Alcatraz
Notes for Alcatraz, intended for Baccano fans. I tried to stick to info that was only in the timeframe of Baccano's scenes there (ex. later on they started having the prisoners make different things at work, but i didn't include those things in the worklist). I put in photos that might not be in the links below, so see them for more. Alcatraz opened in 1934, so anything you read, if it says "in the early days" (they remodelled things a few times, the first time being when they actually made it a prison and the second being in the 1940's) then base it off that. Some of the info is debatable and in canon they change a few things, so don't feel pressured to keep it strictly realistic.
For art reference, search Ebay for Alcatraz - they made different souvenir replicas at different times, including the ball and chain Ladd has and a set of the items the prisoner got upon first arriving (razor, soap, etc.).
gift shop site that sells some replica items including the meal trays, shaving cups, and 1930's caps: http://store.parksconservancy.org/store/productlist.asp?cat=1&sub=1
General/Misc.:
There were lots of seagulls around and they got especially noisy if disturbed, making a good watchguard against escapees. The main idea is "no sex, crime, violence, or current events" was to be shown or talked about to the inmates. All books, magazines, movies, and visitor's talk was banned on these subjects. Gambling and information on the sea tides were also banned. There were never any women inmates, female guards, or administrators. If anyone saw a woman it was an islander they glimpsed from the windows or a visiting woman. The food was the best in the whole prison system. Individual cells and many guards kept inmate-on-inmate attack levels down. Boredom was the worst part, and it was also cold.
"Sick call was held daily, after lunch, by an MTA (Medical Technician Assistant). The MTA handed out aspirin and other basic over-the-counter remedies, or scheduled the inmates who had more serious medical complaints for a doctor's examination. Traumatic injuries and a wide variety of illnesses were treated upstairs in the Alcatraz hospital. Located above the mess hall, the Alcatraz hospital had an x-ray room, pharmacy and two-chair dental facility. Some minor surgical procedures were performed in the Alcatraz hospital, because that was considered safer than bringing Alcatraz inmates to the Public Health Service's medical facility in San Francisco."
It was basically all inmates vs all the guards. They didn't have a clique system within the prisoners back then, like they do now, and all the inmates were in things together basically even if they happened to hate their neighbours or like the guard for whatever reason. (Note: canon seems to have cliques though.)
Showers were communal in a big room unless you were in solitary (see punishment section), and I'd guess they only had cold water (couldn't find anything definite, but the sinks, toilets, etc. all had cold water)).
Shower room ("once per week" is debatable, some say it was two showers per week): http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002731.png
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/alcatraz-tour-1.jpg
Control center: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002726.png
barbershop: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002008.png
Ladd's ball and chain: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/1070052885151_14s17-1.jpg
replicas of introductory items inmates got (sans the pin-up poster and mini knife): http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Alcatraz_2.jpg
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Alcatraz_1.jpg
Vocab:
Snitch box - metal detector
metal detector: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002057.png
get on the phone - clear up the toilet so you could talk to the inmates on the floor above or below you (see talking section)
jackrabbit - a prisoner who wanted to escape
laid-in - stuck in your cell due to being unable to work because of bad weather
shot - written up for an infraction, ex. "he got shot - he got in trouble"
bug cages - special observation rooms inside the Alcatraz hospital, typically for crazy inmates
The inmates:
Average stay at Alcatraz was from five to eight years, but other sources say most inmates didn't stay there for more than three. If they determined you'd shaped up enough, you were sent back to your old prison. The crimes of the people there had to be state offenses or offenses done on federal territory, ex. robbing a store didn't count but robbing a post office (government property) counted. Examples are bank robbery, kidnapping, assaulting/killing a guard/inmate while in another prison, leading strikes/riots in or trying to escape another prison.
"Most of the inmates who were approaching the expiration of their sentences were returned to their original prisons for out-processing. Despite this policy, a few inmates were released directly from Alcatraz, usually because their convictions had been overturned or their sentences had been restructured due to court cases or procedural revisions."
If the inmates had a grudge on a guard they'd "get even" by being obstinate, leaving food on their plates (see the mess hall section), pretending to be stupid, or not working (see work section). "prisoners working in the laundry would sometimes shred up the guards' uniforms and clothes if they felt they had a beef." Also some prisoners would leave the toilet unflushed for a while, mush its contents into a paper cup and throw it at the guards. "This was a favorite of the prisoners being held in solitary since the guards couldn't always see what was coming."
