as the different owners of the
house each had his own special ideas and changed the hardware to suit
his tastes. Many did not realize the importance of these fixtures in
retaining the sixteenth and seventeenth-century interiors.

It is absolutely necessary that the hardware should correspond in
material to period. Too little thought has been given to this subject
and has led to an incongruous use of hardware, leaving an impression of
lack of information concerning the correct architectural details of the
house. There is a decided difference between the hardware that was used
in the latter part of the sixteenth century and the early seventeenth
and that we employ to-day. The twentieth-century "builders' hardware"
covers a great variety of objects included in every part of the house.
In Colonial times the term was applied to few, such as latches, locks,
knockers, and hinges, some of which were very ornamental in design, for
they ranged from small pieces to large ones.

The evolution of this special feature of the house is of interest to
the house builder; it originated in the Dark Ages, at which period we
find used Romanesque, Renaissance, and Gothic types in so many
different forms that it is little wonder the architect turns to them
for copy. The best examples are seen in the late sixteenth and early
seventeenth-century houses, when the decoration of the entrance door was
a very serious subject and received great attention, especially during
the Colonial period. Then the knockers were of the most importance and
were either of cast-iron or brass. The former were often very beautiful
in design and were used on the earlier houses, for brass did not come
into favor until later. Unfortunately the waning vogue of this piece of
hardware led to many rare pieces being destroyed or thrown into the
melting pot. It is fortunate that some house owners realized their worth
and that collectors felt they would become a fad later on and so stored
them away, which accounts for many old knockers found on the market
to-day.

The latch, lock, knob, and hinge are also interesting. The former is
made from either iron or brass but rarely of any other metal. Before the
appearance of the latch, the door-ring was used, but this it would be
most difficult to locate. The thumb-latch is occasionally fanciful in
design but is generally very plain and is rarely seen even in old-time
houses, having been replaced by the door-knob. The most common feat