Locks and safes as puzzles has a lond & respectable history

[Engineer]

Although this is part of another post I made, I thought it was interestingly and important enough for this bit of the post to have a thread of it's own. I came across this odd referance today, in a puzzle book of all places.

http://flickr.com/photos/oldcatalogs/sets/72157604432587188/ (the whole book)

The specific page is on: http://flickr.com/photos/oldcatalogs/2397865946/sizes/o/in/photostream/

So even in a puzzle book from 1914, lockpicking & safcracking was considered a puzzle suitable for a hobby book, not criminal knowledge.

Does anyone else know of any other referances in old books to locks or safes being considered fun puzzles to "solve"?

[ToolyMcgee]

So even in a puzzle book from 1914, lockpicking & safcracking was considered a puzzle suitable for a hobby book, not criminal knowledge.

Is literary burglary a hobby? Seems like hobbiest's in 1914 were getting pigeon holed like it was 2009.

I can't remember a specific book, but several older books about Houdini spoke about it as a refined skill rather than a criminal bypass. If you are lucky maybe a few photo's of his tools and a brief discussion of his system of organization in his jackets hidden pockets. I read alot of crummy magic books though, so it could be info from anywhere...

[raimundo]

Louis XVI, king of france was a locksmith hobbiest before the beheading. Why didn't he figure out how to escape, probably clueless from having been privileged, like banksters or bushiites.