Padlocks.
History and Development
No one knows when the first Padlock was invented, however examples of locks have been discovered going back thousands of years.
One of the earliest examples of a lock and key dates back to the ancient Egyptians.
Found in the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, it used a crossbar set into two mounts. Moveable pins dropped by gravity into holes hidden in the crossbar. As the key was inserted it lifted the pins out of the way and allowed the crossbar to be removed. This early example is considered to be the forerunner of the modern pin tumbler lock mechanism (more on that later) used in the manufacture of Kasp padlocks today.
Did You Know?
The first commercial lock production began in Sweden in the 17th century but it would take until the 1900s for true mass production to begin in America and Europe.
In the UK, lock manufacturing was mainly concentrated in the Midlands where Walsall found itself home to many well known lock brands. By the end of the 20th Century a significant proportion of padlock production had gone overseas, particularly to the Far East where labour costs were lower and the standards of manufacture continued to rise.