The Three Tumblers

The Great Brinks Robbery: The $2.7 Million Heist That Shocked America 

On January 17, 1950, seven masked men walked into the Brinks armored-car facility at 165 Prince Street in Boston and disappeared with more than $2.7 million in cash, checks, and securities—the largest robbery in the world at the time. 

There were no explosions. No shootout. No dramatic forced entry. 

Instead, the robbers relied on years of surveillance, careful planning, disguises, stolen information—and, most importantly, keys. 

In this episode of The Three Tumblers Podcast, we take a deep dive into the Great Brinks Robbery and the...

When America’s founding documents — the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights — were under threat, one company was trusted to protect them: The Mosler Safe Company.

In the shadow of the Cold War and the nuclear age, Mosler built a vault designed to safeguard the Charters of Freedom against bombs, fire, and time itself. This episode of Hardware History Files uncovers the story of how Mosler became the guardian of America’s most important treasures.

🔑 What you’ll learn in this episode:

If you were in the door hardware industry in 1952, you knew the name Lockwood. It stood for prestige, quality, and American industrial might. The Lockwood Hardware Manufacturing Company operated five regional sales offices and six manufacturing plants across the United States. It had furnished buildings all over the world: apartments, hotels, hospitals, colleges, embassies, and federal facilities. 

Its products were used in high-security government sites, including post offices, military installations, and even the U.S. Embassy in Havana. And perhaps most impressively, Lockwood hardware was installed in two of the most high-profile projects of the mid-century: the A...

Across the world, hundreds of millions of houses are broken into on a regular basis during the month of December, with most occurring just on one particular night. The means of how these family safe havens are violated remain the subject of much speculation. Some people believe it’s an open secret, while others have a more radical take. What’s clear is that no locking mechanism created in over a thousand years can keep the perpetrator out of our homes, even if we know exactly what night he’s coming.

Is this some annual occurrence that societ...

Welcome to the Three Tumblers lock-shop of horror! Tonight, we will tell you three stories of intrigue, mystery, supernatural activity, and tales from beyond. Two of these stories will be based on actual occurrences. One will not.  

You will have to decide which ones are real, and which one isn’t. But don’t worry! We will be here to give you our expert opinions on the details of each story and at the conclusion of this episode, the truth will be revealed. 

Or will it?
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Season Three is on the way!
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From ancient mythology, to modern public safety tools. Symbols of horrific history, to objects of pleasure. These restraints have been used for centuries! 

Today, we will provide the captivating details on one of the worlds oldest wearable locks! 
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Break-ins. Burglaries. Home invasions. Squatters.  

Long gone are the days of not locking the door when you leave your house for the day. Criminals brazenly enter homes that are not theirs, and violate the one place we should always feel safe in.  

The fear of having your home invaded by a stranger has lead to many innovations to make it more secure. But do they work? 

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In the early 60s, Americans were introduced to a new kind of crime threat. With cases beginning in Boston and California, police were investigating murders that had striking similarities. Newspapers and television stations would give nicknames to the killers and run them in the headlines, striking fear into the public about who would be next. 

Taking home security more seriously than ever before, people began doing whatever it would take to keep themselves safe at night. This included extra locks on every door. But with demand so high, could people get them installed before it was too l...

Wednesday, November 24th, 1971. The man wearing a dark suit, sunglasses, and a parachute stood at the back of the Northwest Orient Airlines plane. Steadying himself, he pulled the lever and lowered the rear airstairs on the Boeing 727. A couple minutes later and he was falling towards the ground. 

This hijacking spurred hundreds of theories, and changed the way aircraft were secured for decades after. 
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Fol...

Pirates didn’t just steal treasure… they adapted to security. 

During the Golden Age of Piracy, ships crossing the Caribbean carried gold, silver, sugar, and rum worth fortunes. To protect these valuables, merchants turned to heavy armada chests, reinforced locks, and early security technology. 

But pirates weren’t just brute force raiders—they were experienced sailors who understood exactly how these systems worked. 

In this episode of The Three Tumblers, we explore the real history of pirates like Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, and how early locks, keys, and secure chests shaped the battle between the...

Monday, September 13th, 1971. At the corner of Baker and Marylebone Streets in Westminster, London, the branch manager of Lloyd's Bank opened the vault at ten in the morning as usual. As the huge door swung away what he saw left him speechless. Chunks of concrete, wrecked safe deposit boxes, jewelry, and more compromising items were strewn across the floor.  

Was it really possible that criminals were able to break into a vault with thousands of tons of protection? Or were other elements at work?
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August, 1945. The United States drops atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in a last ditch effort to stop the imperialist military dictators from killing more people. Soon, there is an arms race between America and the Soviet Union with both sides trying to prove to the other that their weapons are more powerful. 

