As I said last week in Did You Know You Can Be Alive and Still Be Pronounced Dead? people in years past had a genuine fear of being buried alive. The fear of that happening, called taphophobia, hit its peak in the Victorian era (apx. 1820-1914).
Prior to embalming becoming common—it’s never been required except in special circumstances—when a person died, they were put into a wooden box or casket and dropped into the ground. Cashing in on the public’s fear of still being alive when this happened, casket makers designed a variety of “safety” caskets with bell mechanisms and flag systems so the “not so dead” person inside could alert the world above.
Of course, there’s no coming back if you’ve been embalmed. Yet inventors are still thinking of the deceased. Did you know in 2015 a man was granted a patent for “a solar-powered digital music player for a grave system?” It places a speaker inside the casket and a headphone jack in the gravestone, allowing both the dearly departed, as well as their family and friends, to be consoled by music or a pre-recorded message.
All I can say is I hope that digital music player has a large storage capacity. Can you imagine listening to the same five songs for all eternity?
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