The Mosler Safe Company was an American multinational manufacturer of security equipment specializing in safes and bank vaults. In 2001, the company was acquired by Diebold Inc. after going bankrupt.

History

In 1867, Gustave Mosler and Fred Bahmann founded Mosler, Bahmann & Company in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. In 1874, after Gustave's death, the Mosler family had a falling out with Bahmann. The family left Mosler, Bahmann & Company to start the Mosler Safe & Lock Company. Both companies remained in Cincinnati until the 1890s. When Mosler Safe & Lock Co. outgrew its original factory in 1891, it relocated to

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, where it remained until its bankruptcy. Mosler, Bahmann & Company remained in business until around 1898. Mosler was controlled by its founding family until 1967, when they sold it to

American Standard Companies American Standard Companies Inc. was a manufacturer of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, plumbing fixtures, and automotive parts. The company was formed in 1929 through the merger of the American Radiator Company and ...

. American Standard then sold the division to a group of Mosler managers and outside investors in 1986. After 134 years in business, Mosler filed

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

in August 2001, citing continuing debt problems, and ceased operations shortly thereafter.

Diebold Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated is an American multinational financial and retail technology company that specializes in the sale, manufacture, installation, and service of self-service transaction systems (such as ATMs and currency processing ...

subsequently announced programs to support former Mosler customers and bought most of the original company in bankruptcy court a few months later.

Products

Mosler's safes and vaults were renowned for their strength and precise manufacturing. Several Mosler vaults installed in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

Mitsui Bank was a major Japanese bank from 1876 to 1990. The home bank of the Mitsui conglomerate, it was one of the largest Japanese banks for much of the 20th century, together with Dai-Ichi Bank, Mitsubishi Bank, Sumitomo Bank, and Yasuda / Fuji Bank. I ...

building prior to

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

survived the

nuclear attack Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can prod ...

, a fact the company widely publicized in its marketing. Mosler safes were also used by the U.S. government in its

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

, although physicist

Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of t ...

had a hobby of cracking them. When the U.S. government began building bunkers and silos during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Mosler became the contractor for blast doors. One set, installed at the Atomic Energy Commission's

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...

in 1961, weighed approximately 65 tons per door, and were considered the heaviest doors installed in the United States at their time of construction. Mosler built the vault formerly used to display and store the

Charters of Freedom The term Charters of Freedom is used to describe the three documents in early United States history which are considered instrumental to its founding and philosophy. The documents include the United States Declaration of Independence, the Constit ...

: the

US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constitut ...

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

, and the

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

. Mosler also built the gold vaults for the

United States Bullion Depository The United States Bullion Depository, often known as Fort Knox, is a fortified bank vault, vault building located next to the United States Army post of Fort Knox, Kentucky. It is operated by the United States Department of the Treasury. The v ...

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository (also known as Fort Knox), which is used to house a larg ...

. Despite the weight, each 58-ton blade could be opened and closed manually by one person.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Companies Manufacturing companies established in 1867 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2001 Security companies of the United States Security equipment manufacturers Defunct companies based in Cincinnati Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001 1867 establishments in Ohio 2001 disestablishments in Ohio Defunct manufacturing companies based in Ohio