"For a while you had a bunch of convicts who would study Spanish because they were convinced Bolivia would grant them sanctuary if they ever escaped. Then there was the inmate who kept mice for pets and tucked them into his shirt so he could feed them while he was in the cafeteria." Most people might have been eccentric (from stir-craziness), but not actually crazy. Sexual favours were pretty common but against the rules. "A lot of prisoners worried about the famous sharks that supposedly patrolled the (San Franciso) bay." The youngest inmate ever sent to Alcatraz was 19. "Since outgoing mail carried an "Alcatraz" postmark, some inmates reported feeling uncomfortable writing to relatives in small towns."
Sometimes an inmmate would cause a ruckus in their cell ("bang bunks up and down on their chains, scream, whistle, yell and shout deprecations at prison staff") and it would spread to other inmates in the cell row. "Sometimes these disturbances would escalate, and the inmates would set fire to anything flammable in their cells, vandalize their toilets and flood the cellhouse with the over-flowing water, and throw everything in their cells out onto the cellhouse floor. New Year's Eve was a traditional time for this type of inmate demonstration."
Few inmates seriously attempted suicide and only five inmates ever succeeded. Around eight inmates were murdered by other inmates, seven were shot and killed when rioting or escaping, and a couple drowned when escaping. They didn't execute inmates at Alcatraz, if necessary they shipped them somewhere else for that. If you did something really crazy they'd have a psychiatrist look at you the next time they visited, and if you kept on being crazy you'd be sent to isolation. If the psychiatrist thought you had something wrong with you, you'd be sent to the "bug cages". If you were seriously disturbed you'd be transferred to a Bureau of Prisons medical facility, but you'd have to do something really crazy like chop off all your fingers.
Clothing:
They wore wool trousers, and overalls at work. A blue cotton work shirt, a cotton jacket, a raincoat, a white wool cap (only allowed to be worn in the yard or at work) and an overcoat--usually a navy pea coat. "Alcatraz inmates were also issued a robe and slippers for use on bath day. Some inmates who were on Alcatraz in the early years claimed that they had to wear shoes without nails and belts with wooden closures, so that they could pass through metal detectors." "Overalls and shirts were stenciled with each inmate's Alcatraz registry number. This was the number used by guards to identify the inmates, and it also became a way to determine how long each inmate had been at Alcatraz."
replica shirt: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/KGrHqFHJsE-f8g2LWJBPqHbQtHB60_58.jpg
Average cells and recreation:
"The Alcatraz cellhouse had secure cells available for 336 inmates, but they never got close to capacity." "Each man had a bed, sink, toilet, bookshelf, and a small table for writing. He was permitted three books at a time from the library, and he could have matches, cigarettes, and materials for writing, drawing, or painting. But he could not keep money or food (except some fruit, and chocolate at Christmastime, these are debatable) in his cell." Another source says they could keep twelve books and six magazines in their cells.
average cell, although where is the toilet?: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at001909.png
Most cells were "tool-proof", meaning you couldn't saw/file through them, "and used a mechanical system of levers and pulleys to open and close the cell doors--individually or all at once. The locking mechanisms at the end of each cellblock were operated by an unarmed cellhouse guard, under the watchful eye of an armed gun gallery guard."
guard opening some cells via the control panel: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002022.png
row of cells: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at001950.png
Newspapers were banned but magazines, with illegal articles (ex. ones that could give them escape ideas) clipped out, were allowed. You could request a magazine subscription, and books you wanted were requested via catalogue and then sent to the prison. A movie was shown bi-weekly. Most inmates read an average of seven or eight books a month. Basic law-reference books were available. "On Sundays, chaplains would come over and conduct services, alternating between Protestant and Catholic clergy from week to week. On Jewish religious holidays, a Rabbi would come over to conduct services for Jewish inmates."
In the rec yard these games were allowed: Handball, shuffleboard, horseshoes, chess, checkers, backgammon, dominoes, bridge (very popular), softball (very popular). The dominoes were waterproof.
rec yard: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002109.png
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002103.png
Mess hall:
They got forks and spoons, and steak knives if necessary for the food, and inmates ate the same food as prison staff except the staff ate in a separate room. Canisters of tear gas were in places around the room in case of a riot, but they were never used. They ate at long tables (just like school/camp cafeteria tables) that fit ten men.
meal tray: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/image_large_1568.jpg
Original style of the tables and the tear gas is in those green things on the walls I think (earlier on the gas was in metal containers?): http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002355.png
drinks were from a sort of large tank, at least in multiple eras: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002332.png
Meat and desserts were limited even though you got a generous portion, but other foods you could take as much as you liked. If a food was rationed, the kitchen crew served it instead of it being self-serve. You could get seconds. If you left food on your plate you'd forfeit your right to eat your next meal. If you seemed to be wasting food on purpose they'd put you in an isolation cell on a "restricted diet" of bread and water (they only gave you that for one or two of the three daily meals).
