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I picked up a few of the Ellis padlocks over the years, not really knowing much about them. Bob Dix wrote a very good article on the company in the Nov-Dec 2013 edition of journal of Lock Collecting. The company was formed by two brothers, George and William Ellis. They made several proto types that never made it into production, however one design did. The original company was based in Bardwell Ky starting in 1943. In 1944 they sold one third interest in the company to Mr. Marvin Cunningham and the company was moved to Clinton Ky. A total of an estimated 60 to 80,000 padlocks were produced up till 1947 when the company was liquidated. The first design made in Bardwell used a flat key. The second design was very close except it used a grooved key. The last change was in the cylinder. they actually made the cylinder in two pieces. If one were to pick the lock, only the outer half would turn, unless one knew and had a long tension wrench that would tension both the inner and outer halves at the same time. I actually have all three in my collection. . Hope you enjoy the pics, Mark

Interesting. I saw one of those on ebay last week I believe. I didn't know it was something special or I would have kept an eye on it.

Ri, that one last week went for $100, way more than I ever paid. They are kind of rare, the Bardswell is the first one I had ever seen.

Very cool!!

Interesting! Thanks for the 'show & tell' Mark!

that design is very similar to the evva padlock i have:



very neat! thanks for sharing!