OT Prison stores

[dr walker]

Outside of Florence, AZ there is a prison store. It sells arts and crafts made by the prisoners of the near by penitentiary. This was 10-15 years ago. I bought some carved leather goods, including a beautifully carved shotgun case. It was stolen out of my truck a few years ago. They also sold bumper stickes and t-shirts, but the real treasures were the art pieces.

Are there prison stores near you or are there any others you know about?

[rangerider7]

Huntsville, Texas "The Wall" has one.

[AmBraCol]

"La Cuarenta" over on Carrera 8 has one, right down on the avenue in a tent. The jail in Ibagué does too.

[turnkey]

Sorry, but they don't do it in my prison anymore. It was stopped years ago due to some knuckleheads misusing the tools.

[Blaine]

There were some lifers at Ft Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks that made wonderful early American furniture. They were back ordered for years, and famous high ranking officers always seemed to have dibs.....I saw the showroom: Ethan Allen eat your heart out.

[pokey]

wish the folks at deerlodge, mt. still made that nice
horse hair hitched stuff. it was beautiful, now it's
expensive.

[kimwcook]

wish the folks at deerlodge, mt. still made that nice
horse hair hitched stuff. it was beautiful, now it's
expensive.

I agree. Wish they still made spurs, bits, braiding and all the other accoutrements.

[Nate C.]

A number of the Texas prison units have craft shops. Some make saddles. Most make belts, holsters, etc. The Walls Unit in Huntsville (as mentioned above) and Eastham Unit in Lovelady are two that readily come to mind, but many more units have craft shops. I have seen some beautiful hand-tooled belts with ornate metal buckles come out of Eastham Unit.

[dr walker]

Thanks for all the replies. I am glad to hear many are still operating. I will have to look into it in my area.

Blaine- Interesting about the furniture made there. I have seen some small cast pieces that have come out of there as well.

[Blaine]

Thanks for all the replies. I am glad to hear many are still operating. I will have to look into it in my area.

Blaine- Interesting about the furniture made there. I have seen some small cast pieces that have come out of there as well.

The Barracks was a different kind of place back in the day. A full working dairy farm, truck farm in season, they sacked groceries at the Commisary, ran a barber shop ( .25 cent haircut ) and took care of the grounds. If ya didn't have a job or ya couldn't be trusted, it was the lockup for you most of the day.

[35 Remmy]

I have been to the prison store in Florence Arizona. Neat little store. I ALWAYS buy something at the store. Last spring I bought a small bird house made out of a license plate, looks good. I have seen prices raise substantially over the years. I have been going to that store in Florence AZ for the last 5+ years. I will be heading that way in a few weeks. I will be sure to stop in. I will check out the leather goods.

[Nazgul]

Used to go in the one at Folsom Prison when we lived in CA. Lots of neat art work.

They had a museum too, full of things they took off of prisoners. One I remember was a diving suit/helmet made from raincoats. Seems a prisoner working on the dam made it. Had a hose with float attached. He was going to jump in the water and wait until they left then escape. Problem was the water was deeper than the hose was long, if I remember they found him 2 days later, he had filled his pockets with rocks to stay down.

Don