serving food: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002401.png
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002349.png
"Meals were always served after an official count, after which the cells were opened, and the men stepped out onto the walkway. They did a left or right face and then walked in single file to the cafeteria. When you got to the kitchen, you went either to one of the two lines as directed by one of the guards. After you got your food you could NOT sit where you liked. (Note: in canon you can sit where you like within reason, so I guess you can move around a little but not sit with people from total opposite cell areas.) Instead, you walked to the nearest available table and waited until given the signal to sit. Once you sat down you could talk with your neighbors. You had twenty minutes to eat your meal. When you were done you placed your utensils on the table. When everyone was finished, and all knives, spoons, and forks properly accounted for, you all got up together and went back to your cells. Although the guards were reasonably flexible about the twenty minute time limit, you certainly could not dawdle alone over your meal."
Food included bread (made by the kitchen staff), pastries, butter, pies, ice cream, vegetables. They were on a rotating shift to ensure there was room for the prisoners to eat, so as one table finished and left another tableworth of people came in and sat down. "According to inmates who worked in the kitchen, the stewards mostly supervised and did paperwork inside the glass walls of an office. The convicts did nearly all of the food preparation and service work."
Schedule:
There was a headcount about every half-hour, and during work they'd unofficially do headcounts maybe even twice as often as that. "Each man got up at 6:30, did his morning rituals, got counted, and marched to the cafeteria. He then went back to his cell, got counted again, and then went to work. Counted again and lunch at around 11:30, then back to your cell, counted again, back to work. Work finished at around 4:30. Lights out was at 9:30, they counted them once per hour at night by shining a flashlight in their faces while they were sleeping. A typical convict spent about 16 hours a day locked in his cells (including sleeping time).
"Weekends followed the same basic schedule, with chapel and yard time instead of work; holidays on Alcatraz meant a movie and yard time for the inmates. Once or twice a week, showers got worked into the schedule." "Officially, on Saturday morning, yard recreation began at 9:30 and it lasted until noon. After lunch and the count, there was another recreation period from 1:15 to 3:40. On Sunday mornings the time in the Yard began at 8:40, and it was 8:30 on holidays. The afternoon times did not change, and in certain cases (like the men on kitchen work details, they could go into the Yard on weekdays between times of heavy workloads."
Work:
You worked for six hours a day. The toilets in the workshop had heated water (but apparently noplace else did). "There were a number of jobs: the laundry and dry-cleaning, the kitchen (a preferred job), routine maintenance (cleaning, painting, the incinerator), clerical, library (including magazine distribution), the hospital, and the shops (making rubber mats, shoes, gloves, brooms, brushes, furniture, and clothing for soldiers and the other inmates). Like kitchen duty, shop work was particularly sought after since in some cases you actually got paid and you could get industrial "good time" credit (meaning you could get time off your sentence)."
library: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002612.png
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002622.png
laundry: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002038.png
furniture making: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002002.png
In the kitchen, the cutlery was counted before the inmates could leave. The inmates were also either frisked or sent through a metal detector while leaving in case they stole anything. If the weather was too foggy then no one went to work because it'd be hard for the guards to moniter them when going from the cells to the workhouse (which was on the Northwestern end of the island).
bakery/kitchen: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002726.png
Talking:
At first prisoners couldn't talk at all, this was only relaxed in 1938 when they could talk quietly. (Note: in canon they can talk only at mealtimes.) Inmates got around this by learning sign language or talking via toilet plumbing.
"The "phone" was not a real phone, but the cell toilet. By sitting down firmly and moving up and down like a plunger, you could build up enough pressure to force the water down, leaving the bowl and pipe empty. This made a clear passage to the cell above and below as long as the other caller had done the same thing. When you were done speaking, a quick flush filled everything back up."
Visitation rights:
Visits by the public and anyone under 16 was forbidden. Also, the prisoner had to earn the right to receive visitors by having a good behaviour record. To visit an inmate you had to get written permission by the warden and couldn't have any criminal record. You could have a visitor once a month, for 15 minutes, but if the visitor was coming from a long ways away it was possible to schedule it so they visited on the last day of one month and also the first day of the next month (one day and then the next day). Your attorney, if you had pending legal proceedings, could talk to you face-to-face in the visiting area but everyone else had to be separated via the wall and glass.
