Traditionally American families had a safety deposit box, often called a lockbox. Lockboxes were physical, metal-box drawers in locked vaults or at local banks. 

Many families kept important documents and heirlooms in their lockboxes. Families would also store some monetary proceeds in lockboxes with their important documents. 

Lockboxes were a major focus for taxing authorities in Ohio before 2013, when Ohio still had an estate tax. As a result, Ohio law dictated a process for opening lockboxes when its owner died.