Under Lock & Key

Tom Hennessy’s lifetime vocation began on a World War II aircraft carrier—starting with a fascination for a padlock aboard ship. Since then, his curiosity about all things mechanical and his penchant for history has turned into an avocation, leading him to establish the Lock Museum of America in Terryville, Conn., the only one of its kind in the country.

“Lockmaking is the oldest known mechanical pursuit,” says Hennessy, 76, the museum’s curator, explaining how man has sought ways to protect his family and valuables from intrusion—to keep the good in and the bad out. “They are mysterious, and they use every mechanical principle known to man.”

The history of the lock may have begun with a stone rolled against the entrance to a cave and then graduated to a wooden bar across the door of a hut, but that mystery has never been unraveled. Somewhere along the way, it was condensed to the simple pin-tumbler design, and the art of the lockmaker was born.

The location of Hennessy’s museum is appropriate. In 1824, Eli Terry Jr. of Plymouth, Conn., established a clock factory nearby in the town that eventually would bear his name. His son, James, switched from clocks to locks, becoming one of the pioneers who made Terryville the heart of American lockmaking. His small enterprise grew into the Eagle Lock Co., eventually employing more than 1,800 men and women from all over the world.

Enter young Tom Hennessy, newly discharged from the U.S. Navy. In 1948, Hennessy went to work as engineer for a hardware company in New Britain, Conn., beginning a 50-year career in the lock industry. The key to Hennessy’s life, in fact, has been locks. He designed and installed the master key system for the 46,000 locks in the former World Trade Center in New York City, and holds 10 patents for various lock innovations and designs.

“You can’t see what’s going on,” he says of his fascination with the mysteries of the lock. “It’s an engineering marvel.” Imbued with a love of history, in 1962 Hennessy began collecting locks, haunting flea markets and corresponding with kindred spirits around the world. He bought five used display cases and gradually filled them with a growing collection in his basement. The collection grew, as did his reputation.

A speech he gave to the Terryville Lions Club led to the formation of the Eagle Lock collection, which he merged with his own in 1972, when the Lock Museum of America opened in a rented storefront.

A building fund drive, combined with the donation of town land, generated $60,000, 50 percent of which was raised locally. Hennessy and his locks moved into the new building on Main Street in 1980. Since then, contributions from private collections and corporate donations have added two rooms and a treasure trove of locks to the museum’s shelves.

The collection includes more than 20,000 locks, keys, and pieces of related hardware, including many variations of the pin tumbler, the oldest lock design known to man. One, an Egyptian pin tumbler lock, is a re-creation of a 4,000-year-old design. Empires are represented by a 26-pound English padlock, thought to be the world’s largest; a Roman key unearthed in Britain; and a 17th-century Spanish Armada chest, from a time when kings sent their captains forth on quests for fame and riches—with the booty kept, of course, under lock and key.

The collection highlights American lockmakers, including Linus Yale Jr.'s original pin tumbler, doorknobs from the Waldorf Astoria, and the first adjustable handcuffs—from Tower Locks—the only handcuff Houdini could not escape.

And for those who worked to foil the locks of everyday citizens, there’s the 1850 lock from Sing Sing prison, where many of them went.

In 2002, the Lock Museum of America celebrated its 30th anniversary. The doors were unlocked for the occasion.

Warren D. Jorgensen is a frequent contributor to American Profile.

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