Shackles on the Beach

Hi All:

I’ve got a set of old fetters I’ve been messing with for a number of years and I am hoping someone out there might have some insights into their possible origin. Hurricane Gustav reminded me of these, so I figured a hurricane-related post might be timely.

I bought these from a guy who said he found them on a beach on the Florida peninsula while beachcombing following a hurricane as a teenager in 1949, and I have no reason to doubt his truthfulness. The fellow was selling off 40+ years of accumulated stuff prior to moving into a retirement community and from the overall circumstances, he wasn’t trying to rip off anyone. He’d used them from time to time as a doorstop.




When I got them, the lock case was full of concreted sand (despite the dust cover on the keyway) and was also present in various corners on the exterior. The things also have a distinct reddish coloration to the patina that is indicative of prolonged exposure to a salt water environment. They’re made of charcoal smelted wrought iron, which probably dates them before 1800 or so when coke smelted puddled iron became predominant. The capital letters “T.R.” are carved into the back of the lock case. The chain links and puzzle lock have a moderate amount of usage wear in appropriate places indicating that the fetters were used to some extent (other than as a door stop).

While I finally got all the concreted sand cleaned out of the lock over the course of several months, the mechanism is still frozen shut. I still mess with it from time to time, and maybe one day will get it back working. A while back I got a medical technician buddy of mine to run an MRI on the lock to confirm it is a very simple mechanism: a straight rectangular locking bolt with a cutout for the barrel key (no wards) to engage it and a V-shaped flat spring that keeps the bolt in the locked position. The key must be used to keep pressure on the spring for the bolt to remain in the unlocked position; in other words, the lock cannot be kept unlocked without the key in position. The end of the locking bolt is rectangular, not angled; hence they cannot be “snapped” shut but must use the key to lock the shackle into place.

What strikes me as a bit odd about these is that the chain is awfully darned short and the whole thing rather lightweight, as you can see in this comparison with a typical European period leg iron.

The construction and pattern of the lock itself strikes me as distinctive, but distinctive of exactly what I’m not positive. The dust cover is rather nifty, being a v-shaped flat spring with two holes in each end inside the lock mechanism; one set of holes fits over the keyway pin; the other float along a riveted pin, permitting the dust cover to be pushed down flat against the back of the lock case when the key is in place. While not perfectly sealing the keyway, it made cleaning the lock out a real pain.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Franklin

Sorts of slave or prisoner chains are typical of early warded or barrel key examples where the lock takes a departure from the typical screw key examples commonly seen.

While irons like these turn up in America once in a while, these sorts of "box lock" irons have their origin for basic design in Europe.

I have seen even older French and Germanic examples.

I would date these to the 1860's or 70's.

Further, I would estimate based on knowledge of how seawater affects iron, that these may have been found on a beach but they did not end up there in the 1860's.

My reason for assuming this is an educated guess based upon how salt water affects and works on iron.

The lock case for these has very thin walls and I have seen older sets that have not been exposed to sea water that are already weakening to the point that parts of the lock box are eaten away.

What is very nice about these is the maker's mark in the iron of the lock case.

I have never seen this.

BTW, If you can get these working congrats.

However, I feel that even short term exposure to sea water has likely fused the locking bolt to the backside of the lock case.

These may never work again but they are very nice all the same.

Hi All:

I’ve got a set of old fetters I’ve been messing with for a number of years and I am hoping someone out there might have some insights into their possible origin. Hurricane Gustav reminded me of these, so I figured a hurricane-related post might be timely.

I bought these from a guy who said he found them on a beach on the Florida peninsula while beachcombing following a hurricane as a teenager in 1949, and I have no reason to doubt his truthfulness. The fellow was selling off 40+ years of accumulated stuff prior to moving into a retirement community and from the overall circumstances, he wasn’t trying to rip off anyone. He’d used them from time to time as a doorstop.




When I got them, the lock case was full of concreted sand (despite the dust cover on the keyway) and was also present in various corners on the exterior. The things also have a distinct reddish coloration to the patina that is indicative of prolonged exposure to a salt water environment. They’re made of charcoal smelted wrought iron, which probably dates them before 1800 or so when coke smelted puddled iron became predominant. The capital letters “T.R.” are carved into the back of the lock case. The chain links and puzzle lock have a moderate amount of usage wear in appropriate places indicating that the fetters were used to some extent (other than as a door stop).

