Locking Card boxes have been around at least as early as 1876 with Professor Hoffmann’s seminal Modern Magic and also 1897 with the publication of August Roterberg’s amazing and detailed book New Era Card Tricks but the locking mechanism’s in both Hoffman’s and Roterberg’s designs use springs and/or pressure. Even Thayer’s beautiful mahogany Lock-Flap Card Box c. 1931 used a similar method.
Most modern locking card boxes use magnets and as far as I can ascertain this one by Wayne Sanderson was the first of it’s kind and it was released by Tannen’s in 1947. This particular version is designed for bridge sized cards and can hold a full deck (though not in the card case). The locking mechanism is so perfectly weighted that it does not need an external magnet to release the flap, just shaking the box in the hand with the correct downward motion will release the flap. This is actually a nice touch if you have lost as many magnets as I have 🙂 The other feature of note on this box is that it has a black painted interior such that you don’t have to worry about the wood grain changing after the reveal.
The wood used is not a fine hard wood like many of the special card boxes produced today, but it works well and the flap works very reliably.
Click here for more information.