K E Y O F T H E D A Y

Mostly gone and forgotten, there were once bike bike and other novelty shops that cut and sold keys. While often not locksmiths per se, these enterprising shopkeepers maintained a supply of blanks for popular auto and residential keys, and cut them at an attractive cost. This example existed in downtown Geneva, New York. 

This display of key blanks is from a defunct WT Grant department store in eastern Pennsylvania. One can imagine this display, and a companion key cutting machine, near the lunch counter in one's local Grant's.

These colorful blanks are made of anodized aluminum. Popular in the 1950s  through the 1970s when brass and steel were in short supply, they often sheered off in locks because they are brittle

This handsome enameled steel rack, c. 1930s, was made to organize and merchandise key blanks in a retail environment

This rack was likely designed for a maintenance shop or similar environment where individual or small groups of keys would return repeatedly to the rack, hence the oval spaces for marking

This piece is more modern and likely intended for an automotive service garage with 'transient' keys, likely marked with temporary paper or plastic tags