The visiting room had a phone connected through the wall, and the speakers could see each other through some bulletproof glass. Usually guards listened in on the conversations. No talk about current events, sex (or otherwise inappropriate conversation), crime, or prison life (debatable) was allowed.
rules: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/dc/Alcatraz_visitation_rules.JPG/450px-Alcatraz_visitation_rules.JPG
visiting room: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at001913.png
Guards:
"The correctional officers at Alcatraz walked around the inmates while carrying whistles, not guns." The intent was to have one guard for every three prisoners. Most guards lived in apartments on the island because it was cheap and close to work. It was a mix of experienced and fresh-from-school guards, but they were more trained than the average prison guard in America. Most guards treated prisoners with respect and followed the rules. The really prisoner-hating guards were just transferred to work that didn't have them deal with prisoners, they weren't fired. If a prisoner was a handful they usually just ignored them, but sometimes a guard would hit them if they were really bad.
There were two elevated "gun galleries" inside the cell area, as well as elevated towers all around the prison that had guards inside. The guards could shoot at will at escaping or violent prisoners, but they seemed to not use the guns in any kind of more minor scuffle. The mess hall had armed guards. "Outside the mess hall, armed officers on a catwalk peered in. The armed guard in the west-end gun gallery also monitored the mess hall during meals." The guards outside rarely had to break in from the windows, and they never had to fire warning shots in the mess hall.
keeping guard outside: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002224.png
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002205.png
"The institution's initial response to most disturbances was to isolate the ringleaders, then wait for the problem to slowly dissipate." "Regular guard duties might include tapping cell bars with a mallet to see if they had been cut, counting inmates in the cellhouse once an hour during the night, searching dirty laundry for contraband, or standing in a gun gallery, ob-serving inmates who were watching a holiday movie."
Punishment and isolation:
Troublesome inmates were usually sent to a normal isolation cell, not "the hole/dark cells". Their time in the recreation yard was at a different time than the other inmates and was more restricted. They ate in their cells instead of in the mess hall and the cells looked the same as regular cells. Particularly bad ones did get sent to the hole, but usually for one to two days, then they were transferred to a regular isolation cell. The isolation cells had slots at the bottom for the food to be pushed through. They also had showers down the hall, put there so they didn't have to shower with the non-isolated inmates.
"They were called "dark cells" because each cell had two doors; the inner door was tool-resistant steel bars with a slot for food, but the outer door was solid, with a shuttered glass panel a guard could open to look in and check on the well-being of the inmate. Each "dark cell" came equipped with a light fixture controlled by the guards, not by the inmate." The first five dark cells had sinks, a mattress that was given to the inmates at night but taken in the morning, and toilets. The sixth cell was nicknamed the "strip cell" and only had a hole in the ground instead of a toilet. "This cell was usually used for inmates who were so out of control that they would destroy the plumbing fixtures in their cells."
entrance to the dungeon: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at001957.png
just inside the dungeon: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002036.png
outside of a dark cell: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002140.png
You'd usually get put in a dark cell by causing violence (ex. riot), breaking your plumbing fixtures, throwing something at an officer, or by causing trouble when already in an isolation cell. Usually after spending one to four days (max allowed was 19) in the dark cell you'd be moved to a regular isolation cell for a few more days.
A loss of privileges could easily equal losing the right to have visitors for a full year. This could happen to you for even a minor offense, but most prisoners didn't have visitors anyway. If you caused a riot or something, then continued to cause trouble, you could get the "good time" you earned from working taken away, so your sentence would be longer. Usually they warned troublemakers about the good time, but didn't actually take it away.
Rewards:
"If a new inmate at Alcatraz obeyed the rules, he could earn the privilege of getting out of his cell to go to work each day. Then the inmate could earn the privilege of going out to the recreation yard on weekends, the privilege of receiving mail and writing letters home, ordering approved magazines, reading books from the library and, eventually, even having a visit from a family member. "Alcatraz inmates who were in good status could send two letters a week, and receive seven letters a week from approved correspondents. All outgoing correspondence was monitored and censored. Incoming letters were re-worded and re-typed on prison stationary to preclude any secret messages or other chicanery."
