14 Things About the Manly Portable Convict Car

An old... OLD photo of the Manly Portable Convict Car

1. Also called the "Portable Convict Cage" or the "Jail on Wheels".
2. It was a portable Prison, pulled by horses or mules.
3. Built between 1915 and 1930 (not sure why ours says 1916).
4. Used to transport Convicts on the Chain Gang out to where they would work for the County.
5. 12-feet long, 7-feet wide, 8-feet tall.
6. Iron bunks fold out of the wall... The Pickens County, South Carolina car has 6, 3-tier bunks for a total of 18 men.  I think ours has less, but slept more (in less comfortable circumstances).
7. The convicts remained out at the job site, sleeping on the hard-iron bunks at night, until the job got finished - no matter how long it took them.
8. An Iron barrel in the middle of the floor for a fire?
9. Canvas covered the sides of the cage to protect the inmates from the weather.
10. Portable Cages like this fell out of fashion with the advent of gasoline powered trucks and machinery.
11. Manufactured by the Manly Jail Works, an offshoot of the Manly Manufacturing Co. - eventually the Manly Steel Company, which is still in business in Dalton, Georgia.
12. The Manly Portable Convict Car was Manly Manufacturing Company's best selling products.
13. The Convict Car has steel wheels.
14. An old ad for the Manly Car claimed, "A bucket of disinfectant once or twice a month and a bucket of paint once a year will keep this cage clean, sanitary and vermin proof."
15. The cars sold for $500 a piece.
16. One prison official, quoted by the Manly Jail Works ad for the car claimed that it worked so well, he no longer had need for Night Guards.

The Chain Gang out by the Manly Portable Convict Car