January 9, 2009
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A dusty diary doesn’t divulge. (YES IT DOES)
As I was cleaning this afternoon, I found an old diary. Touching its sumptuous velvety back reminded me of the secrets kept inside.
I smiled as turned the combination—I couldn’t wait to catch up with my teenage self.
*pushes button*
What the deuce?! Turns out my 26-year-old self forgot how to open it!
I googled. I hammered. I pried. Looks like my secrets are safe for another day …
In the meantime, does anyone know how to unlock
a classic Hallmark diary combination lock?
Help me open it, and I’ll share a page or two of its contents …
Thank you for all your help! I ended up twisting it until it finally opened.
(This is from December 2003, just two months after husband and I started dating. Fairly late in the diary, but the most fun to relive)
Comments (36)
I have no idea. Sorry! I’ll rec to get the word out.
I’m kind of a caveman (actually, Cavegirl) when it comes to situations like these. A good old hammer and smashing could eventually get it apart, but if you want to keep it looking good you should probably do more research into it. I’ll throw a rec out and maybe one of my friends will know.
Nice very cool.
@AilinCorazon - @Rissababe203 - Sweet! Thank you so much … I took a hammer to the back, but I didn’t want to break it. I’m still googling away. Hallmark doesn’t even seem to CARRY diaries anymore. Ugh.
hahaha That’s too funny!
im sure kung fu will do the trick. If now…i say take a screw driver and take the whole thing off!
@CiaoBella810 - the screwdriver trick works and doesnt tear it apart like a hammer will! smart suggestion.
i love the look of the diary by the by. its so CUTE. i love diaries. i’ve lost quite a few along the way, no way i’d ever find them again. sux. oh well. i do have two journals that i have now that… i doubt i will ever lose. thanks for reminding me to get back to journaling.
Looks like you’re supposed to squeeze it. Or maybe squeeze in the one lever and slide that circle in the middle over somehow.
With the combination, I would guess.
You better dial 1-800-Hallmark and ask for a master key =)
I have no clue. haha But I’ll rec it for you.
does the lever on the side push in or move sideways or pull out at all?
I used to have one of those — I think you push in the lock on the side and it should open the clasp.
@ISLYMORE - Unfortunately, they made it where the metal edges are buried into the cover, so it can’t be pried off. (LOL, I was doing that until I bent it. Then I stopped. Boo!)
@jesusmoshes2 - The circle is a combination dial. Once you put in the correct combination (Instead of numbers, it spells out “M Y D I A R Y” and a Hallmark crown), then you push the lever on the top. Trés complicated, especially for a diary. Next time, I’m going with a simple lock and key!
@TastyAnonymity - I’ve been swirling it different ways. I do remember it was particular—counter-clockwise so many times, then clockwise a few turns. It stops on “M” at one point, but I don’t remember the rest. Needless to say, it’s been a long time.
@CiaoBella810 - Judo chop! … Nope. Didn’t work. Maybe Jedi mind tricks?!
I used to keep pushing on the opener while slowly turning the dial. Most times that works, though it sometimes took a couple minutes.
I hope that will work for yours!
@jesusmoshes2 - @queenGoob - You push the lever on the top down once the correct combination has been entered.
@mrsprosa - That’s a great idea! LOL, anything to prevent me from screwing it up further …
@willow_ann209 - I’ll try that, too. I took the hammer to it in a moment of frustration, so I hope I didn’t internally break anything. If so, I’m gonna have to say screw keeping it pretty and RIP IT OPEN!
Just tear it apart! Or call Terri over and get her to use her kung fu powers on it. LOL
Oh, well that was my best guess. I’d go with…some type of power tool, but I wouldn’t touch it. I’d probably hurt myself. I’d go with power tool in someone else’s hand.
@AilinCorazon - @Rissababe203 - @embrown88 - @casmarie -
@CiaoBella810 - @ISLYMORE - @jesusmoshes2 - @TastyAnonymity -
@mrsprosa - @simply_steffy - @queenGoob - @willow_ann209 -
@Millsanicole - Thanks for everyone’s help! I got it open, thanks to a little elbow grease (and some skillful dial-turning!) The pages are up, as promised.
Yay!
YEAH! Exciting!
I’ve been keeping a diary most of my life since elementary school. I dread the day I die and someone reads them and figures out how emotional I really was (am).
Awww! So sweet! Love it!
My parents just moved all of my crap out of my old room at their place so that my sister could take the room. There are boxes of diaries all over the damned place.
i love rereading my old diaries. good thing you got yours to open!
i usually put my eyes really close and watch for the clicks and then keep pressing the long button they have
i always had a hard time opening thesee gluck!
p.s that wedding pic on the bottom needs tto be more visible, its so cuteeee!
nvm you got it to open i am lame for not reading the whole postt
Great job! I wish I could run across my old diary, I have no clue where it is.
my hallmark diary code was “MA” (the same kind of lock as yours)
i cant believe i remember that…
What did I say? Is that my name? OMG I am sure that I said something mean and stupid. Hope that you are doing well…miss you
@kansas_chick16 - Hahah, yeah, it’s your name. You didn’t say anything I wouldn’t have said to someone else at that point in the relationship … I was just transcribing, I wasn’t bitching! It made A LOT of sense at the time, and was a genuine concern of mine already. Fortunately, it worked out for the best! Miss you too! Where are you now?
haha I thought I was the only one looking how to open one of this things. my sister asked me if I could open her diary from back when shes a lil kid what I did was push that lil lever down as far as i could until the lil circle thing was hard to move i moved it until the lever went all the way down and…. it opened haha it was funny cuz I looked on the internet to see how to open it for like an hour and I couldnt find any answers.
i was also trying to figure out the lock code and came by your page… and i figured it out!
turn clockwise to M
turn counterclockwise to Y
turn clockwise to A
then it opens
I just got one from a flea market, there is nothing in in but, “Lay off my diary” in the front “I love Jereme weatherb” in the back and “hello there” on the side
I messed with it doing the whole “listen for clicks” thing and found it out. I don’t know if you can personalize it when you get it, but I turn the A from diary clockwise past the little raised knotch up to 12 then turn it back to the little knotch directly and it opened. Hope this helps anyone out there who forgot how to open them