Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-23
An Invitation
to Thieves

E7Yl1EN the Swedes go calling they lock
WI up and then hang the door-key on
the bell or the doorinob or some
IeGtE9I other conspicuous place. When they
- go visiting for few weeks bolts and
bars are slid into place and then out goes the
key. If the house is shut up for an entire sea
son or a full year the gayly swinging door key
says, not at home" to passersby.
lhere is no kicking your heels on the door
mat, in Sweden, while the bell or knocker
awakes the echoes in an empty house Agents,
peddlers, friends and relatives all know this mes.
sage Of the door-key and seeing it out pass by.
As can be readily imagined this strange Gus
tom has been put to good use in many instances
when visitors were not wanted. Instead OF tell
ing the maid to inform callers that Mrs. Jones
is not at home, the mistress says to Jennie,
Hang out the door key at o'clock this after
noon and bring it in at .. | don't wish to see
anyone for few hours"
About the first of the month, in certain dis
tricts, door keys swing to the breezes in great
numbers and collectors, knowing the custom
and also its misuses, scratch their heads in per.
plexity at this not at home signal.
A LAND OF HONESTY.
Many amusing stories are told of creditors
sitting down to await the return of the man
while the debtor sat on the other side of the
locked door and chuckled There have been in
stances where collector has taken the key, un-
by the owner who calmly laughed over his ruse.
Again a creditor has entered house In which
he supposed the owner to be hiding, only to find
it vacant and to be caught by the irate master,
arrested and made to pay fine while the debtor
got an extension of time on his bill.
These illegitimate of this very old custom
of not only leaving the latch string out, but also
putting the door key at the disposal of all who
pass are not discovered at first glance and they
are really very much in the minority for Sweden
is eminently an honest land In and around
about Stockholm there is very little need of po
lcemen or strong boxes, for every man, however
low down in the social scale, seems to have due
respect for anothers property.
Although few of the more suspicious, or the
foreigners who have not been brought up in this
strange custom of leaving the door key out, may
lock up with bolts from the inside and use an
other door for exit when they leave home Tor an
extended visit the old residents actually leave
their homes at the disposal of any who may care
to enter.
Friends who all and find the key out, feel at
perfect liberty to unlock the door, enter and rest
a bit before passing on. Strangers seldom mis-
use the confidence.
THE ORIGIN OF THE CUSTOM.
The custom started ages ago when it was the
usual thing for ''holy men, or priests to travel
through Swedish villages stopping to leave their
blessings on the households of the nelghborhood
These visits were looked forward to with eager
ness by the pious Swedes and it was considered
an act of grossest discourtesy to bar the door,
for whatever reason, against holy man. Con
seouently if a family left home the key was al
ways put out against the arrival of the priest
Meat and drink were left and should the holy
man stop at vacant house he entered, refreshed
himself, left his blessing in the form OF candle
or bottle of holy water or bit of consecrated
green and passed on.
Thus the custom originated and although these
quaint villages have become towns and the tray
cling priests have passed away, and the influx
of other nations has modernzed Sweden and
brought the evil of theft with it, the door keys
still hang out as evidence of trust and open
doored hospitality
A thief seldom takes down one of these keys
with the thought of using it feloneously for
there is the uncertainty about the absence OF the
residents, spoken of, to hold him back, and the
knowledge that an exposed door key may merely
mean that the owner has stepped across to the
store and will return any minute, makes tamper-
ing with property risky business.
These facts together with the big one that
Swedes are one Of the most honest people on
the face of the globe, make custom safe there
winch would be a foohardy tempting OF mistor-
time in our Land of the Free