BS: Old keys...

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Bobert
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 10:31 PM

Well, I haven't really gotten 'round to sortin' thru all the keys I have found as a result of the move and many of them will remin a mystery and may very well end up in a wind chime....

I do remember, however, that at one time I had master keys to a high riseapartment building in Arlington, Va. and I'm wonderin' if any of these keys till work... That was 30 years ago but the buildings are still there??? Hmmmmm??? Maybe I'll sneak back in there and do a little maintenance???

Nah...

Good keys fir the wind chimes...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 09:05 PM

I was reminded by this thread to get a spare car key cut (down to my last copy!) - and bought a key ring with cubic beads woven into it that say "MY CAR".

Joe, I had a Fiat 128 2 door 'baby-shit-yellow' sedan that made lots of memories. I kept one of the original keys too.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 03:02 PM

I once had a metallic red Honda LXi with flipup lights and a sunroof and gold-spoked wheels, a car so wonderful I didn't believe I deserved it. Alas, it's no longer mine, but I treasure the key I kept and all the memories that go with it. Probably the nicest car I'll ever have owned.

And I had a really wonderful three-year romance while I had that car, and it took us on many romantic outings.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: SINSULL
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 02:11 PM

As children we had access to a ring of old keys and a button box. Spent hours with that stuff and wish I had it all today. I remember one old key, a huge affair, that just had to be the one to a dungeon. So off I go to Ebay to sell old keys.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Sorcha
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 01:57 PM

I have a lot of really old ones in a printer's tray on the wall. The printer trays make nice tables too, with a glass top.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 01:34 PM

Talking of the hollow keys, these are ideal for dealing with a bee-sting.


No, honestly!

A bee's sting is barbed, and will often be left in the wound after you have been stung. Aim carefully & press the key barrel down around the sting. The sting will pop out into the barrel.

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 15 Sep 05 - 08:38 AM

We used to give obsolete key sets to kids to play with especially after my son (now 18 although how he got to grow up at all is a mystery)buried my car keys and couldn't remember where!

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 14 Sep 05 - 11:43 AM

Two key stories:

I was in a workshop on Jewish music, and the teacher tried to get us to clap out a very complex pattern which went with a song about a frog in the kitchen, cooking pancakes for his sister. I never could get the pattern. She said that she had done this song in a nursing home in Israel once, and all the residents tapped out the pattern using their keys. Cute story.

Once I was working in a children's library, and a mother gave her keys to her two-year-old to entertain her. (Why would you give something that valuable to a toddler?) Of course, the kid got bored with them and set them down somewhere.

I will never forget the mother shouting "Abigail, where are the keys?!"

What was the kid supposed to say, "I put them in the 641.5's" ?

The mother finally found them somewhere in the stacks.

So that is a good use for old keys. Make fake key sets for toddlers to play with.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 05:06 PM

gnu, no apology necessary...just wanted to be sure you knew your "cats":-)

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: GUEST,Slim Eric
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 04:33 PM

I made a small fortune from some old keys I sold on Ebay!

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: gnu
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 03:40 PM

kat... sorry. Khatt... sorry. My only defense is that it was 05:13AM when I wrote that. That's the key to my mix-up.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 01:09 PM

I too have loads of old keys many of them for cars long gone to that great scapheap in the sky. When I bought my 1966 MG special Kit car earlier this year, I discovered why they've gone more scientific with modern car keys as I have about 7 or 8 keys that fit the ignition, each one with a different serial number. I also have carburettor for a Dodge Ram circa 1994 and a BL Mini from about 1964. I love old keys especially the iron ones, and the ones with the hollow shaft.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 12:31 PM

gnu, wrong "Khatt"...it's "kat"...**bg**

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 12:28 PM

An intriguing poems about "keys without a lock and locks without a key" is one by C. Fox Smith's entitled "The Old Fiddle." It's focused on a nautical junk store in Victoria, BC, from the Twilight Zone called Chinese Charlie's. I've recently adapted the poem for singing and believe it's a keeper: Mudcat Link

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 08:03 AM

Keep al the keys, Bobert, you never know when you might get locked up ...

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: gnu
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 04:13 AM

I LOL when I read SINS' post. Then, I read Khatt's. Amazing.

Old? Not necessarily. Last week, I looked for a particular key to lend out from one of my three current key rings and had to give the guy two.

I recently found a squirrel nest in the kindling box at my camp. The box is about 6m away from the base of the tree where I hid the keys to the gate and camp. Yup. (I wonder if that's how the mice have been getting in?)

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 04:07 AM

There are people in the world who collect old keys.... just as there are people who will collect just about anything.

