[CAustin18]

Originally Posted by William May ↗

Normally, there is a little glass, brass, or stainless steel tube at one of the casket lower corners, and the undertaker is supposed to put a piece of paper in there, identifying the body that is inside the casket, and then screw the lid on. I suppose not everyone uses this, but I think most modern undertakers (From 1900 on) probably did use this feature. If you are standing in front of the casket, with the lid open, the memorial tube is to your right, at the very end of the casket, usually near the bottom of the corner, on the side facing you.

Yes, those tubes were mentioned in one report on the Hardin, MO recovery operation. Apparently, the local funeral home had not been in any habit of filling out those ID forms that are put in those tubes...where remains were found, ID was attempted based on items found with the deceased, known pathology (ie dental charts, hip replacements etc) and in some cases, a visual ID could still be made....in at least one case, a visual ID was still easily possible by surviving family for a man who had died in Dec, 1937! The body was still in essentially perfect condition. Though in most cases, it was dis-articulated bones or mummified remains at best with those buried more than a relatively short period of time.
The flood waters attacked the older sections of the cemetery anyway, with graves mostly dating from roughly 1910-1960 and the newest ones more or less spared. The earliest graves dated to the 1820s, but it was unclear if any tangible remains were present by 1993.

[William May]

Originally Posted by CAustin18 ↗

Yes, those tubes were mentioned in one report on the Hardin, MO recovery operation. Apparently, the local funeral home had not been in any habit of filling out those ID forms that are put in those tubes...where remains were found, ID was attempted based on items found with the deceased, known pathology (ie dental charts, hip replacements etc) and in some cases, a visual ID could still be made....in at least one case, a visual ID was still easily possible by surviving family for a man who had died in Dec, 1937! The body was still in essentially perfect condition. Though in most cases, it was dis-articulated bones or mummified remains at best with those buried more than a relatively short period of time.
The flood waters attacked the older sections of the cemetery anyway, with graves mostly dating from roughly 1910-1960 and the newest ones more or less spared. The earliest graves dated to the 1820s, but it was unclear if any tangible remains were present by 1993.

Thanks for the info! When I was going to school in California, there were torrential rains for most of a month, and in the flooding, at least a couple of cemeteries collapsed. I remember one that had pictures of caskets spread across a main road. But I never heard any details of how they handled it. Same thing with the big floods in the Midwest a few years ago, where they were blowing dikes to save areas, and letting other areas flood. They reported caskets floating around in the floodwaters. I remember a pic of a rescue boat with a casket pushed up against it. But they never covered any details of those recoveries either.

[murofhsirgo]

That first was incredible, holy smoke.

[anorexorcist]

Thanks so much for this post, one of the subjects I find most interesting.

[Pyramid_Head]

I find exhumation incredibly interesting. To see how a body holds up over a long period of time in the ground is fascinating. The morbid side of me wonders what my Grandmother would look like whom died in 1995, my Aunt who was murdered in 1985 and my friend whom died in a car wreck in 2012. I don't know if I would look if I ever had such an option but my morbid side says I would.

[redrum217]

Beautiful post. More please!

[Cathedral]

Originally Posted by William May ↗

Well, maybe using them is out of fashion now. But I know they used them on both of my grandparent's caskets. Everyone in my family who has died since then has either been donated to medical schools, or cremated, in which cases there's no need for any memorial tube.
But I have a set of plans for making a casket, and there is an installation drawing shown on the plans for that.
But since I plan to have my body either cremated, or shot out of a German Railway Gun, no tube will be needed. For one thing, I don't want them knowing exactly who it is, that just landed with a thump in the back 40. It's THEIR problem then!
I don't want them coming around, being all whiny about bodies that fell out of the sky onto their property.

When you hear the Divine's whisper,
that your permission to be here,
soon expires; go away with grace.
Embrace the hereafter; who knows,
It may be better for you there, than here.
It's not up to me to decide, thank God.