History of Decorative Hardware in the U.S.

As man became more civilized and began to build more complex structures in which to live, he began to need certain accoutrements to aid with these structures. As man began to put doors on his structures, he found it unwieldy to pick up the door and move it every time. So, he invented the door hinge. With the advent of windows came the need for shutters and shutters too worked better with hinges. Much of this early hardware was rudimentary and primitive, none the less, it worked. The first doorknobs probably consisted of a piece of rope attacked to the door to pull it open and closed.

As civilization advanced, so did their structures. The Civil War era added stairs and thus the need for railings and banisters. The post-civil war era saw many advancements in inventions to make people's lives more convenient,...
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