[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/2018\/08\/hobnail-safes-were-they-considered-to-be-fire-safes\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/2018\/08\/hobnail-safes-were-they-considered-to-be-fire-safes\/","headline":"Hobnail Safes:  Antique Fire Safes","name":"Hobnail Safes:  Antique Fire Safes","description":"The 1832 newspaper ad shown here talks about the excellent performance of a \u201chobnail safe\u201d when it went through a fire in New Orleans in 1831.\u00a0 The safe in question was built by John Scott of Philadelphia, who was one of the leading safe makers at the time.\u00a0 One of the hobnail safes in our…","datePublished":"2018-08-31","dateModified":"2018-09-01","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/author\/tom-ziemer\/#Person","name":"Tom Ziemer","url":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/author\/tom-ziemer\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9b9c11d2236675907238ca9827cd4345b2203020e91f7b2b44a75133834a1dab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9b9c11d2236675907238ca9827cd4345b2203020e91f7b2b44a75133834a1dab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hoogerhyde Safe and Lock","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Hoogerhyde-logo.png","url":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Hoogerhyde-logo.png","width":600,"height":217}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Scan1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Scan1.jpg","height":"1626","width":"732"},"url":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/2018\/08\/hobnail-safes-were-they-considered-to-be-fire-safes\/","about":["Uncategorized"],"wordCount":280,"keywords":["antique safes","safe construction"],"articleBody":"The 1832 newspaper ad shown here talks about the excellent performance of a \u201chobnail safe\u201d when it went through a fire in New Orleans in 1831.\u00a0 The safe in question was built by John Scott of Philadelphia, who was one of the leading safe makers at the time.\u00a0 One of the hobnail safes in our store was apparently built by John Scott.\u00a0 It looks just like the unit shown in the ad, inside and out.\u00a0 This ad was, in fact, inside our safe when we bought it.Hobnail safes have wooden bodies.\u00a0 The wood was soaked in salt water prior to making the safe, so that it would be more fire resistant.\u00a0 To give them more burglary deterrence strips of steel were interwoven and secured to the wood using large spikes with big round heads.\u00a0 The big round heads all over the exterior are why they are called hobnail safes.\u00a0 A fun thing about these units is that one, or several, of these spikes move sideways to cover up the keyhole.\u00a0 Keys are typically huge \u201cskeleton\u201d type keys.\u00a0 The other John Scott hobnails in our collection do not have stained and varnished wood interiors; rather, they are both pained in a strange \u201crusty-orange\u201d paint.\u00a0 Jesse Delano was the other major maker of hobnails in the U.S.It does not seem to make sense that wood could be used to for insulation in a fire safe.\u00a0 But apparently if the wood is covered from direct contact with fire, its porousness makes decent insulation.Hobnail safes in good condition are unusual and, therefore, not cheap.\u00a0 We have a few for sale, however, so call if you are interested in a nice antique safe."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2018","item":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/2018\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"08","item":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/2018\/\/08\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Hobnail Safes:  Antique Fire Safes","item":"https:\/\/hoogerhydesafe.com\/2018\/08\/hobnail-safes-were-they-considered-to-be-fire-safes\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]