See also:
Alcatraz: The Gangster Years (full ebook probably available somewhere): http://books.google.is/books?id=kV6KXrkQjTsC&printsec=frontcover&hl=is#v=onepage&q&f=false
labelled photos - http://www.nps.gov/goga/photosmultimedia/Alcatraz---Federal-Prision-Period.htm
flickr photo pool - http://www.flickr.com/groups/97361004@N00/pool/with/4064573848/#photo_4064573848
more info - http://www.alcatraz101.com/
more info - http://www.coopertoons.com/merryhistory/alcatraz/alcatraz.htm
For art reference, search Ebay for Alcatraz - they made different souvenir replicas at different times, including the ball and chain Ladd has and a set of the items the prisoner got upon first arriving (razor, soap, etc.).
gift shop site that sells some replica items including the meal trays, shaving cups, and 1930's caps: http://store.parksconservancy.org/store/productlist.asp?cat=1&sub=1
General/Misc.:
There were lots of seagulls around and they got especially noisy if disturbed, making a good watchguard against escapees. The main idea is "no sex, crime, violence, or current events" was to be shown or talked about to the inmates. All books, magazines, movies, and visitor's talk was banned on these subjects. Gambling and information on the sea tides were also banned. There were never any women inmates, female guards, or administrators. If anyone saw a woman it was an islander they glimpsed from the windows or a visiting woman. The food was the best in the whole prison system. Individual cells and many guards kept inmate-on-inmate attack levels down. Boredom was the worst part, and it was also cold.
"Sick call was held daily, after lunch, by an MTA (Medical Technician Assistant). The MTA handed out aspirin and other basic over-the-counter remedies, or scheduled the inmates who had more serious medical complaints for a doctor's examination. Traumatic injuries and a wide variety of illnesses were treated upstairs in the Alcatraz hospital. Located above the mess hall, the Alcatraz hospital had an x-ray room, pharmacy and two-chair dental facility. Some minor surgical procedures were performed in the Alcatraz hospital, because that was considered safer than bringing Alcatraz inmates to the Public Health Service's medical facility in San Francisco."
It was basically all inmates vs all the guards. They didn't have a clique system within the prisoners back then, like they do now, and all the inmates were in things together basically even if they happened to hate their neighbours or like the guard for whatever reason. (Note: canon seems to have cliques though.)
Showers were communal in a big room unless you were in solitary (see punishment section), and I'd guess they only had cold water (couldn't find anything definite, but the sinks, toilets, etc. all had cold water)).
Shower room ("once per week" is debatable, some say it was two showers per week): http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002731.png
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/alcatraz-tour-1.jpg
Control center: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002726.png
barbershop: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002008.png
Ladd's ball and chain: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/1070052885151_14s17-1.jpg
replicas of introductory items inmates got (sans the pin-up poster and mini knife): http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Alcatraz_2.jpg
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Alcatraz_1.jpg
Vocab:
Snitch box - metal detector
metal detector: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002057.png
get on the phone - clear up the toilet so you could talk to the inmates on the floor above or below you (see talking section)
jackrabbit - a prisoner who wanted to escape
laid-in - stuck in your cell due to being unable to work because of bad weather
shot - written up for an infraction, ex. "he got shot - he got in trouble"
bug cages - special observation rooms inside the Alcatraz hospital, typically for crazy inmates
The inmates:
Average stay at Alcatraz was from five to eight years, but other sources say most inmates didn't stay there for more than three. If they determined you'd shaped up enough, you were sent back to your old prison. The crimes of the people there had to be state offenses or offenses done on federal territory, ex. robbing a store didn't count but robbing a post office (government property) counted. Examples are bank robbery, kidnapping, assaulting/killing a guard/inmate while in another prison, leading strikes/riots in or trying to escape another prison.
"Most of the inmates who were approaching the expiration of their sentences were returned to their original prisons for out-processing. Despite this policy, a few inmates were released directly from Alcatraz, usually because their convictions had been overturned or their sentences had been restructured due to court cases or procedural revisions."
If the inmates had a grudge on a guard they'd "get even" by being obstinate, leaving food on their plates (see the mess hall section), pretending to be stupid, or not working (see work section). "prisoners working in the laundry would sometimes shred up the guards' uniforms and clothes if they felt they had a beef." Also some prisoners would leave the toilet unflushed for a while, mush its contents into a paper cup and throw it at the guards. "This was a favorite of the prisoners being held in solitary since the guards couldn't always see what was coming."
"For a while you had a bunch of convicts who would study Spanish because they were convinced Bolivia would grant them sanctuary if they ever escaped. Then there was the inmate who kept mice for pets and tucked them into his shirt so he could feed them while he was in the cafeteria." Most people might have been eccentric (from stir-craziness), but not actually crazy. Sexual favours were pretty common but against the rules. "A lot of prisoners worried about the famous sharks that supposedly patrolled the (San Franciso) bay." The youngest inmate ever sent to Alcatraz was 19. "Since outgoing mail carried an "Alcatraz" postmark, some inmates reported feeling uncomfortable writing to relatives in small towns."
