PANIC HARDWARE INVENTION

Panic hardware, according to a 1952 article in "Hardware Age," was invented in the wake of the 1903 Iroquois Theatre fire by a man named Carl Printzler who fatefully missed the deadly performance. "Von Duprin" is an amalgam of names Vonnegut, manufacturer; co-inventor Henry Dupont; and Printlzer. Below, an ad from 1914, Moving Picture World.

December 2019.