Bungalow Hardware
Written by stephanie on June 30th, 2008One of the features that initially sold us on our little bungalow was its incredibly intact stained woodwork. And while the wainscoting, box beams and pocket doors made us swoon, we especially loved the built-ins sprinkled throughout the house. Pretty AND practical – what’s not to love, right?
This particular latch adorns the doors of both the china cabinet in our dining room and the bookshelves flanking the living room fireplace:
Viewed from the front, it’s not the most exciting piece of hardware I’ve ever seen, but I’ve always thought that the interior latch is especially funky and unusual-looking:
It finally occurred to me the other day to see if the latches bear any sort of imprint. So I opened our china cabinet, looked at the little latch I’ve used dozens of times (without ever really paying attention), and lo and behold: a stamp!
As you can see, it says “Francis Keil and Son New York.” Intrigued, I set out to learn a bit about Francis Keil and Son.
Sadly, I wasn’t able to dig up too much information about the hardware itself, although I did find several references to a large Keil hardware factory building in Brooklyn. But then I stumbled upon the following posting on a random hardware forum:
My great-great grandfather was Francis Keil. He owned Francis Keil & Sons (Bronx, NY). I am trying to put together a collection of his work. If anyone has any information on where I might find any hardware, keys, etc. from him, please email me and let me know. Thank you in advance for your help. Greg Keil
The email address listed was no longer valid (the post itself was several years old) but thanks to the power of Google (is that a trademarked phrase, because if it isn’t, maybe it should be!) I was able to track down Francis Keil’s great-grandson. We exchanged a couple of friendly emails and I ended up sending him some photos of his great-grandfather’s work.
How cool is the Internet?
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For another example of hardware made by Francis Keil & Sons please visit my web site http://www.historichomehardware.com. It is listed under Cabinet/Furniture>Bin Pulls
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Hi. How weird is this. Today my son, who attends Sequoia High School in Redwood City, CA., received several “Balloon Grams” from secret admirers for Valentines day. In an effort to be green, the kids used old keys to weight down the balloons. He showed me this key and commented on how totally cool it was. I could make out “Francis Keil” and “New York”, so I googled it and found your bungalow blog. If you are still in contact with Keil’s great great grandson and think he may still like this key, you can send us his email link and we will gladly get in touch with him.
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Hi Janet,
You can reach me at greg@gregkeil.com. I am the great(2) grandson you are referring to.
Have a great day,
Greg Keil
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I have the same latch on a standalone kitchen buffet cabinet door (although mines in a nickel finish). I was just trying to look it up because the spring just broke and the latch doesn’t catch properly. Cool story!
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soy de la cd. mexico tengo una llave de esas hay algo raro, se preguntan por que una simple llave nos llama tanto la atencion que hasta nos ponemos a investigar sobre ella? la mia la llevo colgada al pecho desde hace 15 años era de un famoso espiritista del siglo pasado. que abria esta llave? no lo se…
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Funny – I’m Greg Keil’s brother. Randomly found your blog on the hunt for KEIL collectables. Fun Stuff.
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MY FATHER HAS A PRETTY OLD KEY CUTTING MACHINE FROM FRANCIS KEIL AND SON INC NEW YORK ITS A NUMBER 2 KEIL NEW YORK. WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE VALUE OF IT IS THANK YOU
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REACH ME AT FRANKPGV@YAHOO.COM
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I have another piece of Keil & Sons hardware, but it is a circular metal object, a flat disk on bottom and a 6-petalled flower-shaped cut-out that stands about 1/4″ proud of the disk. I believe that it was a floor buzzer used to summon servants to the diningroom. It is really neat!
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I am refinishing a Greencastle kitchen cabinet (like the old Hoosier cabinet). The latch inside the top cupboard is stamped Francis Keil & Son New York PAT Sept 25 1906. A great find! Any info is appreciated. Many thanks.