Sometimes an inmmate would cause a ruckus in their cell ("bang bunks up and down on their chains, scream, whistle, yell and shout deprecations at prison staff") and it would spread to other inmates in the cell row. "Sometimes these disturbances would escalate, and the inmates would set fire to anything flammable in their cells, vandalize their toilets and flood the cellhouse with the over-flowing water, and throw everything in their cells out onto the cellhouse floor. New Year's Eve was a traditional time for this type of inmate demonstration."
Few inmates seriously attempted suicide and only five inmates ever succeeded. Around eight inmates were murdered by other inmates, seven were shot and killed when rioting or escaping, and a couple drowned when escaping. They didn't execute inmates at Alcatraz, if necessary they shipped them somewhere else for that. If you did something really crazy they'd have a psychiatrist look at you the next time they visited, and if you kept on being crazy you'd be sent to isolation. If the psychiatrist thought you had something wrong with you, you'd be sent to the "bug cages". If you were seriously disturbed you'd be transferred to a Bureau of Prisons medical facility, but you'd have to do something really crazy like chop off all your fingers.
Clothing:
They wore wool trousers, and overalls at work. A blue cotton work shirt, a cotton jacket, a raincoat, a white wool cap (only allowed to be worn in the yard or at work) and an overcoat--usually a navy pea coat. "Alcatraz inmates were also issued a robe and slippers for use on bath day. Some inmates who were on Alcatraz in the early years claimed that they had to wear shoes without nails and belts with wooden closures, so that they could pass through metal detectors." "Overalls and shirts were stenciled with each inmate's Alcatraz registry number. This was the number used by guards to identify the inmates, and it also became a way to determine how long each inmate had been at Alcatraz."
replica shirt: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/KGrHqFHJsE-f8g2LWJBPqHbQtHB60_58.jpg
Average cells and recreation:
"The Alcatraz cellhouse had secure cells available for 336 inmates, but they never got close to capacity." "Each man had a bed, sink, toilet, bookshelf, and a small table for writing. He was permitted three books at a time from the library, and he could have matches, cigarettes, and materials for writing, drawing, or painting. But he could not keep money or food (except some fruit, and chocolate at Christmastime, these are debatable) in his cell." Another source says they could keep twelve books and six magazines in their cells.
average cell, although where is the toilet?: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at001909.png
Most cells were "tool-proof", meaning you couldn't saw/file through them, "and used a mechanical system of levers and pulleys to open and close the cell doors--individually or all at once. The locking mechanisms at the end of each cellblock were operated by an unarmed cellhouse guard, under the watchful eye of an armed gun gallery guard."
guard opening some cells via the control panel: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002022.png
row of cells: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at001950.png
Newspapers were banned but magazines, with illegal articles (ex. ones that could give them escape ideas) clipped out, were allowed. You could request a magazine subscription, and books you wanted were requested via catalogue and then sent to the prison. A movie was shown bi-weekly. Most inmates read an average of seven or eight books a month. Basic law-reference books were available. "On Sundays, chaplains would come over and conduct services, alternating between Protestant and Catholic clergy from week to week. On Jewish religious holidays, a Rabbi would come over to conduct services for Jewish inmates."
In the rec yard these games were allowed: Handball, shuffleboard, horseshoes, chess, checkers, backgammon, dominoes, bridge (very popular), softball (very popular). The dominoes were waterproof.
rec yard: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002109.png
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002103.png
Mess hall:
They got forks and spoons, and steak knives if necessary for the food, and inmates ate the same food as prison staff except the staff ate in a separate room. Canisters of tear gas were in places around the room in case of a riot, but they were never used. They ate at long tables (just like school/camp cafeteria tables) that fit ten men.
meal tray: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/image_large_1568.jpg
Original style of the tables and the tear gas is in those green things on the walls I think (earlier on the gas was in metal containers?): http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002355.png
drinks were from a sort of large tank, at least in multiple eras: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002332.png
Meat and desserts were limited even though you got a generous portion, but other foods you could take as much as you liked. If a food was rationed, the kitchen crew served it instead of it being self-serve. You could get seconds. If you left food on your plate you'd forfeit your right to eat your next meal. If you seemed to be wasting food on purpose they'd put you in an isolation cell on a "restricted diet" of bread and water (they only gave you that for one or two of the three daily meals).
