Jil.v 10, 1018 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



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THE 'WONDER CITY OF HARDWO^jKbUGTilONI 



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Manufacture of Coffins 



In the days of long ago, when coffins were made by 

 country carpenters, they were called "coffins." The more 

 refined and cheerful names "casket," and "burial case," 

 came into use after factories began to make the article and 

 put it on the market. It is not an easy matter to draw 

 'listinction between coffins and caskets at the present time. 

 \ notion prevails quite generally that a coffin is a cheap 

 iffair and a casket more expensive; and another notion 

 lias it that a coffin is wide in the middle and slopes toward 

 I he head and toward the feet, while a casket is of the same 

 \sidth its entire length. 



Neither of these notions is wholly right nor entirely 

 wrong. As a matter of fact, the old-time coffin, wide in 

 the middle, has practically gone out of use. A person 

 might visit a good many undertaking establishments 

 where burial cases are displayed, and never see a "coffin- 

 shaped" coffin. Perhaps some are still made by carpenters 

 in rural communities, but they are not widely distributed. 

 They have nothing to recommend them and the regulation 

 caskets are of more attractive form and are less solemn and 

 funereal in their suggestions. 



In pioneer days a carpenter charged from two to five 

 dollars for a coffin. He could make it with from five to 

 ten hours of work, and to his wages he added the cost of 

 the material, which was small. In those days it was not 

 necessary for a sick man of moderate means to keep walk- 

 ing around to save funeral expenses, for the cost of his 

 funeral would not financially embarrass his family. 



(.To be continued) 



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AU Three of U. WiU Be Benefited if You Mention HARDWOOD RECORD 



