May 17th, 2017: Coffin Club New Zealand

[xoxoxoBruce]

The Coffin Club was founded in 2010, a few years after Williams told a meeting of fellow students at the University of the Third Age – a global organization that offers study programs for seniors – that she wanted to build her own coffin. “God knows why I got up and did that,” she says, chuckling. “But when the meeting finished there were all these people lining up to talk to me. So I realized it wasn’t such a spooky idea; it was a sensible one.”

Now, every Wednesday morning, dozens of Rotoruans congregate at the club’s headquarters – a small converted warehouse – to build their own coffins, decorating them any way they wish, usually representing their life’s work, interests and obsessions. One man even put a pocket on the side of his casket for his wallet; he wanted to prove “you can take it with you.”

Since its first meeting, the Coffin Club has helped hundreds craft their own caskets. There’s the lifelong farmer with photographs of his favorite cows and sheep that will accompany him into the afterlife; the musician whose coffin looks more like a Steinway piano than a stairway to heaven; and the Vietnam War veteran who strapped an outboard motor to the vessel for his “final voyage,” and raised a few eyebrows when he lined it with the finest, dainty lace.

“It’s all about control,” Williams says. People are not merely interested in avoiding the exorbitant cost of conventional funeral packages. They are also looking for something different, more imaginative and personalized than an austere coffin, regulation black hearse and a few perfunctory words from a priest or celebrant in a stark chapel. “We can do a funeral for $1,000 NZ ($710 US), compared with $12,000 to $14,000 NZ ($8,500 to $10,000 US),” Williams observes. “We did that for my brother and it showed him for what he was, rather than what he wasn’t, which is a mahogany-and-gold bloke; he was a farmer.”

When picking out my Dad's coffin my brother and I agreed the polished mahogany was not him, so we went with oak.
I guess after that my mother didn't trust us, so she made all her arrangements and paid for it in advance. We just had to show up.
Brother and I also agreed for us, knotty pine.


link

[Griff]

Lately I've been thinking ice flow when I get too irritating.

[Snakeadelic]

I'd have to learn so much woodcraft...mine would have to have scales on the outside.

Griff, if ya wanna go the icy way, you could come visit me. I have to go help out at the local fairgrounds in a few hours--the big huge 6-state gem show is this weekend, and the vendor tables start arriving this afternoon--and it is SNOWING on my front yard. Lucky for me the fairgrounds is only about 8 blocks away, because the truck my neighbor had to buy to replace his old one is in the shop 50 miles away, return ETA unknown .

But yeah, bury me in inexpensive wood carved into snake scales and painted probably in corn snake pattern since all my most awesome pets have been corn snakes. If you want me to use power tools or anything bladed, tho, we're gonna have to talk about my clumsiness and the available medical coverage...

[glatt]

I guess the club has adequate long term storage facilities for the coffins its members make?

I've heard of making your own coffin and using it as a coffee table until it's needed.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Snakeadelic

I'd have to learn so much woodcraft...mine would have to have scales on the outside.
But yeah, bury me in inexpensive wood carved into snake scales and painted probably in corn snake pattern since all my most awesome pets have been corn snakes. If you want me to use power tools or anything bladed, tho, we're gonna have to talk about my clumsiness and the available medical coverage...

They have some retired pros who make sure the basic box is strong enough, leak proof, and legal. Then they'll help with any of the difficult or complicated decoration. Most people can do painting, interior fabric, and adding tchotchkes.

Originally Posted by glatt

I guess the club has adequate long term storage facilities for the coffins its members make?

I've heard of making your own coffin and using it as a coffee table until it's needed.

No, they take them home. Most store them in the garage/attic/basement, but some do use them a a blanket chest, bookcase or coffee table.

[Leus]

Pine down here is cheap and low quality. My father was a woodworker and he loathed pine; when he died, with my brothers we went shopping for a coffin. We had a blast joking about getting him a half finished pine coffin, and throw in some tools so he could fix it in-place (he always made mistakes measuring things and had to fix them on customer's premises.)

At the end, and after a lot of jokes, we went for a damn fine coffin in the best wood available :-)

(Love you, dad)

[SPUCK]

Balsa wood or MDF.

[xoxoxoBruce]

MDF, gotta keep the Chemical companies busy.

[glatt]

You mentioned "legal."

There are a surprising number of regulations for this stuff. Many jurisdictions require a vault in addition to the coffin.