prison ring

A prison ring is a type of plastic jewelry fashioned by hand in prisons, by working scrap plastic material, commonly celluloid items such as a toothbrush or a pen.{{Cite web|url=http://www.midcenturyjewelry.com/more-celluloid-jewelry-laminated-bob-dodd-rings/|title=More Celluloid Jewelry - Laminated Bob Dodd Rings|date=December 7, 2012}}{{cite book|author=Leigh Leshner|title=Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry: Identification and Price Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vJomBfX6pqkC&pg=PA9|access-date=26 August 2012|date=28 February 2011|publisher=Krause Publications|isbn=978-1-4402-2751-6|pages=9–}} Celluloid was historically a popular material since it could be heat bonded and glues were often less available. A common feature of prison rings were small photos mounted on the bezel.{{cite book |last=Grasso |first=Tony |date=1996 |title= Bakelite Jewellery A Collector's guide|publisher=The Apple Press |pages=94–98 |isbn=1850766134 }}

The rings were produced as early as the 1920s. Rainey Bethea, the last person to be publicly executed in the United States, was caught after a 1936 rape and murder because he left a distinctive prison ring at the murder scene.{{Cite web|url=https://southcoastherald.co.za/309270/august-14-day-history-briefly/|title=August 14: On This Day in History … briefly|date=14 August 2018 }}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hhQaCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Prison+ring%22++celluloid&pg=PT141|title=Busted: Mugshots and Arrest Records of the Famous and Infamous|first=Thomas J.|last=Craughwell|date=December 12, 2011|publisher=Running Press|isbn=9781603762694|via=Google Books}}