Dummies Stuck At The Cooma Gaol

You don't have to be stupid to end up at the Corrective Services NSW Museum in Cooma, otherwise known as a gaol (jail). You just need to be made of wax or plastic or rubber or some other creepy material and also be able to hold still forever. Be a dummy.

"Bed check!"

The prison staff is not shown in a heroic light. Gasping guard in too much lipstick and a riot officer, ready to swat. What's with the two fingers, some sort of undercover gang warning?

About to heave in steerage. The museum goes as far back as when England was shipping convicts out to New South Wales.

Fashion mannequin "Gangsta," with cry-baby tear. Sure to appear in a future Calvin Klein show. Haggard visitor.

"Hello Clarice." Having some fun with the solitary confinement, padded cell set. "Have you seen my other arm? Oh, that's right, I ate it."

Going To Gaol In Cooma

It seems like every small town in Australia has an old gaol (jail) that's now a museum. So proud of their convict past!

Don't take a wrong turn in Cooma. Actually, not a museum. Right across the street from the "Corrective Services NSW Museum" is the genuine, open for incarceration, real thing, a working gaol. It just looks nicer than the exterior of the museum so it better fits this post.

Inside the museum, a big hodgepodge of artifacts from various defunct New South Wales gaols. You don't like prison chow? Go to the store and get yourself some fine Wheat-Bix. And your bunkmate may thank you. Stay away from the frozen dinners in the "meal barrow" (the stainless steel cart).

Contraband Hall of Fame. Drugs, weapons, cell phones, Pokemon cards. Maybe the cards are OK. Could be a gateway hobby.

Do your time as a guard, rise to superintendent and they paint your portrait. And then your wife donates it to a museum. Riot gear. Or as the PR Dept calls it, Special Emergency Response Team.

Typical cell with odd collection of items. His and His fans, waffle iron and random blocks of wood. Must be a unique hooch that's made in the toilet. Is that a thing beyond prison movies?