Name/Title
Bell & Bates Hardware Office SafeEntry/Object ID
2020.1.1_OHDescription
In the late 1990s, Mark and Patsy Bates donated the Bell & Bates Building to the Gadsden Arts Center (later the Gadsden Arts Center & Museum), providing a beautiful and historic space in downtown Quincy to house the Center’s galleries and educational spaces. Bell & Bates was, and still is, Gadsden county’s oldest privately owned hardware store founded in 1902. This Herring, Hall, Marvin & Co. safe was included with the donation of the building and has been stationed in its original place in the building for over 100 years. The Bell & Bates safe was constructed sometime between 1893 and 1910, as the Herring Company acquired the Marvin and Hall safe companies in 1893, and the Bell & Bates Building was constructed around 1910.
The outside and inside doors of the safe are hand painted, featuring a sailboat, birds, and decorative filigree elements. Safes were common in offices and businesses during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Like most safes of the time, the Bell & Bates safe has interior wooden partitions to hold ledgers and other papers, and an exterior comprised of hardened steel, wrought iron, and Franklinite casting (the hardest of all known metallic ores). This technology, developed by Herring & Co. in the 1860s, prevented thieves and burglars from drilling into the safe.
The staff at Bell & Bates can attest to the strength of the safe’s exterior. One time the owner, Mark Bates, was out of town on vacation when the lock froze with the doors shut. No one could open the safe, and there was no cash for the store. Everett Morrow, the local locksmith spent several days with the combination trying to open the safe. He finally had to use an acetylene torch to burn a hole in the side where the lock mechanism was housed to open the safe.
Herring & Co. developed the technology to ensure safes were fireproof around the 1830s, and another museum benefited greatly from this update. In 1865, the American Museum in New York City burned down, and while it was one of the most spectacular fires the city has seen, the contents of the museum's safe were intact. P.T. Barnum, the museum’s director, sent a letter to the Herring safe company commending them on the durability of their product. This letter was then used in advertisements for Herring & Co., while also serving as publicity for the American Museum that was rebuilt by the fall of that same year.Collection
Organizational History CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2020.1Source or Donor
Mr. and Mrs. Mark W. BatesAcquisition Method
GiftMade/Created
Artist
Herring, Hall, Marvin & Co.Date made
1893 - 1910Dimensions
Height
61 inWidth
44 inDepth
33 inCreated By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
February 20, 2009