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
