i am seeking info to help me identify a large,antique safe.i would love to find info about it's origins.The safe is hand lettered with the name ,RICHARDSON BROTHERS GENERAL AGENTS. As well as a name that is barely readable , possibly A.C.HARRY HOUSTON, (OR HOUSTONSON) It is made by CARY SAFE CO. BUFFALO NEWYORK. The safe is in need of restoration but i dont want to disturb any of these existing markings untill I find out if it has any historical importance.My research so far has not turned up anything specific but i did find a RICHARDSON that was one of S.F. first apointed harbormasters and a trading ship captain.I am unclear what a GENERAL AGENT is. Any help to get me on track would be exciting, thanks.

-- jeff munro (Iamsamtou@cs.com), August 13, 2002

Answers

Let's hope your "Richardson" has some attatchment to William A Richardson San Francisco's first European citizen. Yes he was port commissioner and Richardson Bay honors his name.

Good luck in your research.

-- Kurt Iversen (iversenk@aol.com), August 14, 2002.

A general agent in the shipping business handles all the arrangements for a vessel coming in/departing from a port. "General" means that he can be a booking agent, a husbanding agent, the charterers or owners agent. The designation "general agent" means that the agent is capable of handling all of the responsibilities inherent in each of the above designations. That is, as a husbanding agent, he would be capable of arranging the tugs, lines, pilots, ships' spares, etc. As a booking agent, he'd be capable of negotiating the carriage for the goods going on board the vessel.

In today's shipping vernacular it also means that the agent is the exclusive agent for a particular line, which will have a regular schedule: these days, in and out on the same day.

-- sweetie (sweetie@mutability.net), August 16, 2002.

Oddly enough, this is sort of the exact same thing I am looking for. My father-in law has a Cary Safe Co. It is from Buffalo, NY as well and the name on it is Hubbard & Richardson Co., General contractors, Milwaukee, WI. It also bears the name of Rogers at the top. I would appreciate it if any info you may have found out about yours that might be relevant to mine you could pass on to me. Thank you very much.

-- martin contreraz (mokole_mbembe@hotmail.com), May 20, 2003.

I have recently acquired a safe from Cary Safe Co. It had been repainted at some point, but when I removed the peeling paint from the inside of the doors, it read "Cary Safe Co." on one door, and "Buffalo N.Y." on the other. I am primarily concerned with history and value. Any feedback is appreciated.

-- Matt Martin (mattmartin99@hotmail.com), October 20, 2003.

I TOO HAVE A CARY SAFE BUT IT SAYS H.C. CABLE ON THE TOP ANYONE WITH ANY INFO PLEASE CONTACT ME THANKS MAXMETER1@AOL.COM

-- RODNEY SMITH (MAXMETER1@AOL.COM), April 28, 2004.

Hi guys,

I am restoring a Cary Safe and need the "wheel pack" (behind the dial). If anyone has a line on these parts please contact me.

-- Steve (uby500@yahoo.com), August 01, 2004.

I am quite familiar with CARY Safe Co. of Buffalo, NY, as I open and repair them fairly regularly. The name that most of you are asking about is the name of the original owner of that particular safe. It was quite common for safe makers and also dealers to letter the safes with the purchaser's name before it was delivered. Many were purchased by larger companies so their name would appear on every safe they purchased, no matter what location it was shipped to. This is why "Wells Fargo" appears on so many safes that were made around the turn of the century or before. Contrary to popular opinion, Wells Fargo was never in the safe making business.

You may have some additional luck searching the web for information about this manufacturer and/or their safes by using the search terms: Gary Safe, Buffalo, NY. Why you ask? The "C" in Cary was often mistaken for a "G".

Actually, there was a Gary Safe and Lock Co. that merged with Allied Safe Co. in the 60s resulting in one of the industry giants Allied-Gary. They went through several subsequent mergers and were eventually gobbled up by the Meilink/Fireking/NKL/Johnson Pacific conglomerate now known as FKI or FireKing International.

