13. Using Coffins With Emergency Release Mechanisms
Christian Eisenbrandt, an inventor, created an elaborate safety coffin in 1843. Instead of hinges, the casket was designed with a complicated system of levers and pulleys attached to a ring that would be placed on the deceased’s finger. If they awoke to find themselves in a coffin, their simply shifting in fear would spring open the top of the casket. It also had a mesh lid, so the deceased would be able to see through the top if they woke up. This design raises several questions: if the lid is mesh, why would the presumed dead need a ring to open it? Wasn’t the cover so light they could just open it upon waking? Also, again with mesh, wouldn’t the presumed deceased be able to yell through the mesh opening for help? Moreover, if the dead awoke paralyzed, the ring certainly wouldn’t do any more good than the mesh lid.
Questions and modern criticisms aside, the casket likely gave mourners a piece of mind. It also functioned, in reality, much like a waiting mortuary as Eisenbrandt counseled families to leave the deceased in their safety casket until decomposition began, at which point they could be safely buried.