Cracking Tarr & Wonson's safes

Apr. 16—When Ocean Alliance bought the old Tarr & Wonson Paint Factory on Rocky Neck in 2008, it also took command of two ancient safes that were left behind by the iconic Gloucester marine paint company when it closed up shop in 1980.

The two iron behemoths — one about 5 feet tall, the other about 3 feet — sat closed and collecting dust, initially on the second floor of the paint factory's copper mill and later, with the help of gravity and a weak floor, on the ground level.

The safes became incessant objects of mystery to Ocean Alliance Chief Executive Officer Iain Kerr, who would insist to his associates at the whale research and conservation nonprofit that they simply must open them to find out what they contained.

There might be treasure, he told them, though he didn't really think so. Maybe valuable documents or, at the very least, something to give further insight into Tarr & Wonson's daily operations as it changed the very face of maritime commerce during the age of sail and beyond.

How often did he talk about it?

"Endlessly," Kerr said Wednesday morning. "It became one of Iain's bad jokes."

Last Tuesday, to the glee of Kerr and the relief of his colleagues, he finally got his Geraldo moment.

With the help of Earl Selig of Earl's Lock Shop on Witham Street in Gloucester, the safes were opened to impart their secrets for the first time in at least 41 years.

Alas, there was no cash, no treasure.

Instead, the two held a trove of business documents — payroll and accounting ledgers written in a beautiful hand, trademark certificates of registration and recipe cards for Tarr & Wonson's revolutionary anti-fouling copper paint, invoices, research data and more.

They dated from the end of the 19th century through the first half of the 20th century.

"We won a little bit of a historic lottery on the paint factory and its clients," Kerr said.

The documents, more than anything, provide a glimpse of the true international reach of Tarr & Wonson's business after inventing the copper paint to protect wooden ship hulls and ease their passage through the water.

"People, I think, tend to forget, that the Tarr & Wonson paint fueled America's first industrial revolution — commercial fishing," Kerr said.

The certificates of registration spoke of trademarks in far off fishing lands. Spain. Norway. Sweden. Denmark. Peru. New Zealand.

Tarr & Wonson did plenty of business locally, as well. One invoice entry, dated May 10, 1924, shows the company receiving $130.34 from the Rocky Neck Marine Railways Co. — today the Gloucester Marine Railways — for racing compound and liquid copper paint in cans.

The safes also contained paint test sheets from 1948 and 1938 tax forms to the Internal Revenue Service.

Ocean Alliance, in the midst of its restoration and renovation of the former paint factory, figured now was the time to open the safes. The floor on which they sit is scheduled to be polished and they have to be moved.

But the openings offered their own twist to the tale.

Selig first approached the larger safe, which had "Stockholders" in faded gold leaf at the very top of its front frame.

The safe, with two swinging doors, was built by the Damon Safe and Iron Works Co. of Boston. One door featured a dial, the other a handle. A floral decoration, hand-painted, also adorns the front.

Selig inspected the safe and then turned to Kerr.

"I don't think this safe is even locked," Selig said.

Selig figured the doors might have been left open for long periods, possibly warping the hinges and jamming the doors. He was able to work a screwdriver between the top of one of the doors and the top frame of the safe.

"It popped right open," Selig said.

Inside were 12 drawers in two columns of six, stuffed primarily with documents related to paint testing and research. The inside panels of the doors also featured more hand-painted floral decoration.

"I'm no safe expert, but I'd guess that safe dates to the late 1800s," Selig said.

He moved on to the smaller safe which he estimated was about the same vintage as the stockholders safe, perhaps more recent. That safe was locked.

"It had a lever lock," Selig said. "I've never seen a lock like that on a safe before."

He drilled a hole in the safe's single door to access the levers. He was able to move the levers into the appropriate position. The door opened and an avalanche of ledgers and accounting documents spilled out.

All told, it took him about three hours to open both safes.

Was he surprised at the contents?

"No," Selig said. "People always dream of something valuable being inside a locked safe, but it doesn't happen a lot. Generally, no one leaves anything valuable behind. In 30 years, I've probably opened only two safes with anything valuable in them."

And now, what of the safes?

Well, they could be yours, if you're so inclined.

Ocean Alliance plans to keep the contents and it's already spoken with the Cape Ann Museum, the Sawyer Free Library and the Gloucester 400 organizing committee to see if they have any interest in adding some to their archives and collections.

But the nonprofit is ready to say goodbye to the safes.

"If someone wants the safes, they can have them," Kerr said, adding that a donation would not go amiss in return for them. "We don't need them. Perhaps they could be a safes again. We don't know."

Contact Sean Horgan at 978-675-2714, or shorgan@gloucestertimes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SeanGDT