The Lock Museum of America is located at 130 East Main St., P.O. Box 104,
Terryville, CT 06786 and their phone no. is (860) 589-6359.  According to the
reference cited below, the Museum has a sizable collection in addition to
information on patents, & a file of lock catalogs, books, and periodicals.  The
reference is: Sandra Gurvis, "America's Strangest Museums," Carol Publishing
Group, Secaucus, New Jersey, 1998, pp. 5-7.

Allen
> In message <[log in to unmask]>, Automatic digest processor
> <[log in to unmask]> writes
> >Does anyone out there know the history of lock washers?  Their invent=
> >or? =3D
> > Beginning date?
> >    B. Fontana
>
> There's a Lock Museum in the US which might be able to help.  There used
> to be a Lock Museum in the UK, too (I used to work there). They had huge
> funding cuts from their local authority (the other partners were the
> local industry, and the lockmaking unions).  The address is New Street,
> Willenhall, West Midlands.
>
> Is the washer still associated with the lock, or could it come from a
> set of handles?  The mechanism of the lock would probably be a better
> dating tool than the washer, per se (or do you have a box of 'lock
> washers'???).
>
> I'm trying (and failing) to remember which types of locks use washers.
> Runner action locks, certainly - with these, the key or follow don't act
> directly on the bolt, but there's a sliding bit (a 'runner') which
> transmits the action.  The washer goes between the end of the spring
> behind the bolt head and the runner.
>
> Best wishes to all,
>
> Pat
> (who would like to reassure folk that she is not at all typical of the
> historical archaeologists at York)
> --
> Pat Reynolds
> [log in to unmask]
>    "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
>    (T. Pratchett)