York Safe and Lock Company and the Laucks

 

     Sara Beth who does an interesting Blog at chessdotcom mentioned the Laucks and the York Safe and Lock Company played an important role in WW1 and WW2. I did locate some information about the company and its role during WW2 as well as some information on the Laucks. There is an interesting article about S. Forry Laucks and the York Safe and Lock company by James McClure in the York Daily Record/York Sunday News HERE

      McClure says not long after Laucks death, York Safe company, holding scores of millions of dollars in Navy contracts, ran into trouble. The Navy stepped in to operate parts of the company because so many defense contracts were at stake. Parts of the company became known as the Navy Ordnance Plant and later Blaw-Knox, a company the Navy brought in to manage the factories. So, the government played a big role in the company both before and during World War II. Defense contracts rescued the company from the Depression. Banks naturally weren’t buying safes during the 1930s. And the Navy had to step in to make the company work after Laucks death. York Safe and Lock closed some years after the end of the war.

 

There’s also an interesting piece on York’s past about Eliot Ness, Israel Laucks and S. Forry HERE    More on S. Forry