Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
 |
Source: Artifacts - Padlock - Archaeology Magazine - September/October 2023 |
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many people came to Florida. Some, like Zephaniah Kingsley, sought to make their fortunes by obtaining land and establishing plantations. Others were forced to come to Florida to work on those plantations, their labor providing wealth to the people who owned them. Some of the enslaved would later become free landowners, struggling to keep their footing in a dangerous time of shifting alliances and politics. All of these people played a part in the history of Kingsley Plantation. (Visiting Kingsley Plantation - Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)
If you've done much metal detecting you've probably found some padlocks. I've posted some of mine before. I'd say that at least one of those was as old as the one shown above.
If you need a good resource on locks, I found a great one. It is a book entitled, Locks and Keys Throughout the Ages, by Vincent J. M. Eras, copyright 1957. The book is over two hundred pages and is profusely illustrated, which makes it of great value to anyone trying to research or date keys or locks. It isn't the easiest to navigate but it will take only a few minutes to learn to use it to get around.
Below are just three of the many illustrations in that book.
https://archive.org/details/locks-and-keys-throughout-the-ages-vincent-j-m-eras-1957
You'll also get to see inside the locks to see how they work.
I've done posts on found locks and keys in the past, and I've shown a bucket or two full of the keys I've found.
I revisited a post in the treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com web site where I posted a couple links to references on keys. I found that neither of the links worked anymore. Unfortunately, that happens. Sometimes web sites are removed or change. I added the above link to my reference link list, which you can find on the first page of this blog. You'll find other good links there, and possibly some that do not work anymore. It can be worth checking out the reference link list once in a while. It is a much overlooked resource.
---
I don't know if it is my biggest regret, but it is a good candidate and the one that I keep being reminded of on almost a daily basis. I'm talking about my failure to store my finds safely and in a very organized way.
I just noticed these containers that could have helped a lot.
Not only would they promote organization, but they also provide safe separated spaces for keeping finds from being contaminated by finds of other metals or breaking. A little pressure can go a long way towards breaking metals that have become brittle or fragile from time and corrosive environments. Even metal artifacts can break. Cuprous items can become brittle. Other metals that you would think could be stored without taking precautions will also break from the little pressure caused by being stacked. It has happened to me in too many cases.
Here is a link where you can buy containers like this.
---'
Deadliest twister in recorded U.S. historyThe deadliest twister in recorded US history struck 100 years ago Tuesday, touching down in southeastern Missouri and tearing up everything in its 219-mile (352-kilometer) path for nearly four hours through southern Illinois and into Indiana.
Here is the link for more about that.
---
Rip Current issued March 20 at 2:45AM EDT until March 21 at 4:00AM EDT by NWS Melbourne FLWHAT...Dangerous rip currents and rough surf. * WHERE...Coastal Volusia, Coastal Indian River, Coastal Saint Lucie, Coastal Martin, Mainland Northern Brevard, Northern Brevard Barrier Islands, Mainland Southern Brevard and Southern Brevard Barrier Islands Counties. * WHEN...Through late tonight. * IMPACTS...Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water.
---
 |
| Source: Surfguru.com. |
The surf will decrease today and for a few more days.