Plastic Gravestones
Back in the 1980s, Edgar Dakin hoped to revolutionize the funeral industry by introducing cheap, plastic gravestones. Though he acknowledged that he was opposed by powerful interest groups:
I'm not familiar enough with the funeral industry to know if plastic gravestones are available today. Googling 'plastic gravestones' only brings up the kind that you put in your front yard for Halloween.
Dakin was granted a patent (GB2210080) in 1989 by the British patent office for his plastic gravestone.
"Stonemasons are very powerful people," he says darkly. "Stone masons, Freemasons. You know what I mean? The people with funny hand-shakes."
I'm not familiar enough with the funeral industry to know if plastic gravestones are available today. Googling 'plastic gravestones' only brings up the kind that you put in your front yard for Halloween.
London Independent - Jan 9, 1988
Dakin was granted a patent (GB2210080) in 1989 by the British patent office for his plastic gravestone.
Comments
Read The High Cost of Dying by Gregory W. Young (1994) for the straight story of the funeral biz. Better still watch The Loved One (1965) based on Evelyn Waugh's book of the same name. Brutally funny.
Posted by eddi on 11/18/24 at 04:01 AM
Just looking at the patent drawings for the plastic headstone, it appears susceptible to theft and vandalism. A prime advantage of stone is its weight, making it hard to steal or damage. Plus, most plastics get brittle and discolored after a few years of exposure to the elements.
Posted by Brian on 11/18/24 at 05:19 AM
Brian,
Imagine a whole graveyard of these where the markers could be rearranged on a whim...
Imagine a whole graveyard of these where the markers could be rearranged on a whim...
Posted by crc on 11/18/24 at 10:25 AM
Funeral Consumers Alliance:
1-800-765-0107
For info re cutting cost of funerals.
1-800-765-0107
For info re cutting cost of funerals.
Posted by Judy on 11/19/24 at 03:57 PM
The cost of funerals is obscene.
Consider donation to medical school; immediate cremation; no funeral, viewing, or memorial; no embalming; no autopsy.
Consider donation to medical school; immediate cremation; no funeral, viewing, or memorial; no embalming; no autopsy.
Posted by Judy on 11/19/24 at 04:01 PM
Living in an area where tornados on occasion touch down, imagine post-tornado, while assessing the damage on!y to find dozens of "headstones" strewn throughout the neighborhood.
Posted by Teri on 11/19/24 at 11:46 PM
I wouldn't want medical students to use my body as a crash test dummy, insect farm, or test subject. There's cheap cremation options with cooperatives or even regular funeral homes; they put your body in a cardboard box, cremate you, and send your ashes with your loved ones in a nice plastic box. No funeral, viewing, memorial, embalming, or autopsy.
For the environmentally conscious, there's also the burial-under-a-tree method. Check it out.
For the environmentally conscious, there's also the burial-under-a-tree method. Check it out.
Posted by Yudith on 11/22/24 at 11:55 AM
Also, you can have the funeral home and crematorium scatter the cremains on the funeral grounds. Nothing to be returned to loved ones.
Posted by Judy on 11/22/24 at 02:51 PM
There's more than enough unnecessary plastic in our environment already. Let's be buried - or otherwise disposed of - naturally.
Posted by Richard Bos on 11/23/24 at 07:04 AM
Category: Death | Patents | 1980s