Meet Mike Tripp, Master Safe Mechanic

“There’s something about the daunting look of an antique safe that just inspires the inner outlaw in everybody. While hardly anyone’s going around and cracking open bank safes anymore using stethoscopes and daring countenance, these once highly useful repositories have become beloved collectors items today.” -from the Love to Know blog

The vintage Hall’s Safe we’ve been rehabbing at a nearby historic home in the South Hill neighborhood of Spokane benefited from a checkup and day surgery by master safe mechanic Mike Tripp.

After scrubbing in, Tripp pointed to the signature emblazoned on the safe door, noting that his patient had been worked on by renowned safe mechanic C. L. Corey of Spokane, who was active in Spokane in the 1930s.

Tripp noted that C.L. Corey wrote a book about the safe business  in early Spokane, actually a diary that was later published into book form.

“When I get back to my shop library, I’ll look in my copy of Corey’s book to see if there is a reference to your safe,” Tripp said. Stay tuned!

While the EPH restoration crew observed and documented the operation, Tripp extracted the rotating plates that are responsible for unlocking and locking the safe (photos).

Mike Tripp identified the previous drill holes, one of them most likely by Corey in 1932, according to the notes on the internal panel.

This has been a fun project, and we are thankful to learn its history and to know that this classic safe is getting the attention it needs.

Little Free Library Charms Visitors to the Eikenbary-Pierce House