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.

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December 2019.