Blog Category

Antique Hardware


Antique Hardware

Our Antique Door Hardware Primer

Forget the crappy new door sets the builder put on your doors. Think antique hardware instead. Let us help you outfit your doors. We got this. 

Read More...
A Guide to Stripping Painted Hardware

Why in the world did they paint all the hardware?!? Sometimes they were following the height of fashion when paint became affordable and available to the middles class. (Who wants to look at all those out of fashion and unsightly oak doors with solid brass hardware?)

Read More...
Mortise Lock Straight Talk!
Oh, the front door It is the most evocative feature of every home, a thing of both beauty and security, a silent sentinel of architectural devotion. Its intricate carvings or stark panels, the comfortably oversized knob and backplate, the swing of the hinges, even the species of wood, all were carefully considered to create that most engaging of thresholds. In truth, what good would a home even be without a good front door? And yet the most important feature of every door, its entire raison detre, is not even visible, for what good would a front door be without a good lock?
Read More...
The Fantasticasmical Imagifactory of Orvellas Gilbert! Being the Most Complete History of the Gilbert Lock Company to Date

The late 19th century in America was a time of rapid and sometimes astounding changes in building technology. The furnaces of hardware manufacturers burned unceasingly, driven by the demand for products dreamed into existence by the vulpine innovators of the era. In the architectural realm, new technologies and designs for door hardware were being patented every day and none of these inventions may have been more unique than Gilberts Patent issued in 1876 to Orvellas Henry Gilbert.

Read More...
Posted on Categories : Antique Gilbert Door Hardware
The Great American Plastics Revolution
With their perfectly smooth surfaces and deep, lustrous tones, its little wonder that Bakelite and Catalin plastic artifacts are so desirable among collectors. This ubiquitous plastic can be found in everything from radios to cabinet pulls to costume jewelry, so collectors have a lot of avenues to explore.
Read More...