The door closer may be far older than you first thought and have had more of an impact on our daily lives than ever could have been imagined, when looking back to prehistory devices to close all manner of "doors" have probably been around since the very first doors were "invented." They may have been developed from devices and simple spring mechanisms to close access to a trap of some sort. A little later perhaps when our nomadic life style came to an end and we began to trap and rear animals for food, labour and transport these mechanisms may have been scaled up to automatically close gates once animals had been driven into a fenced area for instance, closing off their route of escape.
We simply may never know the exact route by which the very earliest or first door closing devices were invented and I suspect the door closer in some way shape or form has been invented and reinvented over and over throughout history.
Arguably not as an important a discovery as fire, when fully considered you may agree however they deserve far more recognition than they have ever previously received and could well be in the top 100 of all time most important mechanical devices ever invented, behind the wheel or the lever but nearly equal of the lock, affecting our daily lives in ways you may have never even thought, achieving the rare position of being practically indispensable and yet to all intents and purpose invisible to all but the most inquisitive of us.
We simply may never know the exact route by which the very earliest or first door closing devices were invented and I suspect the door closer in some way shape or form has been invented and reinvented over and over throughout history.
Arguably not as an important a discovery as fire, when fully considered you may agree however they deserve far more recognition than they have ever previously received and could well be in the top 100 of all time most important mechanical devices ever invented, behind the wheel or the lever but nearly equal of the lock, affecting our daily lives in ways you may have never even thought, achieving the rare position of being practically indispensable and yet to all intents and purpose invisible to all but the most inquisitive of us.
Whilst not exactly a door closer the reference below shows that we were inventing machinery and devices to control doors long before any patents were issued for such devices, below is the earliest reference I have been able to find of a "machine" or device to control a door. Monsieur Delanois displayed his Mathematical Statue, at the White Swan in Stamford 1736. It is reported to open and close his door himself among bringing sugar, coffee and all sorts of spices to I expect the delighted on lookers who came to view the spectacle of the "Merchant Grocer."
Stamford Mercury Thursday 21st December 1738
The Works of Jonathan Swift Dean of St Patricks D.D., Dublin Volume 12, 1755.
As you can read above Jonathan Swift discusses a simple door closer as early as 1755 almost identical to the one first patented.
The 'modern' door closer industry can be said to have begun officially in England on a Tuesday in the summer of 1786, for it was on Tuesday June 13th in 1786, that a linen draper named Francis Moore living in Cheapside, London, was awarded the first English patent for a device to close doors, which consisted of weights, a line and pulleys. This was followed four years later by Henry Downers 1790 patent that used a spring to overcome the weight of the door to return it to the closed position.
Patents are of course important they do not however reflect the entire door closer story as not all inventions are patented. Along with Jonathan Swifts description of a door closer, it can be shown through advertisement ironmongers were selling door spring/door closers up and down the country before and around the time Moore and Downers patents were granted.
The 'modern' door closer industry can be said to have begun officially in England on a Tuesday in the summer of 1786, for it was on Tuesday June 13th in 1786, that a linen draper named Francis Moore living in Cheapside, London, was awarded the first English patent for a device to close doors, which consisted of weights, a line and pulleys. This was followed four years later by Henry Downers 1790 patent that used a spring to overcome the weight of the door to return it to the closed position.
Patents are of course important they do not however reflect the entire door closer story as not all inventions are patented. Along with Jonathan Swifts description of a door closer, it can be shown through advertisement ironmongers were selling door spring/door closers up and down the country before and around the time Moore and Downers patents were granted.
Salisbury and Winchester Journal - Monday 19 June 1775
Chester Chronicle - Thursday 07 March 1776
Edward Morris Ironmonger Northampton Mercury 1794
John Sibbald Smith and Ironmonger Caledonian Mercury 1794
Adding to the confusion for those wanting to trace the history of the door spring door closer is the fact a spring when used on its own to close a door is known as a door spring as are the various components when combined together into one device.
In whatever form the various component parts are combined for most of their 250 plus year history they have been known as door springs.
In whatever form the various component parts are combined for most of their 250 plus year history they have been known as door springs.
To be continued...
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