Company. This was probably not coincidental since Banker's disappeared as a brand in 1915 and Mosler appeared in 1916 based on designs very similar to that of Bankers. This example contains an automatic bolt motor wound separately by the winding square below the first time lock to the left. Bankers was a short-lived company that never achieved a significant production. |
