Down the rabbit hole

Started reading this mystery novel Jake picked up for me at the used bookstore. Cute gesture, right? The detective keeps mentioning these “mortise locks” and I had no idea what that meant, so naturally I had to look it up.

Two Wikipedia articles later I’m reading about the evolution of door hardware in Victorian England.

Down the rabbit hole

Did you know that doorknobs weren’t even common until the mid-1800s? Before that, people just used latches and handles. Mind blown.

Now I’m three library books deep into the social implications of home security devices and Jake keeps walking by shaking his head.

This escalated quickly

I may have gotten slightly off track from the murder mystery, but honestly this stuff is fascinating. Who knew locks could be so dramatic?

The detective story can wait. I need to understand why rich people in the 1890s were so obsessed with brass hardware.