Fifty-Pound Boots
An advance in penal technology that never caught on. I found this in the San Antonio Evening News, Nov 3, 1922:Fifty-Pound Boots to Hold Criminals
Shod with the fifty-pound "Oregon" boot of metal, dangerous criminals have little, if any, chance of escaping by making a desperate dash for liberty, especially while on long railroad journeys in the custody of an officer of the law.
This shackling device is adapted from the old ball and chain, which it is to supercede. It consists of a steel frame work that fits over the shoe in the manner shown in the accompanying illustration. The "upper" is finished off as a fifty-pound collar.
A prisoner thus shod is able to walk but slowly and with some comfort. However, if he should make any attempt to escape by running, the heavy metal collar of the boot, it is claimed, will break his leg.
Shod with the fifty-pound "Oregon" boot of metal, dangerous criminals have little, if any, chance of escaping by making a desperate dash for liberty, especially while on long railroad journeys in the custody of an officer of the law.
This shackling device is adapted from the old ball and chain, which it is to supercede. It consists of a steel frame work that fits over the shoe in the manner shown in the accompanying illustration. The "upper" is finished off as a fifty-pound collar.
A prisoner thus shod is able to walk but slowly and with some comfort. However, if he should make any attempt to escape by running, the heavy metal collar of the boot, it is claimed, will break his leg.
Comments
Does the Mafia own the patent?
Fifty-Pound Boots would be a cool name for a band.
Fifty-Pound Boots would be a cool name for a band.
Posted by kingmonkey in Athens, Ontario on 04/22/09 at 11:07 AM
I'd hate to see the shoebox these come in.
Posted by Madd Maxx on 04/22/09 at 12:36 PM
Bill, I imagine'Penile Technology' would be a bit more interesting... I totally enjoyed Maxx's NSFW link yesterday 😜
If I'd had these boots when I had my ex around, things might have turned out very differently since I would have...um never mind.
If I'd had these boots when I had my ex around, things might have turned out very differently since I would have...um never mind.
Posted by Skitt in SW USA on 04/22/09 at 01:33 PM
Go back further than that and we did worse.....or better (depending on how you lean).
Posted by Paul in Athens GA on 04/22/09 at 02:09 PM
You know how us Native peoples are. We're either really buff, or really doughy. (That's total BS stereotyping, but I want to think of myself as one of those big buff dudes you see on the cover of romance novels, which by the way are the only type my girlfriend will read. You know; the white girl with her "savage" lover).
Posted by MohawkWarrior on 04/22/09 at 05:16 PM
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Category: Prisons | Shoes