Antique brass door handles come in three varieties: Antique (100+ years old), Collectible (99 years and under. All of the way up to, and including yesterday’s models.), and New Reproductions of anything made prior to today. For most people looking for usable hardware ‘Collectible’ and ‘New’ are the category’s that you need to be searching under.
Antique brass door handles both new and old, are known to kill some of the germs left sitting on them, if the metal is not sealed with another substance so that the germs do not touch the metal. This is one of the reasons today that we have quite a few people looking for antique brass door handles, and one of the reasons that we have many new reproductions of antique brass door handles for sale on the marketplace.
At the end of this article I’ve left you links to some antique brass door handle resource pages explaining history and collectors clubs for people interested in antique brass door handles.
Collectible antique brass door handles are those that are 99-years old and younger. Antique brass doorknobs are those that are 100-years and older, with information listed later in this article. For most people shopping for knobs, a collectible antique-look brass door handle is what you are searching for. Be aware that not all door handles fit all doors.
Many new doors are next to impossible to put an old door handle on. This is because they have a sealed handle assembly inside of the door that just allows the latest style of handles to go onto it. Some current manufacturers also have a specialty set-up that just allows their personal brand of handles to be placed onto the door.
To tell if you can have an older antique brass handle on your newer door, try to take your existing handle off. If there is no easy way showing to get it off, maybe you can let the children name it, or decorate it with hanging children’s art. I’m sorry. It stays. But, if you have a handle attached to a removable spindle, pin, bar, stick, or long metal rod, you get to go shopping for a new one.
How to know what to get for your existing door requires you to take your existing door handle off. Look for a screw attaching the handle to the door and unscrew it. Do this on the other side of the door as well. Next, take the spindle or pin-bar that the knobs were attached to out of the door. Measure the hole that this spindle, pin, bar, stick, or long metal rod went through. Note the shape of the hole. Next measure your bar across one tiny end to see how big of a knob hole you can go in what shape.
Armed with your dismantled knob and bar in your pocket, you are free to go searching in antique stores, flea markets, hardware stores, liquidation outlets, yard sales, auctions, and all other “hands on” places that you might be able to find a nice looking antique brass door handle that you would like to own. Test the knob on your spindle before purchase to ensure a great fit.
With your measured information you can shop online at antique stores, auction sales, hardware stores, knob collectors groups, and stores like Wal-Mart to find the antique brass door handle of your dreams. Make sure that you and your seller are in contact with your measured information prior to any sale made. Do not buy from anybody who claims that their antique brass door handle will fit all doors. Make sure that the one you want specifically fits your door.
New antique brass door handles are sometimes just as nice as old antique brass door handles if they are bought from a store that specializes in current reproduction hardware. The reproduction antique brass door handles and knobs come in all kinds of fun patterns and designer choices. If age-specific reality isn’t important to you, then I do suggest exploring the world of reproductions while looking for the perfect antique brass door handle for your door.
Where to find old and new antique brass door handles. Before shopping, read the above section and find out how to know what handle to buy that will fit your door. This is important. Not all handles will fit all doors.
I have purchased many items over the years while doing historic restoration projects from a place called, ‘Van Dykes Restorers’. There have been other people that I have tried to work with, and by far Van Dykes has given me the best service and product. They have a nice customer service department that is willing to answer both complicated and silly questions in a way that leaves you entirely satisfied with the answers.
Van Dykes Restorers has both online and catalog sales choices in antique brass door handles. I have found that sometimes not all of their product-line shows in each catalog, so never be afraid to dial their toll-free number to ask if they have any other selections that you can look at for the items that you are searching for.
Van Dykes currently has 2387 different pieces of brass door hardware choices in stock online – each with specific size information and some history about what the style is that you are looking at. They have 166 different antique brass handles in stock online for every conceivable purpose that you can imagine. The new antique brass door knobs start at about 4.99 for small knobs and go up to about 145.00 for very large fancy lock-sets. Back-plates, hinges, screws, and other accessories are also reasonably priced.
