REGINA -- A safe that proved to be a community mystery has finally been opened at the Civic Museum of Regina.
The safe, which was built in the early 1900’s and was donated in 2000, had likely been locked for over 30 years.
Rob Deglau is the community coordinator at the museum. Following a post on Facebook about the safe, he received thousands of calls from across the country from people claiming to know how to crack the code.
Finally, a travelling businessman from Ottawa showed up at the museum. After spending five hours listening to the clicks of the lock, he was only able to decipher half the numbers before going back to Ottawa.
“But he came back last Tuesday,” Deglau said. “And finally found the last two numbers of the combination.”
The anonymous man allowed Deglau to open the door once he cracked the code. To their surprise, opening the door did not immediately solve the mystery.
“We opened the door to find another door,” he chuckled. “Which was also locked.”
The pair was not ready to give up yet.
After sifting through an estimated 40 antique keys from the museum, they found what they were looking for: a long, flat key that would fit into the keyhole. It wasn’t an exact match – but it did the trick.
“We opened it up, and to our surprise, we were the proud owners of a paperclip.”
The paperclip is estimated to be at least fifty years old, but apart from its age, it is no different than any modern paperclip.
Although the treasure is not going to bring Deglau any riches, he said it more about the journey than the destination.
“Really we had so much fun with the whole process,” he said. “Engaging with the community and talking about some history pieces, people reminiscing about old safes. Everybody had a story.”
