Info on Szladeky lock from Budapest

GregWhitney

I recently acquired a lock that is said to have been used by the Budapest Postal Service. I believe the lock was made by Szladeky and has both Budapest and Szladeky stamped on the lock. This lock also appears to have been able to utilize a paper seal over the keyhole to provide tamper evidence.

I am attaching photos of this lock and I would be grateful if anyone could provide more information on it. I would be interested to know the history of this lock, whether it was used by the postal service, what years it may have been in use and any other information available.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration of this request.

Timothy

That look like going to be hard to get history about that lock. You may try to look into this web site and they have email can try to see if they can help you out…Timothy…. < http://www.postamuzeum.hu/en/muzeumok/1/postamuzeum-budapest>

GregWhitney

Timothy wrote
That look like going to be hard to get history about that lock. You may try to look into this web site and they have email can try to see if they can help you out…Timothy…. < http://www.postamuzeum.hu/en/muzeumok/1/postamuzeum-budapest>

Thanks for the thought, Timothy! I did reach out to them just prior to posting on this forum last week. I have not heard back yet but then again it has been just a few days and over a weekend. I was amazed at the number of European countries with a postal museum and will likely be reaching out to many more of them.

I have also been trying to find contact information for lock collectors in Europe. Like I mentioned, I believe it to be a postal lock but would love to hear from anyone that can provide information, anecdotal or factual, that would help clarify it’s intended purpose.
Greg

[unknown]

Timothy

Not sure about this or not but this is what I found so far. Not a lot information about it: Made for: Hungarian Royal Mail. Mfg by:Alajos and Ignacz Szladeky, Budapest Hungary. The Szladeky Brothers were locksmiths at the very beginning of the 1900’s in Budapest Hungary….Timothy…..

GregWhitney

Timothy wrote
Not sure about this or not but this is what I found so far. Not a lot information about it: Made for: Hungarian Royal Mail. Mfg by:Alajos and Ignacz Szladeky, Budapest Hungary. The Szladeky Brothers were locksmiths at the very beginning of the 1900’s in Budapest Hungary….Timothy…..

Thanks Timothy! Would you mind sharing a link to where you found reference of this lock to Hungarian Royal Mail? I am trying to document this lock as best I can and having access to source documents would be great! Thanks again for taking the time to dig in to this - it is very much appreciated. Greg

[unknown]

GregWhitney

BTW - I purchased this lock from David at antique-locks.com and am just trying to expand upon the information he provided.

Timothy

If you talking about this: Made for: Hungarian Royal Mail. Mfg by:Alajos and Ignacz Szladeky, Budapest Hungary. The Szladeky Brothers were locksmiths at the very beginning of the 1900’s in Budapest Hungary. Gt this in Antique Padlock by David Heurmann. Don’t remember which one was it. They do have there email to contact but you have to give them time to reply back to you…Timothy..

I did find another web site can try: < [url]https://welovebudapest.com/en/2017/03/09/budapests-hidden-gem-museums-the-postal-museum/[/URL]>

The museumprovides a wealth of information on the technological novelties of each period,such as the postcard (which Hungary was thefirst in the world to introduce in 1869), the so-called “American-style”lock, and the revolutionary closedsystem for mail collection – the tool used for closing the mailbags, which was developed by locksmith Sándor Árkay, was employed in variouscountries worldwide for a good 130 years.

GregWhitney

Thanks for continuing to provide suggestions. As noted earlier, I did reach out to the Budapest postal museum before posting on this forum and am still awaiting a reply. I also reached out to postal museums in German, Italy, Czech Republic and Slovenia. While I trust the information from David I would like to have photos, documents, patent information, etc. to build a full story of this intriguing lock.

Greg

GregWhitney

I have had some success in my quest. I was able to find two patents from Hungary under the name Szladeky for this lock. While it may have been used on postal sacks it appears it was patented for use on money sacks for “SZLADEKY SUBSYSTEM PAYMENT BANK” in Budapest. I am attaching the patent info as well as my best effort at translating each of them.

1
Újítás zsákzárakon
Type of application PATENT
Reference number of the application 56047
Registration number 56047
Application date 1911.07.11
Rightholder Szladeky Alajos ; Budapest (HU)

2
Zsákzár
Type of application PATENT
Reference number of the application S-11826
Registration number 93688
Application date 1926.06.04
Rightholder Szladeky Alajos ; Budapest (HU)

While finding these patents has brought me a long way I am still open to any other information one might have on these unusual locks.

Thanks!

Timothy

Wow! Nice job and lucky have someone helping you out on that….Timothy…..

GregWhitney

I heard back today from the Budapest Postal Museum who were able to confirm this was a postal lock. They provided some history of the lock as well as pictures of how it was used. For those interested, I am attaching the information I received to this post. I hope this information helps someone else in the future.

Greg

combinepdf.pdf

695kB

Timothy

Good information…Timothy….