serving food: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002401.png
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002349.png
"Meals were always served after an official count, after which the cells were opened, and the men stepped out onto the walkway. They did a left or right face and then walked in single file to the cafeteria. When you got to the kitchen, you went either to one of the two lines as directed by one of the guards. After you got your food you could NOT sit where you liked. (Note: in canon you can sit where you like within reason, so I guess you can move around a little but not sit with people from total opposite cell areas.) Instead, you walked to the nearest available table and waited until given the signal to sit. Once you sat down you could talk with your neighbors. You had twenty minutes to eat your meal. When you were done you placed your utensils on the table. When everyone was finished, and all knives, spoons, and forks properly accounted for, you all got up together and went back to your cells. Although the guards were reasonably flexible about the twenty minute time limit, you certainly could not dawdle alone over your meal."
Food included bread (made by the kitchen staff), pastries, butter, pies, ice cream, vegetables. They were on a rotating shift to ensure there was room for the prisoners to eat, so as one table finished and left another tableworth of people came in and sat down. "According to inmates who worked in the kitchen, the stewards mostly supervised and did paperwork inside the glass walls of an office. The convicts did nearly all of the food preparation and service work."
Schedule:
There was a headcount about every half-hour, and during work they'd unofficially do headcounts maybe even twice as often as that. "Each man got up at 6:30, did his morning rituals, got counted, and marched to the cafeteria. He then went back to his cell, got counted again, and then went to work. Counted again and lunch at around 11:30, then back to your cell, counted again, back to work. Work finished at around 4:30. Lights out was at 9:30, they counted them once per hour at night by shining a flashlight in their faces while they were sleeping. A typical convict spent about 16 hours a day locked in his cells (including sleeping time).
"Weekends followed the same basic schedule, with chapel and yard time instead of work; holidays on Alcatraz meant a movie and yard time for the inmates. Once or twice a week, showers got worked into the schedule." "Officially, on Saturday morning, yard recreation began at 9:30 and it lasted until noon. After lunch and the count, there was another recreation period from 1:15 to 3:40. On Sunday mornings the time in the Yard began at 8:40, and it was 8:30 on holidays. The afternoon times did not change, and in certain cases (like the men on kitchen work details, they could go into the Yard on weekdays between times of heavy workloads."
Work:
You worked for six hours a day. The toilets in the workshop had heated water (but apparently noplace else did). "There were a number of jobs: the laundry and dry-cleaning, the kitchen (a preferred job), routine maintenance (cleaning, painting, the incinerator), clerical, library (including magazine distribution), the hospital, and the shops (making rubber mats, shoes, gloves, brooms, brushes, furniture, and clothing for soldiers and the other inmates). Like kitchen duty, shop work was particularly sought after since in some cases you actually got paid and you could get industrial "good time" credit (meaning you could get time off your sentence)."
library: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002612.png
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002622.png
laundry: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002038.png
furniture making: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002002.png
In the kitchen, the cutlery was counted before the inmates could leave. The inmates were also either frisked or sent through a metal detector while leaving in case they stole anything. If the weather was too foggy then no one went to work because it'd be hard for the guards to moniter them when going from the cells to the workhouse (which was on the Northwestern end of the island).
bakery/kitchen: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002726.png
Talking:
At first prisoners couldn't talk at all, this was only relaxed in 1938 when they could talk quietly. (Note: in canon they can talk only at mealtimes.) Inmates got around this by learning sign language or talking via toilet plumbing.
"The "phone" was not a real phone, but the cell toilet. By sitting down firmly and moving up and down like a plunger, you could build up enough pressure to force the water down, leaving the bowl and pipe empty. This made a clear passage to the cell above and below as long as the other caller had done the same thing. When you were done speaking, a quick flush filled everything back up."
Visitation rights:
Visits by the public and anyone under 16 was forbidden. Also, the prisoner had to earn the right to receive visitors by having a good behaviour record. To visit an inmate you had to get written permission by the warden and couldn't have any criminal record. You could have a visitor once a month, for 15 minutes, but if the visitor was coming from a long ways away it was possible to schedule it so they visited on the last day of one month and also the first day of the next month (one day and then the next day). Your attorney, if you had pending legal proceedings, could talk to you face-to-face in the visiting area but everyone else had to be separated via the wall and glass.
