Introduction
Frederick S. Holmes was an American safe and vault engineer, and inventor who designed the largest vaults in the world.During his career, Holmes designed hundreds of vaults throughout the United States, Canada and Japan from 1895 to 1941. The majority of Holmes designed vaults are located in New York's Financial District; many are publicly accessible and in buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.His name is engraved on the builder's plaques, typically located on the encased jamb controls of these vaults.
Holmes' vault designs evolved over time to keep up with attacks from safe-crackers or 'Yeggmen' adept at vault penetration.A Holmes advertisement from 1921 reads, "Newly discovered methods of attack necessitate radical departures from hitherto accepted standards of design".Holmes specialized in jamb-controlled vaults where the combination locks and bolt-throwing mechanism are located inside the vault creating a solid vault door with no spindle holes.Entry requires two points of attack (door and jamb), which doubles the time required for burglars to breach the vault.
In recognition of their significant contributions to the field of bank vault engineering, a tribute was written in The Journal of the Franklin Institute, “Coincident with the modern development of the safe and bank vault industry was that of the profession of the Bank Vault Engineer.The industry owes much of its progress to the work done by the pioneers of this profession: William H. Hollar, John M. Mossman, George L. Damon, Emil A. Strauss, Frederick S. Holmes, Benjamin F. Tripp, and George L. Remington.”
Holmes collaborated with prominent architects such as Cass Gilbert and Alfred Bossom and leading vault builders including Bethlehem Steel, Carnegie Steel, Damon Safe & Iron Works, Diebold, Herring-Hall-Marvin, J&J Taylor, LH Miller Safe & Iron Works, Mosler Safe, Remington & Sherman, and York Safe & Lock.
Career
| 1879 to 1883 (4 years) |
1883 to 1887 (4 years) |
1887 to 1891 (4 years) |
1891 to 1895 (4 years) |
1895 to 1900 (5 years) |
1900 to 1904 (4 years) |
1904 to 1941 (37 years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pattern Maker and Machinist |
Mechanical Draftsman | General Superintendent for Chicago Safe & Lock in Chicago, IL | General Superintendent for Damon Safe & Iron Works in Boston, MA and Philadelphia, PA | Co-Owner / Bank Vault Engineer at Hoyer & Holmes, a Partnership with Isaiah W. Hoyer in Philadelphia, PA | Bank Vault Engineer for John M. Mossman | Owner / Bank Vault Engineer at Frederick. S. Holmes, a private practice in New York, NY.Bank Vault Engineer was his most commonly used title, but similar combinations were used in his published works and advertisements |
Published works
Includes Holmes articles, copyrights, court testimony, interviews, patents, and speeches (chronological order)
| Year | Item |
|---|---|
| 1890 | Patent - US Patent 438,236 Electric Safe Lock (electric controlled combination locks) with William H. Hollar |
| 1891 | Patent - US Patent 459,226 Safe or Vault (soft metal joint packing) Signature Witness for William H. Hollar |
| 1892 | Patent - US Patent 467,465 Electric Lock (electric controlled combination locks) |
| 1892 | Patent - US Patent 477,897 Electric Lock (electric controlled combination locks) with William H. Hollar |
| 1892 | Patent - US Patent 477,898 Electric Lock (electric controlled combination locks) with William H. Hollar |
| 1896 | Patent - US Patent 557,389 Removable Sill for Vaults or Safes |
| 1899 | Patent - US Patent 620,073 Safe (drill resisting construction) Assignor to William H. Hollar |
| 1905 | Article - The Design and Construction of Modern Bank Vaults |
| 1908 | Patent - US Patent 901,710 Movable Ventilator for Vaults with George L. Damon |
| 1910 | Court Testimony - Mosler Safe Co. vs. Maiden Ln Safe Deposit Co. (trial witness) |
| 1911 | Article - Vault Building - The Backward State of the Art, the Reason and the Remedy |
| 1911 | Article - Vault Building Problems |
| 1911 | Article - Why Insure Against Anything that Never Happens? |
| 1912 | Article - A Renaissance of Vault Design |
| 1912 | Article - Uncle Sam to Build the World's Largest Treasure Vault |
| 1912 | Interview - World’s Largest Treasure Vault (P. Harvey Middleton interview) |
| 1913 | Article - That $70,000 New York Bank Vault Robbery |
| 1913 | Article - Vaults - A Criticism |
| 1916 | Article - Modern Practice in the Design of Bank Vaults Part 1 - Protective Principles and Construction Methods |
| 1916 | Article - Modern Practice in the Design of Bank Vaults Part 2 - The Requirements of Small Banks |
| 1916 | Speech - New Vault Construction to Resist the Cutter-Burner (NY State Safe Deposit Association Convention speech) |
| 1916 | Article - Reliability in Vaults and Safes |
| 1916 | Article - The Construction of Bank Vaults (a synopsis of the Brickbuilder articles listed above) |
| 1917 | Article - A New Concrete for Bank Vaults (describes Holmes's testing methods) |
| 1917 | Article - The Oxy-Acetylene Cutting Torch |
| 1917 | Article - Thoughts as to Erection, Arrangement and Fitting Up of a Safe Deposit Vault |
| 1921 | Article - Vault Construction for Small Communities |
| 1923 | Article - Harris, Forbes & Company's New Vault |
| 1923 | Article - Protecting Our Great Banks (by Edward H. Smith with Holmes contributions) |
| 1923 | Article - The World's Greatest Bank Vaults (by Edward H. Smith with Holmes contributions) |
| 1923 | Article - Vault Protection |
| 1924 | Article - Safeguards that are Required Against the Modern Yegg |
| 1924 | Article - Vault Weaknesses that must be Overcome |
| 1926 | Copyright - Copyright with Ralph Moreton Hooker |
| 1927 | Article - Guarding America's Wealth - A Renaissance of Bank Burglary |
| 1928 | Article - Bank Vault Construction and Equipment |
| 1991 | Article - The Lure of The Lock (includes the abridged article 'Bank Vault Construction and Equipment', see above) |
| 2005 | Article - Monuments to Money: The Architecture of American Banks by Charles Belfoure, (Holmes article excerpts) |