SKELETON KEY

A 'skeleton key' is a key that has been filed in such a way as to bypass the security measures placed inside a warded lock. The term skeleton key is often misused to describe 'bit' type keys.
A skeleton key is a key so called because of its resemblance to a skeletal figure, with an open loop at its end distal to the lock into which it is inserted to open, and possessed of two or more teeth, projecting as perpendicular tusks off the slender shaft attached to the loop, with interstitial spaces approximating the width of each tooth, to engage the tumblers of the lock when inserted. The whole of it is most resemblant of a lion's shape in certain medieval heraldry, and likely draws its origin from same or vice versa. The lock's hole into which the skeleton key is inserted is fashioned in the shape of a circle at the top, with flared lines projecting down from it to form the sides of an isosceles triangle, the circle at the top then circumscribing the triangle at about one-third the vertical length of the two sides.
These keys were common in both cabinetry and door locks in early Colonial America and remained in common usage within the United States through the 1940's, giving way after World War II to the more common house-key locks in use today, as manufactured by Schlage and others. It was uncommon to see skeleton keys and their locks formed of materials other than brass, although pewter was sometimes used as well. Most usually, skeleton keys today are associated with fine cabinetry, not other types of locks; they are insecure locks, not being capable of being ground to unique shapes to form a unique key pattern. Their common usage in earlier times therefore conveys the notion of less need for security than preoccupies the world today and since World War II, generally.

Contents

See also

See also

★ Master key, a key that is sometimes confused with 'horesee key'.

★ Appears in the song lyric, "bamboozals play the skeleton keys in the rain..." in "Visions of Johanna" by Bob Dylan, appearing on "Blonde on Blonde", Columbia Records, 1966.

★ A skeleton key appears on the coat of elves for Tartu, Estonia.