With mutually assured destruction between nations, rouge actors were of the highest concern to the leaders. Could a simple set of keys stop World War Three?
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Weeks after family members report a young woman as missing, investigators find a ring of keys in her car. One key has seemingly random numbers and letters stamped on it. Will this code be able to lead detectives to solve the disappearance of a vibrant, young woman?
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Los Angeles California, Hollywood Hills. The year was 2008 and celebrities were living it up just as they had been for decades. Between nightlife, award shows, and parties, stars were rarely at home. This made their less than humble abodes appealing to people coveting that glamorous lifestyle.

Obviously, celebs had top rate security preventing any thefts or break-ins. Right?
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The Chevrolet Corvette. One of America's defining sports cars experienced a boom in sales in the early 1980s. It also became one of the most popular cars for thieves to steal. Insurance companies charged owners of the car up to 40 percent more just because of the theft rates.

Could a team of mechanics, engineers, and locksmiths put a stop to the likes of organized cars rings? Or would the bad guys stay one step ahead?
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For the past five months, The Three Tumblers have told you the tragic history that shaped how we interact doors today. Now, they bring you stories from ancient history to modern heists and those that could lead to potentially disastrous outcomes. 

Join Jeff Moss, Tyler J. Thomas, and Tim Coleman as they bring you these stories and more with the unique perspective of over thirty years of locksmithing and door hardware experience.

New episodes beginning March 4th, 2024.
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Only three men involved in the Station nightclub fire are held legally responsible. But were there more to blame? Good comes out of darkness. Families and survivors band together to make sure the tragedy is never forgotten.
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In a matter of minutes, those still trapped inside the Station nightclub are on the verge of death. Can they still escape, or will they die trying? 
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A small nightclub built in the late 1940s transforms over the years into a popular, local venue for live music and good evenings with friends until one fateful night it burns to the ground and claims one-hundred lives. 
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With over four hundred people dead and dying at the Cocoanut Grove club, someone had to be to blamed. While investigators look for a cause, others work to make sure that the tropical paradise in Boston didn’t burn in vane. 
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Tony is a kid who works at The Grove. Stanley works there too. Jimmy and Clifford are both in the armed forces and in the paradise at 17 Piedmont Street before heading out to war. All four would be forever effected by the inferno that awaited them that night. 
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November, 1942. America is at war. Mobsters still have control and influence on city inspectors, allowing them to skate past regulations and requirements. Guys getting ready to ship out to the battlefield want to take their gals on one last date. The Cocoanut Grove promises to be the place for a night they’ll never forget. It lives up to its hype as a south seas paradise, but for all the wrong reasons. 
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Every minute of every day in America there are emergencies. Multiple times a day people have to get to safety in a hurry and locked doors could mean a death sentence to them. Every state in the country, and most every city and county have laws requiring emergency exit devices on doors meant for people to get out and away from harm.

In 1911, however, there were few laws, if any, requiring this type of hardware. One hundred-forty-six people died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, most because they couldn’t get out. Just months prior to that di...

Fires, exits, origins, and bloopers. Lots of bloopers.

In this special holiday episode, Jeff, Tyler, and Tim discuss what brought them this far, what lessons they've learned, and what is motivating them to continue with the show. Also, they prove that while the recordings sound great, it takes a lot to get there!

Enjoy this special episode while you wait for part two of The Von Duprin Game Changer! Coming January Eighth!

Happy Holidays from all of us here at The Three Tumblers!

On December 30th 1903, thirty-three year old Carl Prinzler was in Chicago for business. With his business concluded, Carl found himself delayed in getting home. Deciding to pass the time, he planned on getting a ticket to see Klaw and Erlanger's “Mister Bluebeard” production at the new Iroquois Theatre. But at the last minute, a train ticket came available and he rushed to get home to Indianapolis...

In the streets of Indianapolis, a German immigrant by the name of Clemens Vonnegut Senior took a brisk walk through the streets. Carrying heavy rocks in his hands, and his trademark cape...

As firefighters, police officers, and citizens who volunteered their efforts recovered bodies and lowered them to the ground below from the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors of the Asch building, people below were placing those bodies in to caskets and loading them on to wagons for transport. 

The effects of the shirtwaist factory fire were heavy on all involved. Even the most hardened responders were overcome by emotion and grief. Crews were rotated out to give them time to temporarily recover. 

Almost immediately after the fire, there were calls from the publ...

William Shepherd walked down the cobblestone streets in Greenwich village on the afternoon of Saturday, March 25th, 1911. It was a trendy place that any young reporter for the united press should be on a weekend. With an inclusive crowd, political activism, and a future home to Jackson Pollock it was, and still is, much like the Buckhead area of Atlanta, Lakewood in Cleveland, or the south end of Charlotte today. Counterculture, a diverse population, and an amazing night life lived in these stre…

*THUD*

William paused and shrugged when he heard the...

