Colorful Coffins and Funerals to Die For

WALL STREET JOURNAL
By SARAH MURRAY

In Ghana, the fantasy coffins on offer include giant soda bottles and airplanes
— and the exuberance extends to the funerals.

Within hours of the death of Steve Jobs earlier this month, impromptu memorials began to appear at Apple stores around the world. But creativity in sending off the dead is nothing new. Human beings are seemingly hardwired to use public rituals to mark such moments. We bury our loved ones in the ground. We burn them in fire. Today, gigantic fish, oversized mobile phones, scaled-down airplanes and enormous Coca-Cola bottles are among the fantasy coffins on offer. Boldly carved and painted in bright colors, they are works of art. The exuberance also extends to Ghanaian funerals, which often attract hundreds of guests who are fed, watered and entertained with live music, drumming and DJs. [link]

As we have become less certain of spiritual eternity, we also have started to look for solace in the more tangible things of this world. More of us want to hold on to physical evidence of our dead loved ones—in lockets designed to house tiny portions of their ashes or in gold pendants that immortalize their thumbprints, keepsakes marketed as "Thumbies" by Illinois-based Meadow Hill. LifeGem, a Chicago-based company, uses carbon extracted from cremated remains to make diamonds. We also are growing more creative in how we send off the departed. Hot Rod Caskets, based in Oklahoma, designs and produces a range of flashy models, including the Smoke Eater (with attachments for pike poles) for firefighters and the Uncle Sam (in desert sand and olive green, with camouflage lining) for members of the military. For sports fans, Michigan-based Eternal Image produces coffins decked out in the colors and logos of Major League Baseball teams, as well as a Star Trek line for Trekkies. [link]