Keys With a lot of Teeth

Hello again Everybody! It's been a wonderful week up here at the Baldpate with many a person coming through to see our collection of keys. Today I was trying to determine what theme to follow for this week's ceiling highlight. It wasn't until my friend Matt, our Dining Manager pointed out a certain key that I was struck with inspiration. As is always the case with me the idea was the simplest one I could do but had eluded my simply from its simplicity. Without further ado then I will get on with tonight's showcase of Keys with a lot of Teeth, completely counter to last weeks theme.

The first key I'll look at is the inspirational key itself, a unique looking thing that is listed as a Lightning Rod Key. I had two thoughts upon seeing it, the first of course was is this a play on Benjamin Franklin's famed kite & key experiment? The second was do lightning rods actually need keys? The key itself was created by Robbin's Lightning Protective Co. which seems to lead credence to the second idea. But of course it might just be a marketing ploy based off of the founding father. If it truly is a key for lightning rods is it used to disrupt their ground system in some way? Honestly, if anybody has the answer I'd be ecstatic to get an email at keys@baldpateinn.com willing to share with us.

The second key is a little less auspicious and mysterious, with a much more straightforward purpose and origin. A key to the University of Chicago it is simply an interesting looking key with equidistant teeth symmetrically placed on the keys neck. Donated to us in 1923 I'm curious to know if the key still works to some long forgotten door in the college, and what such a key arrangement actually protects considering how regular it is.

The final key for tonight's highlight is almost an up-scaled version of the previous one. With seven pairs of robust teeth, two of which are angularly cut. My searches dug up a style of key which lines up with the name left for they, specifically as a Scandinavian key. Designed for use with a Scandinavian lock system, the company who's style most immediately relates to my physical one is that of Star Lock Works a Philadelphia, PA based company. These lock and key systems worked off of however many teeth were cut at an angle, leading to a limited amount of combinations.

Well those are my three ceiling highlights for the week, I hope everybody found them as interesting as I did.

Until next time,

Colton

Keys Without Teeth

Good Evening Everybody! This is Colton hopping on to highlight a triplet of keys that caught my eye while combing our ceiling collection. So I decided to use them for the first of a weekly series in which I take down some of our more humble keys and put them on the stage of the internet for all to see. Without further ado I'll get into the keys of interest tonight!

Each of these keys has a unifying theme which directed my choosing them tonight. The first one which dictated this choice was a Digital Equipment key used to turn a computer mainframe on & off. The following pictures depict this key and reveal my choice of theme, namely that these keys don't have any teeth! This key in particular has a hexagonal shaped neck rounding down into its flattened end. This makes it little more than a fancy Allen wrench and considering its purpose shows the utilitarian design of the key.

The second key for today's highlight pictured below is a most peculiar one made from a dark metal with a diamond head. It's neck is completely rectangular, making for a sleek flattened profile. On its tag it is listed as a paupers casket key from the Boyertown Casket Company in PA. Carved into the diamond is a B with a four pointed star crossing it. Similarly to the above key it wouldn't take much to open the intended lock without it, but as a ceremonial key it serves its purpose with style. From the moment I saw this key and input it into our collection I knew I would be showcasing it at some point, and I'm happy it happened so soon.

The final key seen below is an Ilco Marlock that was used for room 228 at the Little America lodge in WY. Donated as a replacement for a forgotten house key it is an interesting example of key innovation. The three black stripes on it cover up a specific combination of holes which are maintained in a central computer database. When the key is used in a door a sensor passes Infrared light through it and if it detects a valid combination opens the door.

Well, that's all for tonight folks. I'll catch y'all next week same time for the next part of this weekly series, and maybe we'll see a more in depth post on a more famous key or two in between.

Have a good night,

Colton

Colton Morton 2019 Key Curator

Howdy Everybody!

      My name is Colton Morton and I will be serving as the curator for our collections here at the Baldpate Inn this 2019 season, most specifically the Key Room of course. I'll periodically be posting on some of our interesting collections and special events happening in our Key Room, such as our Summer Enchanted Evening series. So keep an eye out for those going forward!

      A little bit about me so you can become more familiar. I am a recent graduate in History from CSU, Colorado State University, in Fort Collins. To me History has long been a focus for my interest, namely in looking at the little day to day stories people leave behind through letters, journals, personal items, etc. This translated easily into my other interest of Anthropology which looks at the myriad peoples around the world today, and in the past, through their cultures and artifacts. The Key Room being such a space of wonderful items piqued my interest, and I hope will be the first step into a long career in such spaces.

      Beyond my academic interests I have spent many of my summers growing up in one set of mountains or another, specifically the Sierra Nevada back in my home state of California. I spent those days working my way up through the Boy Scouts of America until I was actually working at camps teaching youths in the same way I was once taught. Now given the chance to illuminate a much wider audience on the ins and outs of Baldpate Inn and its collections I feel like my formative years have truly come full circle.

      I look forward to interacting with all of you who join us in person here at the inn, as well as through the blog as we enjoy another enchanting summer in the Rockies!