The Life Coffin
The idea behind this coffin, created and sold by Tibbetts Woodworking of Windsor Massachusetts during the early 1990s, was that you would buy it while you were still alive and healthy — use it as a bookshelf, wine rack, or display case — and then get buried in it. It cost $365 for knotty eastern white pine, or $505 for oak or cherry. Below is text from the brochure:
What is a Life Coffin?
It is a simple, honest, rectangular wooden coffin, custom-made to your dimensions in a small woodworking shop in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts.
Until your funeral, your coffin can be used as a bookcase (by ordering a number of adjustable shelves), or for wine storage (by ordering twelve-bottle storage units), or for a combination of books and important objects in your life.
The coffin lid hangs on the back of the coffin while it is being used as a bookcase. When you're ready for burial, the lid is attached with maple dowel pins. No liner is included.
Why Would Anyone Buy a Life Coffin?
Death is an inevitable part of your life. Buying a coffin now can help begin a process of education and acceptance. By seeing your coffin every day, you will be reminded of the preciousness of your physical life. This perspective on your daily hassles can bring you to celebrate the miracle of your life.
A Life Coffin will act as a catalyst for discussion with your family and friends, helping you to open up to difficult feelings concerning your death and funeral. And when all is said and done, you can rest peacefully, knowing that you are enclosed in a coffin to which you have added personal meaning.
It is a simple, honest, rectangular wooden coffin, custom-made to your dimensions in a small woodworking shop in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts.
Until your funeral, your coffin can be used as a bookcase (by ordering a number of adjustable shelves), or for wine storage (by ordering twelve-bottle storage units), or for a combination of books and important objects in your life.
The coffin lid hangs on the back of the coffin while it is being used as a bookcase. When you're ready for burial, the lid is attached with maple dowel pins. No liner is included.
Why Would Anyone Buy a Life Coffin?
Death is an inevitable part of your life. Buying a coffin now can help begin a process of education and acceptance. By seeing your coffin every day, you will be reminded of the preciousness of your physical life. This perspective on your daily hassles can bring you to celebrate the miracle of your life.
A Life Coffin will act as a catalyst for discussion with your family and friends, helping you to open up to difficult feelings concerning your death and funeral. And when all is said and done, you can rest peacefully, knowing that you are enclosed in a coffin to which you have added personal meaning.
Source: Harper's Magazine - March 1991
Comments
Wouldn't you rather have one of these? I would.
https://burialoptions.com/2011/11/new-deluxe-kiss-casket-not-just-for-dying/
https://burialoptions.com/2011/11/new-deluxe-kiss-casket-not-just-for-dying/
Posted by KDP on 08/14/20 at 09:09 AM
Or you can DIY: http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/coffin_bookcase
Posted by ges on 08/14/20 at 10:44 AM
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Posted by FRANK on 08/17/20 at 12:39 PM
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Category: Death | 1990s