The Escape-Ladder Coffin

Patently Spooky, Part 1: our Halloween series on real patents for very old fears.

What it claims

Officially, it’s an “Improved Burial-Case.” A square tube is mounted on the coffin lid, directly over the face of the body, and runs up through the grave to above the surface. Inside the tube are a ladder and a cord. One end of the cord goes in the hand of the person in the coffin, and the other is tied to a bell at the top. If the person wakes up, they can climb out by the ladder or, if they can’t manage the climb, ring the bell for help. The tube also has air holes and a glass door at the top for checking on the occupant.

What it actually is

A coffin with an emergency exit. A chimney to the surface, a ladder inside it, a bell on top, and a rope you hold onto for the rest of your life or the rest of your death, whichever turns out to be shorter.

Why, though

The patent says it plainly: the goal was to save anyone buried “ere life is extinct” from premature burial and death. And it includes the most practical line in the whole document: if, on inspection, the occupant really is dead, the tube is pulled out, the sliding door is closed, and the tube is reused for another grave. Fear of being buried alive, solved with a ladder. Then recycled.

Verdict: 5 out of 5 nervous gravediggers.

Source: US81437A on Google Patents · Tags: halloween, coffins, 1860s, buried alive