The Story behind Today’s Caskets

Worth billions of dollars nowadays, casket manufacturing and sale is quite a recent business, which started in the 19th century and established itself between the two World Wars. For caskets Troy manufacturers, the business of ensuring the final disposition place of a deceased person is a very serious one, and so is the history of casket making.

During the Middle Ages, especially in the periods of the Great Plague, there was little thought given to the way deceased people were interred – expediency was prevalent. Thus, most of the people were buried without being enclosed in any kind of container, be it a simple wooden box. For the large majority of poor people, even this basic form of rudimentary casket was too expensive. The deceased was usually sown inside a large piece of cloth, such as sack fabric.

The First Casket Model Patented

During the 18th and early 19th century, caskets were usually made of wood, the process being handled by furniture and cabinetmakers. Most craftsmen practicing this type of trade would also make extra money as undertakers. Therefore, for around a century, general furniture making and casket making were one and the same business.

However, at the beginning of the 1840s, a certain Dr. Almond Fisk applied for and obtained the first patent for a metallic casket he developed. Dr. Fisk claimed that his casket model was completely airtight, preventing further deterioration of the dead body and release of the odors contained in it. The casket was also supposed to be indestructible.

From the First Casket Models to the Modern Caskets Troy Entrepreneurs Proudly Sell

The evolution of the casket making business was influenced by three main factors:

• The intense industrialization during the late 19th century and the early 20th century;

• The two World Wars;

• The shift in people’s personal and religious views with regard to the commemoration of their deceased loved ones.

Casket manufacturers had to adapt to the need for mass production and the shortage of metal during the war, all resources being directed towards weapon making factories. Thus, the wooden casket became the norm. There are many advantages to wooden caskets:

• They are lighter than metallic caskets, thus easier to carry by pall bearers;

• Wood essences come in a great variety of colors and veins;

• Wood is easy to work on and shape;

• Wood caskets have a very good price/quality ratio.

Apart from the general shape and closing system of the casket, during the 20th century, casket makers started adding various accessories to the inside of the casket, such as the lining, the cushion to be placed under the deceased’s head and other accoutrements meant to make the deceased appear to be asleep and lying in bed.

Although recent trends have seen some extravagant developments in casket design and accessories, the best caskets Troy manufacturers recommend bereaved families to opt for a traditional model. Besides having an affordable price, it is also an adequate final resting place for their loved one.