# What Is the Purpose Of a Coffin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 11, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-coffin/520876 "2009-12-11T17:22:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-coffin/520876/41 "2009-12-16T20:36:19Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Have any thieves been digging these things up for scrap metal? Not that I know of, but there have been some famous body-stealings. There was a plot to steal Lincoln’s body and hold it for ransom that would have worked if it hadn’t been for [del]you meddling kids[/del] really stupid thieves, which is why he’s now buried [under tons of concrete](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln's_burial_and_exhumation). A century later Charlie Chaplin was [gravenapped](http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/17/newsid_2512000/2512129.stm) and found later when his family refused to pay the ransom (saying Charlie would have thought paying a fortune for a dead body was ridiculous). Neither JFK nor JEH had any shortage of enemies who might desecrate their bodies, plus JFK’s family was megarich so if it could have been stolen it possibly would have been. (Of course it would be kind of hard to get something out of Arlington I would think- especially with the eternal flame and in full view of the mansion and a great vista of D.C. even- thought that might be the plot of the next NATIONAL TREASURE). ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-coffin/520876/42 "2009-12-16T22:25:25Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > When I was younger > …etc… > And the coffin stopped! You have made **Inigo Montoya** ask, “WTF?” Well done! ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-coffin/520876/43 "2009-12-17T20:45:46Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Strange memory..I recall that FBI director J.E. Hoover was buried in a custom made lead casket. it was so heavy that the pallbeares dropped it, while hauling it into the church. > I also remember that JFK was planted in a $75,000 solid bronze coffin. > Have any thieves been digging these things up for scrap metal? JFK was only in the bronze casket for the trip from Dallas to Washington. The expensive one was dumped in the ocean two years later. > **[\[CTRL\] JFK's Coffin -- at Bottom of the Sea](http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/msg14235.html)** Further, the conspiracy theorists allege that it wasn’t even used that long. They say that the body was re-wrapped enroute and swapped into a different casket. They point out that a different casket was wheeled into Bethesda Naval Hospital for the autopsy while the bronze one sat idle in the hallway. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-coffin/520876/44 "2009-12-17T21:01:13Z")
> [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](#): > > JFK was only in the bronze casket for the trip from Dallas to Washington. The expensive one was dumped in the ocean two years later. Was Ted driving the hearse? ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-coffin/520876/45 "2009-12-17T21:44:54Z")
To make way for a Pai Mei flashback of course! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-coffin/520876/46 "2009-12-19T01:54:40Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Coffins are also a form of conspicuous consumption. It says “this family is so rich they can afford to literally bury money!” an impulse that goes back thousands of years (remember King Tut?) Like weddings, funerals are a common time to display your family’s wealth to the community. Michael Jackson’s was, IIRC, several million. Please don’t judge all funeral directors by the crooks in the business. Most funeral directors are willing to work with those who can’t afford much. As most of you are aware, my father is a mortician. He has no problem working with a budget and helping people to get a decent funeral. It’s the people who DO want to pull out all the stops and want the dog and pony show – but they want a big discount, and insist that he give it to them at cost, and won’t compromise. And in his experience, most of those people generally CAN afford to pay – they just don’t want to. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-coffin/520876/47 "2009-12-19T01:58:59Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > It’s a pain in the damned ass to haul around a body in a croker sack, is why. It’s a pain in the ass to haul one around in a coffin too. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-coffin/520876/48 "2009-12-19T04:19:06Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > And the coffin stopped! > > _hides_ 😃 I’ll be using that one on the nephews. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-coffin/520876.md?page=2)