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An old... OLD photo of the Manly Portable Convict Car |
- Also called the "Portable Convict Cage" or the "Jail on Wheels".
- It was a portable Prison, pulled by horses or mules.
- Built between 1915 and 1930 (not sure why ours says 1916).
- Used to transport Convicts on the Chain Gang out to where they would work for the County.
- 12-feet long, 7-feet wide, 8-feet tall.
- 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).
- 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.
- An Iron barrel in the middle of the floor for a fire?
- Canvas covered the sides of the cage to protect the inmates from the weather.
- Portable Cages like this fell out of fashion with the advent of gasoline powered trucks and machinery.
- 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.
- The Manly Portable Convict Car was Manly Manufacturing Company's best selling products.
- The Convict Car has steel wheels.
- 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."
- The cars sold for $500 a piece.
- 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.
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The Chain Gang out by the Manly Portable Convict Car |