While I finally got all the concreted sand cleaned out of the lock over the course of several months, the mechanism is still frozen shut. I still mess with it from time to time, and maybe one day will get it back working. A while back I got a medical technician buddy of mine to run an MRI on the lock to confirm it is a very simple mechanism: a straight rectangular locking bolt with a cutout for the barrel key (no wards) to engage it and a V-shaped flat spring that keeps the bolt in the locked position. The key must be used to keep pressure on the spring for the bolt to remain in the unlocked position; in other words, the lock cannot be kept unlocked without the key in position. The end of the locking bolt is rectangular, not angled; hence they cannot be “snapped” shut but must use the key to lock the shackle into place.

What strikes me as a bit odd about these is that the chain is awfully darned short and the whole thing rather lightweight, as you can see in this comparison with a typical European period leg iron.

The construction and pattern of the lock itself strikes me as distinctive, but distinctive of exactly what I’m not positive. The dust cover is rather nifty, being a v-shaped flat spring with two holes in each end inside the lock mechanism; one set of holes fits over the keyway pin; the other float along a riveted pin, permitting the dust cover to be pushed down flat against the back of the lock case when the key is in place. While not perfectly sealing the keyway, it made cleaning the lock out a real pain.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Franklin

Click to expand...

I have had a number of these "box lock" manacles over the years and I can tell you the short chain was to restrict movement to a bare "shuffle".

I currently have a screw key iron here that has just as short a chain, possibly even a bit shorter.

They were made as the situation of restraint required.

I.E. If you had the prisoner in a situation, i.e. like during transport, where it was not required that they move about or walk very much, such restraints were ideal.

Cheers, Steve Santini

Hi All:

I’ve got a set of old fetters I’ve been messing with for a number of years and I am hoping someone out there might have some insights into their possible origin. Hurricane Gustav reminded me of these, so I figured a hurricane-related post might be timely.

I bought these from a guy who said he found them on a beach on the Florida peninsula while beachcombing following a hurricane as a teenager in 1949, and I have no reason to doubt his truthfulness. The fellow was selling off 40+ years of accumulated stuff prior to moving into a retirement community and from the overall circumstances, he wasn’t trying to rip off anyone. He’d used them from time to time as a doorstop.




When I got them, the lock case was full of concreted sand (despite the dust cover on the keyway) and was also present in various corners on the exterior. The things also have a distinct reddish coloration to the patina that is indicative of prolonged exposure to a salt water environment. They’re made of charcoal smelted wrought iron, which probably dates them before 1800 or so when coke smelted puddled iron became predominant. The capital letters “T.R.” are carved into the back of the lock case. The chain links and puzzle lock have a moderate amount of usage wear in appropriate places indicating that the fetters were used to some extent (other than as a door stop).

While I finally got all the concreted sand cleaned out of the lock over the course of several months, the mechanism is still frozen shut. I still mess with it from time to time, and maybe one day will get it back working. A while back I got a medical technician buddy of mine to run an MRI on the lock to confirm it is a very simple mechanism: a straight rectangular locking bolt with a cutout for the barrel key (no wards) to engage it and a V-shaped flat spring that keeps the bolt in the locked position. The key must be used to keep pressure on the spring for the bolt to remain in the unlocked position; in other words, the lock cannot be kept unlocked without the key in position. The end of the locking bolt is rectangular, not angled; hence they cannot be “snapped” shut but must use the key to lock the shackle into place.

What strikes me as a bit odd about these is that the chain is awfully darned short and the whole thing rather lightweight, as you can see in this comparison with a typical European period leg iron.

The construction and pattern of the lock itself strikes me as distinctive, but distinctive of exactly what I’m not positive. The dust cover is rather nifty, being a v-shaped flat spring with two holes in each end inside the lock mechanism; one set of holes fits over the keyway pin; the other float along a riveted pin, permitting the dust cover to be pushed down flat against the back of the lock case when the key is in place. While not perfectly sealing the keyway, it made cleaning the lock out a real pain.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Franklin

Click to expand...

While these have certainly been buried for a long time, upon reflection I am starting to have my doubts they were ever immersed in salt water.

