My father first displayed it in 1952, when his father gave it to him... who had retired from NY Department of Corrections where he spent 41 years of his life; mostly at The Tombs, where he met them all... You've read the stories of a few; some here, though not so accurate.

Anyway; this certain inmate was building this with crude tools and with whatever he could find to outfit it, such as matcsticks, tooth brushes, shoe eyelets, keychains and a bunch of other stuff that you can notice by looking closer... and when completed, he gave it to my grandfather.