Ask Microsoft Copilot or do a search and you’ll “discover” the modern doorknob was invented in 1878 by Osbourn Dorsey. Yet, I’ve lived in or been familiar with houses much older – going back many dozens of years prior, all of which had doorknobs.
The AI response continues… “Before that, people used handles or leather straps to open and close doors.” What? The book Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors: From the Gothic Art Revival to Art Nouveau mentions the German preference for handles, finding the round English devices for opening doors inferior. And indeed, such a handled device can be maneuvered even as both hands are occupied.
The response from AI seems to indicate the need to access rooms by those with mobility issues came about only in Victorian times. “Interestingly, Osbourn Dorsey’s invention coincided with the need for greater accessibility, as round doorknobs can be challenging for people with limited mobility.”
Maybe those Germans have a point.
This story of the history of the doorknob is repeated on several hardware manufacturer websites. That may be where AI got its information. One site reads “Decorative door hardware, including round knobs, were introduced at the Centennial Exposition of 1876.” No round knobs before 1876? Interesting. It goes on to contradict itself “China and ceramic knobs were imported from Europe and popular from the mid-1800s until the early 1900s.”
It’s clear Dorsey had a patent for a door device in 1878, but a newspaper archive search makes it easy to uncover the fact door knobs had existed long before. Perhaps the mortise or sash lock dates to 1878, but the rim lock, which attaches to the outside of the door, existed long before and had pulls and other mechanisms before they had knobs to turn. A while back there was a “mortiser drill” device patented in 1912 for cutting into doors for sale on eBay. They may have been cut by hand before that.
For sure, the door knob existed long before 1878. None of us can remember back that far, but the evidence exists around us.
Here’s a good resource on old doors. https://old-doors.info/sashlocks.php?hwID=8
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