Today it’s difficult for us to imagine how a simple women’s garment, the Industrial Revolution, and labor practices could all be related.  Right now, women wear t-shirts, polos, uniforms of all kinds, and dressy clothes on special occasions. But in 1911 the culture of New York City and the nation, was much different. Labor laws, women’s rights, and building codes all changed after a tragic disaster brought all of these different issues together.

Now, 112 years later, Jeff Moss, Tyler J. Thomas, and Tim Coleman will share with you the factors that led up to this...

The fire was over… but the story wasn’t. 

In the aftermath of the Lake View School fire of 1908, a grieving community searched for answers. How could so many children die just feet from safety? 

In Part 4 of this series, we uncover the investigation, the overlooked design flaws, and the critical lessons that reshaped fire safety forever. From deadly bottlenecks just five feet from the exit… to construction decisions that turned the building into a chimney… the truth became impossible to ignore. But out of tragedy came change. 

In this episode: 

- The invest...

The fire was only the beginning.

On March 4, 1908, the Lakeview School fire in Collinwood, Ohio claimed the lives of 175 children and teachers. But outside the building, the tragedy continued as parents, neighbors, and rescuers rushed into a scene of chaos, desperation, and heartbreak.

In Part 3 of this series, we tell the stories of the people who tried to save the children—and the devastating reality they faced.

This is the human cost of one of the deadliest school fires in American history.

In this episode:

- The desperate rescue at...

It only took minutes.

On March 4, 1908, a small fire inside the Lakeview School in Collinwood, Ohio turned into one of the deadliest school disasters in American history.

More than 350 children were inside the building. Many never made it out.

In Part 2 of this series, we break down exactly what happened inside the school—from the first signs of smoke to the rapid spread of fire, blocked exits, and the desperate attempts to escape.

This is the moment everything went wrong.

In this episode:

- How the fire st...

In 1908, the village of Collinwood, Ohio was growing fast—faster than its infrastructure could keep up. 

What was once farmland quickly became a crowded industrial hub filled with immigrant families, packed housing, and overwhelmed schools. At the center of it all stood the Lakeview School. 

On the morning of March 4th, over 350 children walked through its doors. 175 would never make it home. In Part 1 of this series, we explore how rapid growth, overcrowding, and critical design decisions set the stage for one of the deadliest school fires in American history. 

This is not just...

Nearly 600 people died in the Iroquois Theatre Fire of 1903. But what happened after the fire is what changed everything. 

In Part 3 of this series, we break down how one of the deadliest building fires in U.S. history reshaped fire safety laws, building codes, and door hardware forever. 

From blocked exits and complex locks to overcrowding and panic, this disaster exposed critical failures in how buildings were designed—and forced sweeping changes that still protect lives today. 

This is the story of how tragedy led to modern life safety standards.  If you’ve ever wal...

At 3:15 PM, a small spark from a stage light ignited a curtain. 

Within minutes, it became one of the deadliest fires in U.S. history. 

In Part 2 of the Iroquois Theatre Fire, we break down how a preventable fire spread out of control — from faulty safety systems to crowd panic and deadly design failures. 

Nearly 600 people were trapped inside. 

This is the moment everything went wrong. 

In this episode: 

- How the fire started 
- Why the fire curtain failed 
- How panic spread through the crowd ...

It was called “fireproof.” 

In 1903, nearly 2,000 people packed into the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago for a matinee performance. Most were women and children. Within minutes, a small stage fire turned into the deadliest single-building fire in U.S. history. Nearly 600 people never made it out. 

In this episode of The Three Tumblers, we break down the design decisions, overcrowding, and overlooked safety failures that turned a “safe” theater into a deadly trap. This is Part 1 of our series on the Iroquois Theatre Fire — and how it changed building codes, fire safety, and door hardware forever. 

In this...

Join us for the start of season 2 on October 2nd.

Hello everyone, I'm Jeff Moss and along with Tim Coleman and Tyler J. Thomas, we are going to discuss lockpicking.

Listen to The Three Tumblers anywhere you get your podcasts and, please, follow and give us a review! 

The Three Tumblers Podcast: https://podbay.fm/p/the-three-tumblers

Follow Us On Twitter: https://twitter.com/3tumblerspod 
Follow Us On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thethreetumblerspod/

Hello everyone I'm Tim Coleman and along with Tyler J. Thomas and Jeff Moss, we'll be the best pin ups in the trade and in podcast. It's three o'clock somewhere and this is The Three Tumblers.