In 1948, at just 18 years of age, Stuart Johnson joined the family business, then known as A. F. Johnson & Co., a name it had carried since its founding in 1926.
It didn’t take long for Stuart to settle into his new role. As the months passed, he knew he had made the right decision. The post-war world was changing rapidly, and so was the business. Global economies were recovering, trade routes were reopening, and demand for imported and exported goods was exceeding what manufacturers could supply. It was a time of opportunity and ambition.
On 26 April 1949, the now-familiar name Locksmiths Supply Co. was officially registered.
The years following the war were a period of significant change and growth, and LSC was firmly in the thick of it. As early as 1945, the company secured one of its first major accounts with a small Australian manufacturer called Ogden Industries, producing padlocks and rim locks under the Lockwood name. Its founder, John F. Ogden, had previously imported locking products into Australia during the 1930s before moving into local manufacturing.
Another pivotal moment for LSC also occurred in 1945, when a meeting between my grandfather, Aubrey Johnson and a talented engineer named Harry Edmonds helped shape the company’s future. Harry was manufacturing key blanks for a small South Australian locksmith and had ambitions to start his own business. He relocated to Victoria and founded Clavis Industries — Clavis being the Latin word for “key.”
Harry developed the EzyCut key blank range which LSC proudly distributed. From this partnership came the now-iconic C-series numbering system:
- C1 (Yale) — “C” for Clavis, and “1” for the first blank produced
- C2 (H.T. Vaughn)
- C3 (Union)
- C4 — which would later become one of the most recognised key blanks of all
By the mid-1940s, the company was still importing key blanks and machines from two major US suppliers — Independent Lock Company (ILCO) and Dominion Lock (DL). In fact, A. F. Johnson had imported Australia’s first code-cutting machine as early as 1931, a predecessor to the well-known UL78.
Through this period of rapid expansion and innovation, Stuart emerged as the “builder” of the business, helping guide LSC beyond its early foundations and into a nationally recognised operation, laying the groundwork for generations
to come.
Mark Johnson
More to come.