history of coffins, caskets , vaults and hearses

Origin of the word 'coffin'

Derived from the Greek word 'kofinos', meaning basket.

Difference between a coffin and a casket

Coffins are 6-8 sided and anthropoid; caskets are rectangular and ornate.

Fisk Metallic Coffin

An airtight, form-fitted cast or raised metal coffin patented in 1848.

Crane & Breed Mfg.

Company that acquired the Fisk coffin rights and introduced mass production.

'Ogee' design

A rim design introduced to reduce excess space and weight in metal caskets.

Samuel Stein (1871)

Patented the cloth-covered wood burial casket, which was light and strong.

Safety coffins / Life signal coffins

Caskets equipped with devices to send an SOS call due to the fear of live burial.

Jacob Weidenmann

Patented the first concrete burial vault in 1872.

Bier

The ancient hand stretcher or cart used as the first specialized device to move the deceased.

Etymology of 'hearse'

Evolved from the Latin 'hirpex' (rake) through the Norman 'herse' (candelabra).

Horse-drawn hearse colors

White horses for children and unmarried women; black horses for men and married women.

Funeral trolley car

A specially designed streetcar used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to transport caskets.

First motorized hearse

Introduced by General Vehicle Co. (electric, 1908) and Crane & Breed (Auto Hearse, 1909).

Three-way hearse

Introduced in the 1920s to allow curbside loading and unloading through side or back doors.

Landau-style hearse

Also called Victorian-style; featured a padded roof and decorative faux 'Landau bars'.

Combination coach ('ambulherse')

A vehicle used post-WWII as both an ambulance and a funeral coach in rural areas.

Modern coach manufacturing process

Standard luxury cars are cut in two, fitted to a longer chassis, and joined with a fiberglass shell.