Locksmithing is one of the oldest professions. It is a fact! You can google Locksmithing right now and it will take you to many research sites that have confirmed this statement. Locksmithing was not as sophisticated though as it is today. It was hard labor to craft the perfect wooden key to work in a perfect wooden lock! With all the electronics introduced into the industry today, you can walk out of a locksmith shop with a perfect working steel key in your hand within a blink of an eye!
During 870-900 AD the first metal locks appeared and the keys for these locks were so solid and so bulky that it could probably also have been used as a murder weapon!