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Shadow Box

I was informed that these types of cabinets were called Shadow Boxes on a similar photo at a different correctional facility, although these items are a bit more sinister than those tools!

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What is this? It looks rather disturbing!

The outlines of the knives are there so it is immediately obvious when one is missing.

hey, my makeup comes in shadow box! i guess that's where urban decay got the name. i always learn new things from your site, motts. thanks!

Jumpin' Jehosaphat, what a creepy pic! =8-o

wow, makes you wonder why they needed a butcher knife in the basement 8-O

I must admit, this looks rather sinister, indeed. Imagine how your heart would stop, in a shadowy basement like this, if you were to go to the shadow box and open it to find one single knife missing...?

i think that shit was drawin there

brett aka tyreek

@Brett, nope, they really do have them outlined from the out-set so if something goes walkies, security get alerted straight away, I know, I watch Bad Girls! *Dodgy British prison drama*

Please tell me these are kitchen implements...

They had outlines like these at alcatraz too. They also had them in the workshop.

derelict sensation

Kitchen implements on a basement stairwell? Double-locked? What are those small club-looking tracings? Could this be weapons for guards, in lieu of carrying guns near prisoners?

And those stairs, were they added later? They are covering up a window or something.....

The oblong "club looking" tracings were probaly from pastry spatulas.

But, what about the meat clever and the butcher knives? You could cut a hell of a piece of cake with those, huh?

Whats the thing in the far left susposed to be?It looks like just some kind of handle.

All I know is that those are some damn big knives! And that cleaver really creeps me out. This looks practically straight out of a horror movie...
What's perhaps even more creepy is that someone has gotten into the cabinet and taken them all...

I use to work at a CF there would be chains connected to the knives. The officer would unchain it from the shadow box and chain it to where ever the inmate was using it. There usually be O hooks around the kitchen

Above Shadowbox to left looks like bell (alarm) maybe?

That is just disturbing.

this photograph speaks loudly about true life

Now why would these sharp and point and dangerous and illegal objects be in a box in a prison?

They look to me like kitchen instruments. A meat cleaver, a chef's knief, a utility knife and two spreaders. Nothing particularly "illegal" about them. They do seem to be in a rather strange place though.

Those were used for "diciplinary actions", and also to eleviate overcrowding when the place got too full. May the best man win! And get his own cell.

I really hope this was the kitchen and I really hope this cabinet was guarded and locked. Because---------what would you need this instruments for?

Yay for cleavers!

"Little Box of Horrors"

Ideally the shapes would be coloured in, not just outlines, hense the 'shadow' name.

They're critical in an aircraft maintenance situation (although they call them shadow boards as they just hang on the wall, not in a locked box). You have to ensure all your tools are back on the board on before you can clear a plane for flight.

norman bates springs to mind

my first thought was maybe leather straps, for sharpening the knives(?). Maybe not.

I wonder if the prisoners ever tried to get their hands on one of these knives. ???

Signed: An American Soldier in Germany.

Oooooo Cutlery!!!!
Norman?? Yes Mother.......

There's a thunderstome coming in this afternoon. Pictures displayed here will have me sleeping with the lights & my cell phone tonight.

uuuuh looks like jason has visited here before lol ;)

Thats' only so you know which goes where.

shadow box for knives...main block kitchen.

I grew up across the river from this place. I went there when it was abandoned. I paid a homeless guy five bucks to show me how to get in. All it was filled with was heroin bags,used up needles, cheap alcohol bottles , and homeless people. I am happy to see someone bought the place and renovated the land. It was a eye sore for a while. I actually know a few of the sheriffs who worked there. It wasn't the best place to work from what i hear.
-Dave

that is awsome. i am going to do that to everything in my house. but im pretty sure im missing the point.

Maybe that's why there's crime scene tape, they were used in it.

What a treasure to add to an inmate's shank collection

fatepeace121006

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