Where did the ongoing ‘do a good deed and the mayor of the town congratulates you with the key to the city’ in movies & shows come from? Was that ever a real thing?

Question

I’m watching family guy & Peter found a missing kid and as a reward the mayor gave him the key to the city (or town hall?).
I’ve also seen this happen in a few other movies.

Was this ever a real thing? Is this an inside joke I’m not aware of?

In: 2567

Answer 1

So, it’s never been a physical key that let you into the city.

However going waaay back, when cities were walled in, not just anyone was allowed into the city. You had to have work lined up, or own property in the city, or be a merchant.

Although also worth noting that except in a few situations, the cities generally expanded well beyond the walled parts. So just because you didn’t have access to “the city” you still had access to urban areas.

This led to “the cities” being the area for the wealthier people. They tended to be cleaner and safer. Like a modern gated community. Just a little more extreme on the gates. As in these cities, gates were guarded during the day and closed and locked at night.

Anyway, if you did a good deed for the city you might be rewarded with “freedom of the city” meaning you were allowed to come and go as you pleased, whether or not you owned property there or had business there. It was a reward. The guards would let you pass and the night time watchmen would open the gate for you.

Anyway these days it’s entirely ceremonial, as walled cities aren’t really a thing anymore.

Ninja Edit: And I should add this is a western European thing. Might be different elsewhere. But this was practiced in England and France and Northern Italy.