Going by a number of scuba dives I have made to ships that sank in the 1800's in the North Atlantic I know that hand forged iron objects, and even cast iron items such as cannonballs, etc, tend to turn a black color when submerged in salt water for a long period of time.

On the wreck of the Spanish treasure ship "Atotcha" bilboe irons were found in quantity.

Without fail all of these found were very corroded and black.

With your irons I think you have a set that was found buried but not near salt water.

Were they, they would be far more degraded than they are now.

Cheers, Steve Santini

Hi All:

I’ve got a set of old fetters I’ve been messing with for a number of years and I am hoping someone out there might have some insights into their possible origin. Hurricane Gustav reminded me of these, so I figured a hurricane-related post might be timely.

I bought these from a guy who said he found them on a beach on the Florida peninsula while beachcombing following a hurricane as a teenager in 1949, and I have no reason to doubt his truthfulness. The fellow was selling off 40+ years of accumulated stuff prior to moving into a retirement community and from the overall circumstances, he wasn’t trying to rip off anyone. He’d used them from time to time as a doorstop.




When I got them, the lock case was full of concreted sand (despite the dust cover on the keyway) and was also present in various corners on the exterior. The things also have a distinct reddish coloration to the patina that is indicative of prolonged exposure to a salt water environment. They’re made of charcoal smelted wrought iron, which probably dates them before 1800 or so when coke smelted puddled iron became predominant. The capital letters “T.R.” are carved into the back of the lock case. The chain links and puzzle lock have a moderate amount of usage wear in appropriate places indicating that the fetters were used to some extent (other than as a door stop).

While I finally got all the concreted sand cleaned out of the lock over the course of several months, the mechanism is still frozen shut. I still mess with it from time to time, and maybe one day will get it back working. A while back I got a medical technician buddy of mine to run an MRI on the lock to confirm it is a very simple mechanism: a straight rectangular locking bolt with a cutout for the barrel key (no wards) to engage it and a V-shaped flat spring that keeps the bolt in the locked position. The key must be used to keep pressure on the spring for the bolt to remain in the unlocked position; in other words, the lock cannot be kept unlocked without the key in position. The end of the locking bolt is rectangular, not angled; hence they cannot be “snapped” shut but must use the key to lock the shackle into place.

What strikes me as a bit odd about these is that the chain is awfully darned short and the whole thing rather lightweight, as you can see in this comparison with a typical European period leg iron.

The construction and pattern of the lock itself strikes me as distinctive, but distinctive of exactly what I’m not positive. The dust cover is rather nifty, being a v-shaped flat spring with two holes in each end inside the lock mechanism; one set of holes fits over the keyway pin; the other float along a riveted pin, permitting the dust cover to be pushed down flat against the back of the lock case when the key is in place. While not perfectly sealing the keyway, it made cleaning the lock out a real pain.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Franklin

Click to expand...

The inscription on your item it not TR, but JR.

The J is for "juzgado"

Hi All:

I’ve got a set of old fetters I’ve been messing with for a number of years and I am hoping someone out there might have some insights into their possible origin. Hurricane Gustav reminded me of these, so I figured a hurricane-related post might be timely.

I bought these from a guy who said he found them on a beach on the Florida peninsula while beachcombing following a hurricane as a teenager in 1949, and I have no reason to doubt his truthfulness. The fellow was selling off 40+ years of accumulated stuff prior to moving into a retirement community and from the overall circumstances, he wasn’t trying to rip off anyone. He’d used them from time to time as a doorstop.




When I got them, the lock case was full of concreted sand (despite the dust cover on the keyway) and was also present in various corners on the exterior. The things also have a distinct reddish coloration to the patina that is indicative of prolonged exposure to a salt water environment. They’re made of charcoal smelted wrought iron, which probably dates them before 1800 or so when coke smelted puddled iron became predominant. The capital letters “T.R.” are carved into the back of the lock case. The chain links and puzzle lock have a moderate amount of usage wear in appropriate places indicating that the fetters were used to some extent (other than as a door stop).

