Reese RFD Padlock

[RobNC]

I went back today trying for more silver but instead got mostly skunked. I tried using the T2SE with the Shrew and was only picking up iron grunts and other assorted junk like butt connector with wire inside, foil and such. I normally do not dig such questionable targets but having found silver there was hoping for gold. Nope didn't happen!

So I also brought the ORX with me and gave it a try.
Found a clad dime at 10", a 1960 memorial penny at 7 inches and another 1965 memorial at 6.5" that was among iron. After a while of nothing but iron grunts and passing other obvious junk I had a 95-97 appear with no iron probability reading on it. Afraid to pass over any large possible silver I got to digging. Down at 11.5" my shovel struck something.I cleared around it and pulled gently, low and behold it was a lock. The press marks on it say "RFD" on one side, "Reese" on the other, and it has the number 4 stamped on the top.
Any idea how old that lock is?
I have looked some and believe it to be a Postal mail lock, but what in the world was it doing in that yard I wonder. No key was found. It seems the Reese Padlock Company was the manufacturer.
Any links to references where I can learn more about it are surely welcomed.

 

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[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[BrianCiemian]

Checkout this page for info on Rural Free Delivery Locks. Found one in my backyard from about 1900s here in MA.
Postal Padlocks - US - RFD/Mail - A thru Z - Antique Padlocks

 

[Inspector]

Nice lock Rob, the only thing I found out is that the company was in Lancaster Pa., couldn't find any history. congrats on the save & GL with the research

 

[Trezurehunter]

It could be a postal lock, as RFD stood for "Rural Free Delivery". Nice find, no matter what the letters stand for. Locks always display nicely.

 

[Mackaydon]

A little history: (source: Progress is fine, but it's gone on for too long.: Vanished makes: Waterbury Lock and Specialty Company (Walsco), Milford, Connecticut)
The Waterbury Lock and Specialty Company (WALSCO) was founded in 1925 by Edward Peterson. It moved from Waterbury to Milford in 1934. In 1961, it acquired the Reese Padlock Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which dates back to 1917.
Don....

 

[RobNC]

A little history: (source: Progress is fine, but it's gone on for too long.: Vanished makes: Waterbury Lock and Specialty Company (Walsco), Milford, Connecticut)
The Waterbury Lock and Specialty Company (WALSCO) was founded in 1925 by Edward Peterson. It moved from Waterbury to Milford in 1934. In 1961, it acquired the Reese Padlock Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which dates back to 1917.
Don....

It's a real shame that today we can get information galore on nonsense like what kind of nail polish this or that reality star wears but we can't get much on real companies that made products many people used.
I appreciate the info, at least I know the Reese Padlock Co. was sold to someone else in 1961. I had already determined that Issacher Polk Reese founded the company and now a restaurant is inside what was once his home.
Brasserie Lancaster PA | Our History
I also found some information where back in 1938 The Slaymaker Lock Co took Reese to court also, but best I can tell the case was dismissed because Slaymaker couldn't prove their case.
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/24/69/1682388/

 

[A2coins]

Good info Don I hear ya sometimes stuff just gets lost in the past but nice relic

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice old lock!