J.H.W. CLIMAX Co — Padlock

A very inter­est­ing find on Ebay from sev­er­al years ago was an all steel ver­sion of a J.H.W. CLIMAX Co padlock.

Click on pho­tos for a larg­er image

J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co All Steel Padlock

So far I haven’t been able to find out much about the man­u­fac­tur­er of the pad­lock which was J.H.W. CLIMAX Co. oth­er than the com­pa­ny was start­ed in 1883 by John H. Wilkins (JHW), who was orig­i­nal­ly a part­ner in Romer & Co.
Stamped on the steel shack­le “J.H.W. CLIMAX NEWARK N.J. U.S.A”, the com­pa­ny moved from New York to New Jersey in the very ear­ly 1900’s.

J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock front showing keyway and brass key
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock front show­ing key­way and brass key

Both the case and shack­le are made of steel, with a brass key. I tried to only to do a min­i­mum amount of clean­ing just to remove loose dirt and grime.

J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock brass key
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock brass key

The brass key is also stamped “J.H.W. CLIMAX NEWARK N.J.U.S.A” and does show some wear from use.

J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock back side
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock back side
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock front side
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock front side
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock front with brass key inserted
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock front with brass key inserted

The key opens the pad­lock eas­i­ly with a sin­gle turn, and the drop cov­er clos­es with spring tension.

J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock top closed looking down
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock top closed look­ing down
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock top open looking down
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock top open look­ing down
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock hinge side open
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock hinge side open
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock open side with magnet
J.H.W. CLIMAX Co Steel Padlock open side with magnet

I have found quite a few exam­ples of this type of “Railroad” pad­lock by 
J.H.W. CLIMAX with a brass case and shack­le or brass case and steel shack­le, but so far this is the only one that I have seen with both a steel case and shackle.

I have addi­tion­al Hi-res­o­lu­tion pho­tos on my Flicker page if inter­est­ed.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/barbouri/albums/72157697804519620

10 Replies to “J.H.W. CLIMAX Co — Padlock”

  1. My grand­fa­ther Royal H Brown (née. 1893) owned the Climax Lock Company which he in turn bought from my mater­nal great grand­fa­ther John Wilkins who was a German immi­grant. My grand­fa­ther ran the com­pa­ny until a few years after WWII when he sold it to avoid a dis­pute between my dad and uncle. 

    During his time of own­er­ship, my grand­fa­ther sold these locks to many east­ern rail­roads, most­ly for switch locks. The brass weath­ered pret­ty well com­pared to steel. 

    Pete Brown
    Anchorage, AK

    1. I have cli­max lock that was found in my wife’s grandfather’s stor­age build­ing in the Oklahoma pan­han­dle. This lock is all brass and has been shot on the upper left front and the key cov­er. Key cov­er took a direct hit but still moves freely. Also the lock has a chain hang­ing from a small steel cle­vis at the bot­tom. Wondering how rare this lock is and what it might sell for.
      Thanks in advance for any info.

      1. It seems that the brass ver­sions of these locks are some­what common.
        I am far from an expert on lock val­u­a­tion, but the ones with spe­cif­ic com­pa­ny names and asso­ci­at­ed his­to­ry have high­er valuation.
        This all steel ver­sion seems to be very rare or poor­ly doc­u­ment­ed on the internet.

    2. Pete,

      I am curi­ous to find out if you know why your mater­nal great grand­fa­ther John H. Wilkins named his com­pa­ny “Climax” and what rel­e­vance that may car­ry with the lock itself.

      Regards,
      Jason Hollis
      Pennsylvania

    3. Iv got two of these locks with the keys. JHW Climax Came Warkn USA. Both have the shack­les and are on the same old chain. I’m also won­der­ing what they could be worth? Any help would be appre­ci­at­ed… Thank you. Jerry.

      1. Hi Jerry,
        I am far from an expert on these locks, but unless they have some spe­cial fea­ture or prove­nance, most are worth $10 to $30 USD.
        Greg(Barbouri)

  2. Does any­one know when they made locks and keys for the army, for places like Fort Monroe, VA.? Have key fob and J.H.W. CLIMAX CO. NEWARK, N.J. on key.

  3. I have 2 locks iden­ti­cal to the one shown, but am miss­ing the keys. Do you know where I can funds keys for these locks?

    1. Hi Laura,
      The keys seem to be even more rare than the padlocks.
      In my opin­ion your best bet would be work­ing with a lock­smith that spe­cial­izes in vin­tage and antique locks.

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