Consolidated Time Lock Co., Cincinnati, Ohio - 2 movements

                                                          A

  B

  C

  D

  E

A. A rare example of the original glass etched with the company logo in tact, c. 1886. Note how the balance wheels are in a horizontal position being driven by the movement train through a contrate wheel which allows for the change in position. This feature was a hallmark of the Consolidated company. A balance wheel operating in this position has less frictional force on its' arbor and thus, all other things being equal, will be more accurate. No other company used this arrangement. Joseph Hall's original firm as well as his later company, Consolidated made time locks that operated on the combination lock as opposed to the safe's bolt work; a more common approach used by other manufacturers.The cases were often decorated with geometric patterns on the sides. I have never seen two locks that had a design that was exactly alike. 5"w x 3"h x 2 5/8". Case#6898, movement #6898. file 123

B. Same as 'A' above but with the optional intra-day release mechanism located on the right movement. One could adjust the pointer to allow the time lock to release at any hour between the normal time that the safe would be locked. For example, one could set the pointer for three hours from whatever time the time locks were currently running, lock the safe and be sure that no one else could open the safe even with the correct combination until that time. This could be done only be once until the right hand timer ran out to the desired time before being reset. It is the only other example of intra-day capabilities the other being the very complex Yale #1 which allowed one to do this exercise this capability to within one hour throughout a 24 hour period! See below an example of a Consolidated dual movement time lock in conjunction with a Hall (later Consolidated Co.) combination lock on a safe door. file 71

C. Time lock similar to that in example 'A' but this example employed the rare E.J. Woolley patent design that allowed the firm's time lock to operate in the more conventional manner, that is on the safe's bolt work instead of the combination lock, c. 1886 . This allowed for it to be used alone without a key or combination lock as was becoming popular at the time. Fewer than 100 were made and only four complete examples as shown above are known to survive.(1) Case#6412, movement #6412, all bolt work parts #73589. file 121

D. This lock displays a case in an unusually good condition, c. 1884.  The surface plating of these locks suffered from corrosion more often than most, perhaps due to some flaw in the plating process. This company and it's predecessor, Hall Safe & Lock, often elaborately decorated the sides of their locks with  'Spirograph' , floral or even pictorial type designs. Note the extensive use of metal engraving decoration known as damascene. Many if not most of the time lock made before the 1920's were extensively engraved and damascened. This was done to better convince the buyer that these were quality pieces of reliable machinery (which most were) to entrust the security of the vault and its' valuables. It was also a marketing tool to justify their substantial cost. Some time locks ran over $500.00 in late 1870's to early 1880's dollars! See Yale #1 and S&G #2. 4 7/8"w x 4 5/8"h x 2 5/8"d. Case #3234, movement #3234. file 38

E.  c. 1904-5 version of Consolidated's time lock movements, abandoning E. Howard's horizontally mounted balance wheel movement for Elgin Watch movements. Notice the shock resistant spring mountings for each lock as well as the beginnings of interchangeable modular design that was the trend in the industry by this time. Consolidated and it's earlier incarnation as Hall Safe & Lock paid special attention to their case decorating. Here, although the design is plain, they do a different pattern on the sides ver. the door. Consolidated ceased production in 1906, so while this style of lock is of a later vintage than those shown with the earlier Howard movements that have the horizontally mounted balances, there were fewer of these made making them quite rare. 4"w x 3 1/2"h x 2 3/8"d. Case #1271, movements #8170, #8171. file 80