In light of the holiday, I just wanted to give a brief highlight on some of our American history keys.
As soon as you walk in, you can see a picture of President George Bush. This photo comes with a letter. Originally, a letter had been sent to President Bush in an attempt to gain a key to the White House. The attempt, however, was unsuccessful. The President responded simply by saying, “It is the votes of the American people that open the doors to the White House.”
In case 7, we have the Francis Scott Key. The key is wooden and made from the hand hewn joists that were in the flag house in Baltimore. In this flag house, the American flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1814 was made. This flag survived a twenty-four hour bombardment from the British ships. This very flag is what inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.
Case 3 contains a key ring of 4 keys. These are keys to the Pentagon. They came into our collection through Pentagon Key smith: Snake. If you look closely at the keys, they say US Property. DO NOT REPLICATE.
Lastly, in the front of the Key Room in case 2, we have a key to the US Mint at Philadelphia. This is a rather peculiar key and definitely one of the more originally shaped ones. Beneath it, there is a key to the Fort Knox side door.
Next time you’re in our Key Room, make sure to see some of these interesting keys in American history. Have a safe holiday!
God Bless America,
Matthew Porter
