Mosler Safe and Lock Co., Hamilton, Ohio, Calendar time lock The Mosler Safe and Lock company entered the time lock business through its purchase of the Beard & Brothers Co., time lock firm in 1887. The calendar time lock was first envisioned by its inventor Phinneas King, an employee of Mosler, in his original patent in February of 1878, #200,312, and another issued in 1891 upon which this model was based. Mosler Safe and Lock was later folded into Mosler Safe Co. in 1916. The Mosler Safe Company
was a manufacturer of security equipment, most notably safes and bank
vaults, beginning in 1874 and ending with its bankruptcy in 2001. Founded in Cincinnati by
Gustave Mosler and Fred Bahmann as the Mosler, Bahmann & Company in 1867. In
1874 after Gustave's death, the Mosler family had a falling out with Mr.
Bahmann, leaving Mosler, Bahmann & Company to start the Mosler Safe & Lock
Company. Both companies remained in Cincinnati until the 1890s. When Mosler
Safe & Lock Co. outgrew its original factory it relocated to Hamilton in
1891, where it remained until its 2001 bankruptcy. Mosler, Bahmann & Company
remained in business until around 1898. Its safes and vaults were renowned
for their strength and precision manufacture: several Mosler vaults
installed in Hiroshima's Mitsui Bank building prior to WWII survived the
nuclear attack, and the company subsequently produced doors for missile
silos and even the vault formerly used to display and store the United
States Constitution and Declaration of Independence. One example, installed
at the Atomic Energy Commission's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, weighed
approximately 138 tons including the frame. Despite the weight ("the largest
and heaviest hinged shielding doors in the world"), each 58-ton blade could
be opened and closed manually by one person. Mosler was controlled by its
founding family until 1967, when they sold it to American Standard
Companies. American Standard then sold the division to a group of Mosler
managers and outside investors in 1986. After 134 years in business, Mosler
declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2001, citing continuing debt
problems, and ceased operations shortly thereafter. Diebold subsequently
announced programs to support former Mosler customers and ended up buying
much of the former company in bankruptcy court a few months later. The Mosler name carries on
to this day in Canada as Chubb-Mosler and Taylor Safes Ltd., the outcome of
a 1950s merger of Mosler's Canadian operations with those of Chubb Security,
followed by the acquisition of Taylor Safes of Canada in the following
decade.
The calendar wheel is shown on the bottom middle of the movement. This allows the lock to be on guard for a maximum of seven days. it featured Phinneas King's calendar mechanism first patented in 1878, improved and again patented in 1891 and appearing in that model for the first time. In additional to the conventional ability to go on or off guard daily, his model was also able to lock and unlock during the course of the day, much like the Yale Single and Double Pin Dial lock and the Holms Electric. But unlike the Yale and Holms, it also had the calendar function. The only other time like I know of that combined all three functions was the Edward Stewart time lock. The calendar mechanism is based around the seven day dial allowing the lock to be adjusted to pass over its daily open periods for as long as the movements had reserve power, allowing for Sundays, bank holidays or other planned closures. At $88.50 wholesale, this lock was possibly the most expensive two movement time lock produced.
This lock was introduced in 1891. It featured Phinneas King's calendar mechanism first patented in 1878, improved and again patented in 1891 and appearing in this model for the first time. In additional to the conventional ability to go on or off guard daily, his model was also able to lock and unlock during the course of the day, much like the Holms Electric. But unlike the Holms, it also had the calendar function. The only other time like I know of that combined all three functions was the Edward Stewart time lock. The calendar mechanism is based around the seven day dial allowing the lock to be adjusted to pass over its daily open periods for as long as the movements had reserve power, allowing for Sundays, bank holidays or other planned closures. At $88.50 wholesale, this lock was possibly the most expensive two movement time lock produced. (1) The Sargent and Greenleaf Model 2 and Yale Model 1 both wholesaled for around $50.00 in the 1880's. The retail price of the locks were generally ten times the wholesale price. To put this in perspective, $500 in 1880 is worth $10,000 today, (2015). Making the time lock business an extremely profitable one. This resulted in much patent litigation and eventually market collusion amongst the largest players, Sargent and Yale. This example had a bronze door insert because it was probably used in a coin safe where a glass insert would likely be broken and included the top porthole windows to monitor the movements. According to Mr. Erroll's book there were 200 of these made, with the one illustrated below as the only known example. This makes two, but one other was recently found, #847 but in poor condition as well as one with a glass door front in 2023, both with the same bolt release from the top of the case. However if the locks were sequentially numbered, the one in Erroll's book is 363 with this one at 808; there had to be more. 4 5/8"h x 6"w x 2 5/8"d. Movement #808, case #12. file 138 This company is not to be confused with the Mosler Safe Company which was the result of a series of consolidations of earlier companies including this one, Mosler Bahmann and Banker's Dustproof Time Lock Co. That company emerged in 1917. (1) American Genius Nineteenth Century Bank Locks and Time Locks, David Erroll & John Erroll, pg 260. Below are photos of a Mosler Calendar model from the John H. Mossman collection at the General Society of Tradesmen and Tradesman museum, New York, NY. John Erroll's book notes that this was a bottom release, but my examination of this lock shows this to have had the release from the top of the case as the other three extant examples.
The Mosler Safe Company, Hamilton, as seen through the window of a Pullman dining car on the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway line in 1894.
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