Offline, the recent catalog includes quite a few different offerings in antique brass and bronze which is a choice that you may also like to look at while searching for hardware. Bronze is more popular than brass right now. Click here to visit the Van Dykes online site, and to sign-up for their catalogs while you are there.
The Architectural Salvage Hardware Store specializes in used hardware from various periods and has a very nice selection of single antique brass doorknobs, door handles, and door handle sets in stock to choose from. This is an online store that I personally have not dealt with before, but a friend of mine has recommended them to me. The antique brass handles and sets range in price from about 65.00 to 220.00 which is a little higher than I am used to seeing, but I haven’t been out shopping salvage sites for awhile. Phone: 207-985-1999 (Maine). Click here to visit this interesting online shopping place.
House of Antique Hardware specializes in reproduction parts. Their page about door set hardware has some very good information to go along with it. Their entry lock-sets run at about 300.00 and up into the 1,500 dollar range. There are 49 choices to choose from. I am personally one of those people who will not pay larger money for any reproduction, when I can have the real thing for about the same price. But, some enjoy the higher-priced reproduction new items better than old items, so I am including this shopping resource for you. Click here to visit the House of Antique Hardware reproduction site.
True antique brass door handles are very hard to come by. In the years between 1905, and 1908 the latest years that you should be considering a real antique door hardware trends of the day normally varied between glass or china “elegant” and iron or metal “functional” here in the United States.
I have been involved with the antique and collectible trade for about 30-years; brass hardware just doesn’t seem to be the popular decorator choice for earlier American homes; antique door hardware in brass is out there, but not as plentiful as in other options. The exception to this rule is found in business building hardware, and homes close to train routes where smaller shipments of brass hardware seemed to end up showing within the local communities.
If you are searching for a true antique brass door handle from an American home, you need to get a little sneaky about shopping for it; know your history. First, brass molds were not used very much prior to 1850 (or so) in America. This is about as old as you can go for an American mass-produced brass door handle, and most are newer than that.
Identification of a true antique brass door handle is made by looking at it carefully with a magnifying glass or loupe. Look for irregularities in the mold design. Old molds were hand-carved and the results were not always perfect. It is sometime around the 1890’s that brass started to be put over other metals in American decorative products. This is another clue that you can look for to determine your age.
When you are shopping for a real antique brass door handle, go to the source. Start combing areas with Victorian homes having yard sales, start nosing around down in the abandoned areas of towns where old run-down businesses or tiny housing buildings are placed near train tracks. Keep an eye on newspapers for notices about demolitions, often you can buy salvage rights for the hardware items inside the building that you’d like if you go ask the person in charge of bringing the building down. Contact them at least two weeks prior to the demolition date.
Never think that an abandoned building isn’t being watched, and think that you can just take things that you like without asking an owner. If you happen to find the antique brass door handle of your dreams attached to an abandoned looking building, you can find out all of the information that you need quickly by walking into the first law enforcement agency that you see.
Finding the nearest law enforcement agency while trying to find the owner of an abandoned building that is harboring your desired hardware does two things: it keeps you from accidentally getting arrested for trespassing when you go tell the officers that you are trying to find the owners to buy something, and the officers normally know who to call, or where to send you locally for the owners contact information. If you can’t find law enforcement when you need them, the next place to check is the real estate office.
I do not recommend paying any high money for a claimed antique brass door handle online unless you are 100% sure that the seller knows what they are talking about. Items claimed to be antiques online are sometimes just a few years old, with the seller unaware of how to judge what a true antique is.
If you do want to go try to find a real antique door handle online, I suggest shopping on eBay international sites, and finding one out of Europe. Unlike America, in many parts of Europe brass was a prized choice in early decorating themes. Shipping between countries is made very easy through either USPS or UPS services. You should always pay with a credit card in PayPal on a foreign purchase because this gives you the option of resolution in two different ways if something goes wrong.
Resources:
Antique Doorknob Collectors of America. Click here to visit this antique brass door handle resource page.
‘Door Knob: How Products Are Made’. This is a long article with lots of history about door knobs and handles. Click here to visit this antique brass door handle resource page.
