Aaron Fish wrote a book which was published in 2012 called "Under Lock & Key." This book chronicles an approximate time period in the lock industry between 1950 to 2000. The names of lock companies eventually owned by his company during those 50 years are staggering. 'Lock & key' is a good description of the individual lock companies in the group as the largest percentage of those companies specialized in either key blank manufacturing, the manufacture of locks which used keys or ancillary companies specializing in supporting roles such as parts plating or the manufacture of key cutter blades.
Visions of the Aaron Fish era were re-lived as I read a recent editorial by Robert Dix. Mr. Dix is the editor of the "Journal of Lock Collecting" (www.ALCA.us). An editorial in the November-December 2014 issue of his newsletter describes the plight of the lock collecting hobby. Mr. Dix stated that lock collectors are not getting any younger. According to Mr. Dix, current collectors are trying to sell their lock collections and younger generations are more interested in picking locks than in building collections. Mr. Dix states, "What this all means is there are too many locks chasing fewer and fewer collectors." Mr. Dix also stated that, "...the answer lies in meeting the needs of the younger generation."
Bob Newhart once made a comedy record in which he was supposedly the commander of a submarine. The submarine had been submerged for an extended period of time and had travelled a long distance. Bob Newhart gave a speech before arrival in port and made jokes about a mutiny onboard and also asked the crew to return a missing sailor. Finally Mr. Newhart stated that the submarine might be emerging either in Buenos Aires or New York City.
There is no question that 50 years ago locks and keys were thought of simultaneously. At that time the old and current generations were on the same page. During the last 20 years inventions such as the internet, cell phones and computers have changed the landscape. At the moment there are too many locksmiths chasing fewer and fewer customers who require our former services. The answer lies in emerging from the past and finding ways to meet the needs of today's generation.
