Harry Soref: Master Lock and the Laminated Steel Padlock

Background

Soref was born in 1887 in the Russian Empire. Wikipedia and the Harness IP "Patent of the Day" blog name his birthplace as Bilozirka, in present-day Ukraine. He emigrated to the United States, and Smithsonian magazine describes him as a Russian, Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrant.

Before Master Lock, Soref worked as a traveling locksmith. Smithsonian reports that he had earlier worked as an advance man for a circus. Master Lock's marketing director described him to the magazine as "a traveling locksmith who got the idea for a high-quality, high-security lock that was also affordable." According to Smithsonian, the idea came while he was making locks for the U.S. government to protect military equipment during World War I. Wikipedia adds that he had founded an earlier "Master Key" company that made master skeleton keys.

The Problem He Set Out to Solve

Smithsonian sums up the padlock market before 1921 as a choice between two kinds of lock. One was expensive and very hard to break. The other was cheap and easy to smash. The magazine reports that Soref's lock sold for about a tenth of the price of a top-quality padlock.

He could not interest established companies in his design, according to Wikipedia. So in 1921 he and two friends, P. E. (Phillip) Yolles and Sam (Samuel) Stahl, founded the Master Lock Company in Milwaukee to make the locks themselves. The Master Lock company timeline gives 1921 as its founding year.

The Patent: What "Laminated" Means

The patent is U.S. Patent 1,490,987, "Lock Casing," issued to "Harry Soref, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin." Google Patents records the application as filed October 3, 1921, and the patent as granted April 22, 1924. A second Soref patent, 1,490,988, was issued the same day from an application filed in February 1923.

The patent text explains the method plainly:

• The lock casing is a laminated structure. Each layer is blanked, or cut out, by a punching press using sets of dies, one shape per layer.
• Because the layers come off the press already shaped, the casing needs no milling or machining after assembly. A cast or forged body would need that work to create spaces for the lock's working parts.
• The layers are riveted into one solid casing. Some of the layers are shaped to act as wards, the fixed obstructions that block the wrong key.
• The layers can be punched from the small scrap left over in factories that run punching presses.

The patent also argues that a block built this way is heavy and durable enough to resist ordinary attempts to destroy it. Smithsonian quotes an early patent application describing the casing as "practically indestructible." A Milwaukee collector of Master Lock memorabilia told the magazine that the laminated steel lock of today "is essentially the same as Soref's original lock in 1921."

The laminations make up the body and wards. Laminated padlocks have used a range of key mechanisms over the years. For the pin-tumbler principle used in many modern padlocks, see pin tumbler lock.

Growth of Master Lock

Business grew steadily after 1921, according to Smithsonian. It surged in 1928, when the federal government ordered 147,600 padlocks for $65,000 to padlock nightclubs during Prohibition. The company's own timeline marks Prohibition-era use in 1925 and lists its first combination lock in 1935.

The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee says the company first rented space in the Pabst Brewery, which had room to spare because of Prohibition, before it set up its factory and headquarters on Milwaukee's north side in 1939. Smithsonian describes the factory culture under Soref. Workers called him by his first name, he refused to install time clocks, and he had a rotating parts carousel built so that line workers did not have to keep leaving their seats.

Soref kept inventing. Smithsonian and Wikipedia both say he received more than 80 patents. The magazine lists a spare-tire lock for cars, a loading ramp for hand trucks, a hasp-and-lock system, and a display case for locks.

Later History of the Company

Soref died in 1957 at age 70 (Smithsonian). Wikipedia gives the place as Phoenix, Arizona. The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee says the founding families kept control until a family dispute led to the company's sale to American Brands in 1970. American Brands was later renamed Fortune Brands. Master Lock is now part of Fortune Brands Innovations (Wikipedia).

Master Lock's best-known advertising came after Soref's death. Smithsonian dates to 1974 a television commercial in which a padlock survives a high-powered rifle shot and still works. Wikipedia places that first ad in the Super Bowl, and the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee describes a decade of Super Bowl spots in which marksmen tried to shoot padlocks open.

Production moved largely overseas from the 1990s. According to the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee and Wikipedia, the Milwaukee plant closed permanently in 2024.

Place in Padlock History

Soref did not invent the padlock. Portable locks with a shackle are far older, and earlier designs, including Bramah's and Yale's, were already well known. His contribution was to make a strong padlock cheap to produce in very large numbers, by changing how the body was made. For the wider story, see padlock and Yale & Towne. For other high-security approaches, see Abloy.

Related Topics

• Padlock
• Pin Tumbler Lock
• Combination Lock
• Yale & Towne
• Walter Schlage
• Notable Figures

Sources