Know your coffins and caskets, and what the differences are. The top picture is of an American style casket. Their lids are in two halves for viewing purposes. When a body is laid in a casket usually only the top half of the deceased is on show. The bottom half is covered with a sort of a curtain if you like that rests in the middle where the lid halves meet. Their handles are long bars that go down either side of the casket and can usually bear the weight when being carried by pallbearers. In interior of the casket is make up of a foam mattress an pillow on a mechanical bed that can be raised and lowered with the use of a small crank handle. Caskets are usually make from wood or metal. They are usually buried in the UK and not really cremated due to the metalwork inside of them. You can get British style caskets, but these tend to be oblong shaped boxes with one lid on a hinge and no metal framework in the interior. These are suitable for both burial and cremation. The bottom picture is of an traditional English coffin. These can be either quite ornate or very plain. Their shape as you can see is tapered at the bottom and wide at the shoulders. This was to stop grave robbing on the 19th century. Before that bodies where buried in either cloth shrouds or strait boxes. Coffins have a removable lid that are in one piece. When a family views their loved one in a coffin then the whole body is on show. Some funeral homes do put over a net over the body to protect the body from flies. The handles of a coffin although quite sturdy shouldn’t be relied on to bear weight. Coffins are traditionally carried on shoulders so there is no real need for handles to bear an awful lot of weight. The inside of a coffin is quite simple. Lined with silk and some padding they have no mechanical features so therefore are suitable for both burial and cremation. #deathblog #deathpositive #funeraldirector #funeralservice #deathblogger #confessionsofanundertaker #coffin #casket #british #uk #english #chapelofrest #death #deathcare #burial #cremation #graverobbing #19thcentury #undertaker #mortician #morticianlife #morticianlifestyle (at Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire) https://www.instagram.com/p/Buin1lmgodA/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=69rj7yzf376c