Ken Doyle Advanced Safe and Vault Engineering San Francisco and Novato (Bay Area) CA WWW.ADVANCEDSAFE.COM (415) 878-0235

-- Ken Doyle (KEN@advancedsafe.com), August 21, 2004.

I also have a Cary Safe. My husband was going to restore it and it has been primed but I do have his tracings of the gold leaf work that was on the door. It sits directly on the floor and has three wooden drawers along the upper interior wall. As with all of you any information you could share would be most appreciated.

Oh yes, when he replaced the lock he was able to obtain an authentic lock from a collector of Cary locks.

-- Thean Burke (hburke@socal.rr.com), November 07, 2004.

We too brought a Cary Safe yesterday at a garage sale. It shows Cary Safe Company, Buffalo, N.Y. with a number of Y61327. It does not have any other company name as mentioned by several others. Was wondering about value of this safe. Thanks for any info that can be provided.

-- Sandy (sandyh0511@earthlink.net), November 21, 2004.

I baught a house near buffalo that was a foreclosure. amoung all of the junk that was left behind was a cary safe. i do not have a combination for it. i would like to get it opened with out destroying it. I have to think that it is empty or else the house would not have been forclosed on. any info on how to abtain the combination would be great. i found some numbers stamped on the botom they are B or K 10031 with what apears to be 01 to the far right of that number. on the handle is stamped 160631. becuase i do not think there is anything in it i do not want to invest much to get it opened. the name that is on RHINE TENT NO 163 below the name is O.T.M. Any info on history would be great. thanks

-- Dan Weber (husky@usadatanet.net), December 18, 2004.

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I baught a house near buffalo that was a foreclosure. amoung all of the junk that was left behind was a cary safe. i do not have a combination for it. i would like to get it opened with out destroying it. I have to think that it is empty or else the house would not have been forclosed on. any info on how to abtain the combination would be great. i found some numbers stamped on the botom they are B or K 10031 with what apears to be 01 to the far right of that number. on the handle is stamped 160631. becuase i do not think there is anything in it i do not want to invest much to get it opened. the name that is on RHINE TENT NO 163 below the name is O.T.M. Any info on history would be great. thanks sorry for the bad e-mail adress previously

-- dan buffalo (huskey@usadatanet.net), December 19, 2004.

I have recently come across a Cary safe and believe it to be in the same era of manufacture as the safe(s) mentioned in the prior posts. I do have photos of the exterior/interior and hoping to have the tumbler reset with a new combination. This safe is approximately 3x2. Anyone with information of a good locksmith in Western NY or Northern VA is appreciated. I am also willing to exchange information or assist as the need presents itself.

-- jim (moselej@hotmail.com), December 28, 2004.

I have 1908 vintage real photo postcard that I will be listing on ebay in the postcards section, that shows a Hubbard and Richardson trailer with workers sitting outside with their phonograph. It has been mailed from Boyd Minnesota to Hoosick Falls, New York. The postcard will be listed under my ebay name "deltiologydungeon".

-- Neil Hayne (postcard@kos.net), February 13, 2005.

I recently stayed at the historic Cary House Hotel in Placerville Ca. In the back of the lobby is a safe with the name Cary Safe Co. printed on the front. I asked the staff if William Cary who built the hotel in 1857 owned a safe co. She did not know.

-- Susan Covert (joesue69@stormnet.com), February 25, 2005.

My father gave me a safe that they had bought from an out of business store (Hampton, Virginia) over 40 years ago. It too is a Cary Safe. He changed the combination himself by opening the door and take the plate of the back and resetting the tumblers. Appearently if you do not have the combination you can have a locksmith punch the dial (of course the dial is no longer any good). Our safe had been repainted several times but the Cary name is on the inside of the door. The wheels were also broken off and long gone. My mother said that the safe had letters address to the owner that dated abt 1905 inside the safe when they received it but that does not date the safe. I would love to find out how old the safe is and if there are any parts available.

-- Lesa McGuire (lesam1@earthlink.net), February 28, 2005.