original and intact antique american industrial c. 1920's flush mount vault door cast bronze name plaque salvaged from a chicago bank building undergoing restoration. the diminutive rectangular-shaped plaque features embossed lettering against a baked black enameled inlay. the vault plaque has a mostly uniform surface patina. charles diebold first organized diebold bahmann in 1859, as a manufacturer of safes and vaults in cincinnati, ohio. in the wake of the 1871 great chicago fire, natural disaster proved a boon for diebold bahmann & co. when word spread that all 878 diebold safes in the area, along with their contents, survived the flames. in 1872 diebold had outgrown its space in cincinnati and transferred plant and headquarters to canton, ohio, where most of the post-fire orders were filled. in 1874 wells fargo of san francisco chose diebold to make what would be the world's largest vault. the following year, a special 47-car train transported the 32-foot-long, 27-foot-wide, 12-foot-high vault to san francisco. in 1876 the company was incorporated under ohio law as diebold safe & lock co. following the wells fargo feat, diebold continued to traffic in the colossal, selling the largest-ever commercial bank vault to detroit national bank in 1921. in 1968 the first national bank of chicago purchased the largest-ever double vault doors, with a combined weight of 87 tons. size aside, the company's abiding interest lay in developing equipment to stay one step ahead of bank robbers. in 1890 the company introduced manganese steel doors that were billed as tnt-proof. through time, combination locks replaced keys, which could be copied. safety hinges were introduced along with locks that jammed automatically after banking hours. measures 1 1/4 x 6 3/4 inches.