Rocking Horse
1980 - 1982Small, carved, grey, yellow, red and green painted, child's wooden rocking horse. The rocking horse if made from two separate panels cut to the same shape of a small horse in gallop, with a curved rocker underneath. The horse is painted grey, with multiple white spots, a black mane and tail, black harness and a stylised painted face. Underneath the horse is painted green, and the rocker base is painted red. These two panels run parallel, approximately half a metre apart. They are joined together from the inside by several pieces of yellow painted wood, which form a handle near the horse’s neck, and a small seat and foot rest.
The donor bought this rocking horse for $20 from a pop-up stall at the Forrest Lake Shopping Centre in Thornlie in the early 1980s. The stall was selling a range of wooden toys made by prisoners in the Fremantle Prison workshops to raise money for charity. The rocking horse has its original paint work and has only had one owner.
Details
Details
For most of the Prison's operational life, work was available to prisoners. It was felt that by providing prisoners with work they would gain technical skills which would benefit them upon release. Prisoners were paid gratuities for the work they did and the revenue generated by providing services to outside organisations and private individuals aided the Prison. Prisoners were employed in a variety of industries, including painting, tailoring, carpentry and boot making. The Annual Report for the 1969/70 financial year reported that 'Six Prison workshops were operational and working to capacity throughout the year. They are able to employ approximately 192 men, including metalwork (22), carpentry (29), footwear (55), clothing (39), printing (39), concrete products (8).' By the 1980s several new prisons had opened in Western Australia with modern workshops, and the Fremantle Prison workshops became redundant, though they continued to be used as a prisoner management tool. By the time Fremantle Prison closed in 1991, the revenue generated by Prison Industries across Western Australia amounted to $1.263 million.[8]
