Clark Metal Grave Vault

Rain protection for the dearly departed.

There's deep consolation... serene through shower or heavy rain... for those who know the casket of a dear one is protected against water in the ground by a Clark Metal Grave Vault.

I found this ad reproduced in Marshall McLuhan's The Mechanical Bride (1951). He comments:

All that music, perfume, science, hygiene, and cosmetics can do is done to create an evasive, womblike world of comfort and soft sympathy. "Home was never like this." Death is thus brought within the orbit of the basic attitudes of a consumer world and is neutralized by absorption into irrelevant patterns of thought, feeling, and technique. The solid comforts and security missed in this life are to be enjoyed in the next.

Unfortunately, McLuhan never specified where he found the ad. But it's listed in a 1947 catalog of copyright entries. So must be a 1947 ad.

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Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 02, 2016
Category: Death | Advertising | 1940s

Comments

This company is still in business, since 1898. The odd thing is that some grave vaults come with warranties.

Posted by B. Bonner on 10/02/16 at 11:09 AM

When my Mom died I remember being offered an extended warranty on the vault. Even in the state I was in at the time I just stopped, looked at the funeral director and asked, "Why?" He....didn't have a good answer.

Posted by PupTentacle on 10/02/16 at 02:02 PM

Given that the price of zinc at the time was around $10-$15 per 100 pounds in the late 1940's, this must have been a solid moneymaker for them. It's not surprising that somewhere in most funeral services are the words "Let us prey...".

Posted by Fritz G on 10/03/16 at 07:22 AM

Any explanation on how they neutralized the buoyancy of an enclosed vessel? I suspect that such an enclosure would float better that a plain casket in flood conditions.

Posted by KDP on 10/03/16 at 08:59 AM

Ahh, the eternal sound of water dripping on your metal roof.

Posted by GFinKS on 10/03/16 at 11:16 AM

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