POSTLESS TOWERS

has anyone ever seen these before, item # 170148943756 or heard of the DPF?

The dominion police force was started in 1868....now its called the RCMP as of i think 1920s as for the cuffs i have never seen a towers with out the key posts ....but some of my family are RCMP officers so i will see if any can tell me if these were made like this .....they might have old photos ..

has anyone ever seen these before, item # 170148943756 or heard of the DPF?

The keys are old modified door keys (definitly not original)....my guess is that someone punched the center pins and modified the old keys to fit. Ruined them, in my opinion.

Cheers, Mike

has anyone ever seen these before, item # 170148943756 or heard of the DPF?

Hard to tell since I don't see any real sign of rework as in the cover plate to the cuffs seems to be factory set. As far as the missing post, if my memory serves me, I thought the posts were done as part of the casting of the body of the cuffs. So either the factory custom made these or someone who was good at machining drilled the posts out precisely. Given the engraving job of the lettering, I would tend to think the factory custom made these and had the engraving done too for the police force. I also noticed that the key code is plain and simple as compared with most towers that have at least one lever tumbler different from the rest.

-Dorson

has anyone ever seen these before, item # 170148943756 or heard of the DPF?

The posts have been removed.

They are not part of the casted body and are added and peened afterwards.

Someone just drifted it out with a punch from the backside.

Steve

has anyone ever seen these before, item # 170148943756 or heard of the DPF?

Santini is correct. I think this pair were at a antique show here about ten years ago. If not another pair of Towers with the posts knocked out and an outsized set of keys is out there.
I doubt the RCMP angle, the script seems too artsy for a utilitarian device, and other NWMP/RCMP cuffs I have seen tended to be darbies, although there are many other cuffs that they used, but with pre-RCMP cuffs they were darbies with very plain stampings.

has anyone ever seen these before, item # 170148943756 or heard of the DPF?

The cuff favored by the NWMP were the Marlin bottle cuffs.

Towers were used by more of the early large city Police forces such as the Metro Toronto Force.

Darbies seem to have appeared more in use by Police forces on Canada's east caost and in cities such as Halifax and Montreal.

The above information comes from my own personal visits to police museum collections and police collectible historians in those very locations.

Steve Santini