History of Locksmithing

The history of the locksmith is a long and dignified one.  Starting as an offshoot of blacksmithing it soon became a trade of its own once locks became popular.  As long as there have been keys, people have been losing them!

Although it is one of the oldest engineering trades in the world, it is still one of the fastest moving ones.  There are constant improvements and innovations design to protect people and property, and the locksmith is ‘key’ to most of them. 

The shape and types of locks remained fairly constant from the middle ages until the nineteenth century.  As populations and crime grew, better security was needed to protect property.  In the 1930’s, the biggest innovation for ages took place with the invention of the mortise lock.  This new design made it much more difficult for someone to pick and was the real beginning of the specialization of locksmithing.

Between that time and the 1970’s there wasn’t much innovation in security.  Now there are as many types of lock as there are locksmiths.  Each new version becoming more and more sophisticated.  A modern locksmith is almost half electronics expert now! 

Traditionally an apprenticed trade, handed down from father to son, it is now something anyone with a technical aptitude can study.  There are even degrees and certification courses you can take.

As well as handling the technical aspect of locksmithing, there is a fair amount of customer service and people skills involved.  Generally locksmiths are like the police, in that people only want them when something is wrong.  This will mean people in awkward and sometimes very stressful situations.  You need to know how to handle and defuse these kinds of things as well as take care of the job you were called to do.