Have you ever noticed the exit device on the door of your office?  Your school?  Take a look next time you walk through a door with one on it.  It would be surprising if it does not say Von Duprin on it.  The Von Duprin brand has been an industry benchmark since the day the company was founded back in 1906.  In fact, it was the first door hardware company to offer panic bars for sale.  Back in 1903, there was an awful fire at a theater in Chicago that killed many people because the doors were locked and chained.  This practice would shock anyone today, but back then the owners of the theaters were concerned about people sneaking in to watch the movies or plays through the exit doors, so they locked them during a performance.  The fire started and in the blind panic many people died while the manager worked at unlocking the door.  Someone who was supposed to go to that show and missed it was galvanized to act to prevent this tragedy from happening again.  This man designed the panic bar.  Today, most cities require a panic bar exit device to be put on building exits to meet safety codes so the question stands: do your building’s panic bars say Von Duprin on them?