I still have the keys to my dads shed - War Department issue padlocks circa 1946 that are still around somewhere - the shed fell down about a year before he died, so they remind me a lot of him. And the shed. Then there's the 1915 penny on them as a keyfob. It's wearing smooth now, but it's a constant reminder of a lot of family members who fought then.

I have heard of one instance where a burglar was caught by lots of keys. The family had a keybox which they filled with all sorts of keys, some authentic and useful, but others totally useless for that house. Burglar got so frustrated at not finding the right one he ripped the box off the wall, which woke them up and they caught him.

LTS.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 03:43 AM

Depends on wotcha got, Sins. A quick search on ebay for "hotel key" came up with 150 hits. I scanned just the first page and saw bids from ninety-nine cents up to over $125!

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 12:28 AM

I got a whole cigar box full of keys.....every now and then one fits something. (some are these simple generic keys that you can file a bit and MAKE 'em work...others are fancy modern keys that will probably never be useful......but ya' never know.)

old rule: "The ony way to be sure of having enough, is to always have a little bit too much."

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 11:23 PM

Hang on to 'em Boberdz! One of 'em might be the key to Reality!

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: SINSULL
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 11:12 PM

I love keys. Must have a hundred brass keys from assorted hotels - before they went to credit card entry. Wonder wht they're worth?

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: open mike
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 11:07 PM

i made some into earrings..
they used to make them to
be pleasant to lock i mean
look at..

some keys i saw in Sweden this summer
were huge,,,almost 6 inches long...
from hundereds of years ago...
when there were very thick doors..

a church key is a can opener...
how the heck did that name
come about?/

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 09:35 PM

Cluin beat me to it. I made windchimes of several sets of old keys years ago. They were kind of neat.

I think we save old keys partly as talismans...triggers of memories...guards against the one day when we really might need one of them.:-) Some we've saved specifically for our attachment to whatever car they belonged to: my old 1963 Ford Galaxie convertible...our old 1980 Subaru wagon which we bought the day before we got married...my old Ford Cortina, etc. Mom and Dad's house just had an old skeleton key...we never used the lock. I think I still have one of them left, too. I love old keys!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 09:19 PM

You can tie one to a kite string, and fly the kite during a thunderstorm. Then the key can discharge the lightening into your electrical wires instead of a Leyden jar and you can save lots on your electric bill!

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 09:01 PM

Uh huh!

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 08:51 PM

They make good fishing lures, also. And if you have enough, anchors.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 08:49 PM

I never throw away a key. When there's a lock that needs opening I carry along my box of keys and work through them and sometimes one comes up that does the job.

And they can also come in useful when you need a bit of metal with a hole in it to serve as a washer, for example.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 08:38 PM

Traditional keys.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Mooh
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 08:34 PM

My own keys have their purpose punch-stamped on them, some in code, so that they're not confused. Old keys I break and toss. Mooh.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Dani
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 08:32 PM

Wish I'd thought of that, Cluin. Just cleaned out the 'junk' drawer, and anything that didn't fit a lock I knew about, went in the trash.

It felt great.

Dani

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Guy Wolff
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 08:18 PM

One of the most forgotten Old Keys in New England is F major . Sorry , Guy



Fisher's Hornpipe is great in F    !!!

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: frogprince
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 07:52 PM

But what key would you tune it to?

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 07:34 PM

Good idea. Thing would weigh about 600 pounds, but worth a try.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Cluin
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 07:31 PM

Make a windchime out of them.

Then at least if it turns out you need one, you'll still have it.

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 07:29 PM

Oops.

7,642

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 07:28 PM

7,641

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: frogprince
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 07:27 PM

Flyin' into Los Angeleeze, carryin' a couple of keys...

Subject: RE: BS: Old keys...
From: bobad
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 07:23 PM

Make sure you don't throw out the key to the highway.

Subject: BS: Old keys...
From: Bobert
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 07:18 PM

Well, seein' as I'm comin' in the strwetch run on gettin' everything moved outta the Wes Ginny house so the new folks can move in Iz keeps comin' up with old keys???

A couple in drawer... A jar filled with 'um... One under an old chest of drawers, etc...

I know that each of these keys at one time fit something lock at some point in my like but which lock??? And is that lock still there??? And maybe, just maybe, I'll come upon that lock and think, "Oh yeah, that little brass key probably fits this lock...

I don't know...

What I do know is that I have about a hundred keys and I don't hink I should throw any of them out... Why?... Well, I don't know??

So, I curious. How many old keys do you have???

And why do you still hang on to them???

Bobert