The visiting room had a phone connected through the wall, and the speakers could see each other through some bulletproof glass. Usually guards listened in on the conversations. No talk about current events, sex (or otherwise inappropriate conversation), crime, or prison life (debatable) was allowed.
rules: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/dc/Alcatraz_visitation_rules.JPG/450px-Alcatraz_visitation_rules.JPG
visiting room: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at001913.png
Guards:
"The correctional officers at Alcatraz walked around the inmates while carrying whistles, not guns." The intent was to have one guard for every three prisoners. Most guards lived in apartments on the island because it was cheap and close to work. It was a mix of experienced and fresh-from-school guards, but they were more trained than the average prison guard in America. Most guards treated prisoners with respect and followed the rules. The really prisoner-hating guards were just transferred to work that didn't have them deal with prisoners, they weren't fired. If a prisoner was a handful they usually just ignored them, but sometimes a guard would hit them if they were really bad.
There were two elevated "gun galleries" inside the cell area, as well as elevated towers all around the prison that had guards inside. The guards could shoot at will at escaping or violent prisoners, but they seemed to not use the guns in any kind of more minor scuffle. The mess hall had armed guards. "Outside the mess hall, armed officers on a catwalk peered in. The armed guard in the west-end gun gallery also monitored the mess hall during meals." The guards outside rarely had to break in from the windows, and they never had to fire warning shots in the mess hall.
keeping guard outside: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002224.png
ditto: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002205.png
"The institution's initial response to most disturbances was to isolate the ringleaders, then wait for the problem to slowly dissipate." "Regular guard duties might include tapping cell bars with a mallet to see if they had been cut, counting inmates in the cellhouse once an hour during the night, searching dirty laundry for contraband, or standing in a gun gallery, ob-serving inmates who were watching a holiday movie."
Punishment and isolation:
Troublesome inmates were usually sent to a normal isolation cell, not "the hole/dark cells". Their time in the recreation yard was at a different time than the other inmates and was more restricted. They ate in their cells instead of in the mess hall and the cells looked the same as regular cells. Particularly bad ones did get sent to the hole, but usually for one to two days, then they were transferred to a regular isolation cell. The isolation cells had slots at the bottom for the food to be pushed through. They also had showers down the hall, put there so they didn't have to shower with the non-isolated inmates.
"They were called "dark cells" because each cell had two doors; the inner door was tool-resistant steel bars with a slot for food, but the outer door was solid, with a shuttered glass panel a guard could open to look in and check on the well-being of the inmate. Each "dark cell" came equipped with a light fixture controlled by the guards, not by the inmate." The first five dark cells had sinks, a mattress that was given to the inmates at night but taken in the morning, and toilets. The sixth cell was nicknamed the "strip cell" and only had a hole in the ground instead of a toilet. "This cell was usually used for inmates who were so out of control that they would destroy the plumbing fixtures in their cells."
entrance to the dungeon: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at001957.png
just inside the dungeon: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002036.png
outside of a dark cell: http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w496/captainporridge/alcatraz/Screenshot2012-05-30at002140.png
You'd usually get put in a dark cell by causing violence (ex. riot), breaking your plumbing fixtures, throwing something at an officer, or by causing trouble when already in an isolation cell. Usually after spending one to four days (max allowed was 19) in the dark cell you'd be moved to a regular isolation cell for a few more days.
A loss of privileges could easily equal losing the right to have visitors for a full year. This could happen to you for even a minor offense, but most prisoners didn't have visitors anyway. If you caused a riot or something, then continued to cause trouble, you could get the "good time" you earned from working taken away, so your sentence would be longer. Usually they warned troublemakers about the good time, but didn't actually take it away.
Rewards:
"If a new inmate at Alcatraz obeyed the rules, he could earn the privilege of getting out of his cell to go to work each day. Then the inmate could earn the privilege of going out to the recreation yard on weekends, the privilege of receiving mail and writing letters home, ordering approved magazines, reading books from the library and, eventually, even having a visit from a family member. "Alcatraz inmates who were in good status could send two letters a week, and receive seven letters a week from approved correspondents. All outgoing correspondence was monitored and censored. Incoming letters were re-worded and re-typed on prison stationary to preclude any secret messages or other chicanery."
See also:
Alcatraz: The Gangster Years (full ebook probably available somewhere): http://books.google.is/books?id=kV6KXrkQjTsC&printsec=frontcover&hl=is#v=onepage&q&f=false
labelled photos - http://www.nps.gov/goga/photosmultimedia/Alcatraz---Federal-Prision-Period.htm
flickr photo pool - http://www.flickr.com/groups/97361004@N00/pool/with/4064573848/#photo_4064573848
more info - http://www.alcatraz101.com/
more info - http://www.coopertoons.com/merryhistory/alcatraz/alcatraz.htm