Laminated Lock Design and Company History
Before founding the company in 1921, Harry Soref had been a traveling locksmith in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, had invented a lock for protecting military equipment, and had founded the "Master Key" company for making master "skeleton" keys. In 1919, Soref then invented a padlock design that used laminated steel layers to economically produce an exceptionally strong lock body. He initially tried to get some large companies interested in using his design, but was unsuccessful, so he recruited financial backing from two friends, P. E. Yolles and Sam Stahl, and founded the Master Lock company in 1921 to produce the locks himself, initially with five employees. In 1924, he was granted the first patent on such a laminated lock design. He led the company to become a major manufacturer of locks before his death in 1957. However, the brand had not yet reached its peak status as an iconic, universally-familiar consumer brand at the time of his death. Sam Stahl, one of the original investors, then led the company until he also died in 1964. The Soref family then took over the company management, later selling the company to the American Brands Corporation in 1970.
Read more about this topic: Master Lock
Famous quotes containing the words lock, design, company and/or history:
“and wife or husband
who does not lock the door of the marriage
against you, finds you
not as unwelcome third in the room, but as
the light of the moon on flesh and hair.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“Westerners inherit
A design for living
Deeper into matter—
Not without due patter
Of a great misgiving.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“We’re too unseparate. And going home
From company means coming to our senses.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“If you look at the 150 years of modern China’s history since the Opium Wars, then you can’t avoid the conclusion that the last 15 years are the best 15 years in China’s modern history.”
—J. Stapleton Roy (b. 1935)