While I finally got all the concreted sand cleaned out of the lock over the course of several months, the mechanism is still frozen shut. I still mess with it from time to time, and maybe one day will get it back working. A while back I got a medical technician buddy of mine to run an MRI on the lock to confirm it is a very simple mechanism: a straight rectangular locking bolt with a cutout for the barrel key (no wards) to engage it and a V-shaped flat spring that keeps the bolt in the locked position. The key must be used to keep pressure on the spring for the bolt to remain in the unlocked position; in other words, the lock cannot be kept unlocked without the key in position. The end of the locking bolt is rectangular, not angled; hence they cannot be “snapped” shut but must use the key to lock the shackle into place.

What strikes me as a bit odd about these is that the chain is awfully darned short and the whole thing rather lightweight, as you can see in this comparison with a typical European period leg iron.

The construction and pattern of the lock itself strikes me as distinctive, but distinctive of exactly what I’m not positive. The dust cover is rather nifty, being a v-shaped flat spring with two holes in each end inside the lock mechanism; one set of holes fits over the keyway pin; the other float along a riveted pin, permitting the dust cover to be pushed down flat against the back of the lock case when the key is in place. While not perfectly sealing the keyway, it made cleaning the lock out a real pain.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Franklin

Click to expand...

Juzgado Real?

Hi All:

I’ve got a set of old fetters I’ve been messing with for a number of years and I am hoping someone out there might have some insights into their possible origin. Hurricane Gustav reminded me of these, so I figured a hurricane-related post might be timely.

I bought these from a guy who said he found them on a beach on the Florida peninsula while beachcombing following a hurricane as a teenager in 1949, and I have no reason to doubt his truthfulness. The fellow was selling off 40+ years of accumulated stuff prior to moving into a retirement community and from the overall circumstances, he wasn’t trying to rip off anyone. He’d used them from time to time as a doorstop.




When I got them, the lock case was full of concreted sand (despite the dust cover on the keyway) and was also present in various corners on the exterior. The things also have a distinct reddish coloration to the patina that is indicative of prolonged exposure to a salt water environment. They’re made of charcoal smelted wrought iron, which probably dates them before 1800 or so when coke smelted puddled iron became predominant. The capital letters “T.R.” are carved into the back of the lock case. The chain links and puzzle lock have a moderate amount of usage wear in appropriate places indicating that the fetters were used to some extent (other than as a door stop).

While I finally got all the concreted sand cleaned out of the lock over the course of several months, the mechanism is still frozen shut. I still mess with it from time to time, and maybe one day will get it back working. A while back I got a medical technician buddy of mine to run an MRI on the lock to confirm it is a very simple mechanism: a straight rectangular locking bolt with a cutout for the barrel key (no wards) to engage it and a V-shaped flat spring that keeps the bolt in the locked position. The key must be used to keep pressure on the spring for the bolt to remain in the unlocked position; in other words, the lock cannot be kept unlocked without the key in position. The end of the locking bolt is rectangular, not angled; hence they cannot be “snapped” shut but must use the key to lock the shackle into place.

What strikes me as a bit odd about these is that the chain is awfully darned short and the whole thing rather lightweight, as you can see in this comparison with a typical European period leg iron.

The construction and pattern of the lock itself strikes me as distinctive, but distinctive of exactly what I’m not positive. The dust cover is rather nifty, being a v-shaped flat spring with two holes in each end inside the lock mechanism; one set of holes fits over the keyway pin; the other float along a riveted pin, permitting the dust cover to be pushed down flat against the back of the lock case when the key is in place. While not perfectly sealing the keyway, it made cleaning the lock out a real pain.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Franklin

Click to expand...

"A while back I got a medical technician buddy of mine to run an MRI on the lock to confirm it is a very simple mechanism"




M.R.I. You mean Magnetic Resonance Imaging?
Impossible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Got a feeling your buddy lied to ya.
Those cuffs are made of steel and would be sucked into the vortex when magnet is ramped. (powered up)
They would stick to magnet and you wouldnt have never gotten them back.
(unless you demagnetized the magnet) At the cost of $20,000 to repower the magnet i just dont see it happening.
If magnet was spinning and these were introduced...
Youd have a mangled cuff sir.
I used to install medical equipment.
You couldnt walk in the m.r.i. medical trailers with tools when magnet was powered up.
I used to have a key for tool crib. I used to hang it around my neck.
It would float in front of me when i was anywhere near it.
One technician lost a 3/4 craftsman wrench. We couldnt remove it from magnet.
Dude was fired! Company spent over $20,000 to reramp magnet.