Prison Sign Language, 1941

Back in the 1940s, talking wasn't allowed in the dining room of the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison. So the convicts developed a primitive sign language to communicate what food they wanted:

Upheld hand: more bread, please
Upraised fist: more potatoes
Upheld knife, fork and spoon: more stew
Washing motion with the hand: water
Thumb up and index finger straight out: coffee or tea
Open and close the hand as if milking a cow: milk, please!
Hand flat and passed back and forth across the plate: gravy
Fork held up: meat
Thumb thrust through the fingers: vinegar
Two fingers thrust out: salt and pepper
If the person at the end of the table beats the table with his spoon: dessert is on the way

[Milwaukee Sentinel — Nov 16, 1941]

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 14, 2013
Category: Languages | Prisons | 1940s

Comments

I wonder what's the sign for arugula?

Posted by tyler tork on 04/14/13 at 09:54 AM

Alex and Paul know all the current ones but they aren't sharing 😕

Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 04/14/13 at 10:37 AM

...and what is the signal to pick up that bar of soap?

Posted by Harvey on 04/14/13 at 11:37 AM

@Tyler: Index finger pointing into an open mouth.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 04/15/13 at 12:27 AM

As long as your conversations are oriented around food, you'll do alright. What about any deep philosophy?

Posted by KDP on 04/15/13 at 10:16 AM

@KDP: Index finger pointing at temple while making circular motions.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 04/15/13 at 10:51 AM

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