Towers

In 1865, John Tower started the Towers Handcuff Company in New York. Initially, he produced handcuffs and leg irons under license from Phelps and Adams, paying royalties for use of these designs. 

Specifically, patent #56,463 details the internal ratchet design. 

Below, an early pair of Phelps handcuffs. You can see the resemblance to Towers own later design. Note the angled keyhole and the non standardized bent long links. It's hard to see here but the portion of the shackle that enters the lock case is square or rectangular in profile.

Above, a pair of Adams leg irons in relic condition due to heavy rust. These are EXTREMELY rare. Photo from oldhandcuffs.com

Above, a pair of Adams handcuffs in fair condition

Above, a pair of Phelps handcuffs with key. 

Above, the rectangular bow and Phelps maker and patent stamp

By 1874, John had begun manufacturing his own designs, and introduced the bottom key single lock handcuff with his patent (#151,452) for a shackle with a round cross section. 

Above : Towers single lock handcuffs

Orson C Phelps died in 1877 and the patent (#56,463) was sold to Towers. The patent was later reissued as (REISSUE #7,873) and John Tower introduced his Towers Improved Leg Irons. 

This is a pair of the Towers single lock bottom key leg irons in good condition. Beautiful patina. 

Below: detail of the single lock keyhole on the bottom edge of the shackle. 

In 1879, Tower then introduced and patented the double lock mechanism. This would lead to the Towers Double Lock Handcuffs and Towers Double Lock Leg Irons. The keyhole was now moved to one face of the lock body.

Below, a good condition pair of Towers Double Lock Leg Irons with a stamp from Attica Prison 

Above, detail of Attica Prison stamp. The nickel plating on these was really high quality. 

In 1882, Tower was facing increased competition from Bean Handcuffs, particularly due to Beans newly patented arming/activating buttons, which allowed the cuffs to be carried in a compact closed position until needed, without having to unlock them prior to use. 

Tower then introduced a spring loaded wedge on the handcuffs which kept the cuffs from closing until the wedge was pressed down so that the shackle could enter the lock body. This was patent #268,751, filed only five days after Edward Bean filed patent #268,171 for his arming buttons, which John Tower publicly decried as unreliable, as they could be activated by a suspect or prisoner in a struggle, thus defeating the purpose.

Below, the Towers Double Lock Handcuffs with the patented stop spring levers. 

You can see here now the narrow wedge prevents the handcuff from closing until the wedge is pressed flush with the shackle. 

Close up detail of the stop springs. 

Most of the tower cuffs don't have this. Those that do have often has the springs removed or broken over the decades. These are quite rare. 

Above, a period advert for Towers. 

The handcuffs pictured above are available on eBay for $675 buy it now and come with one key. 

My collection contains: two pairs of Towers Double Lock Leg Irons, one pair of Towers Double Lock Handcuffs, one pair of Towers Detective Handcuffs, and a pair of Balco leg irons, which are of the same design with a different chain. 

Above, my Towers Double Lock Leg Irons, plain steel finish, good condition with one non-original key. I got these in 2018 for $149.95 with two non original keys, one of which did not work and one which somewhat worked. Shown with a standard, modern Smith and Wesson handcuff for scale. One cuff in largest adjustment position, one cuff in smallest position. There are 10 locking positions.

Above, close up detail of the Tower stamp, the clevis, the chain and the keyhole.

Above, close up detail of the clevis and the chain attachment. Smith and Wesson handcuff for scale. The shackles are several times thicker than the modern cuffs. 

The chain has ten of these unique bent round links, and an oval link at each end connecting to the clevis, which is held with a large flush rivet. A unique quality of this chain is that although it doesn't have a swivel, the links have an amazing amount of flexibility. The chain can be rotated 5 times in either direction from its central lay; from the flat lay in my first photo above, the chain will begin to bind if a cuff is rotated further in that direction, but if it's rotated the other direction, the chain will orient in a random, jumbled lay, until after 10 rotations it falls into a flat lay again. 

These are very high quality restraints, with very fine tolerances both in the parts of the cuffs and the parts of the locks. 

John Tower created a double locking system which fits together like clockwork and not only prevents the cuff from tightening further but BLOCKS the ratchet pawl from retracting, so that the cuff can not be shimmed, and the primary lock can not be picked without first unlocking the double lock. 

Above, patent drawing details for Johns invention of the double locking mechanism. 

These are, in my opinion, one of the most impressive achievements in early American industrial design. 

Next I will add my other towers items.