The Elgin Metal Casket company of Elgin, IL was renown as one of the largest manufacturers of quality metal coffins and as a company which provided the caskets for two American presidents.
Already in 1933, Elgin caskets were regarded as being of such a high quality that an Elgin casket was chosen for the funeral of President Coolidge. He was buried in a polished solid bronze casket of the company: the round corner design had separately hinged caps and was equipped inside with a hermetically sealed full length oval plate glass lid. Then, in 1963, Elgin provided the casket in which President Kennedy was taken from Dallas to Washington, DC: his Elgin "Handley" model was a double lid sealer casket (without inner glass lid) weighing more than 300 lbs empty. The exterior had a "Britannia" (that is: partially brushed or "scratched") finish with a transparent amber (reddish) tint and a clear lacquer over it. The interior consisted of an adjustable inner mattress and a white velvet and satin lining. The casket certainly would have been used for Kennedy's burial, had it not been damaged during the loading / unloading process by the Secret Service people who unintentionally tore off the ornamental attachments of the
swing bar handles. For that reason, the Elgin casket was replaced with a new casket (a Marsellus solid mahogany model), in which Kennedy was buried. Eventually ,his original Elgin casket was dumped in the Atlantic Ocean by the Air Force in 1966 in order to prevent it from becoming an object of morbid curiosity.
The successor to Kennedy's "Handley" model is still in production. A few years after President Kennedy's death, the Elgin Company changed the flaring round corner design of the original "Handley" somewhat by giving the casket a more pronounced urn shape. After the Elgin company had been bought by the renown mattress producer Simmons in 1968, the "Handley" was replaced by the "Winchester" model, which differed from its predecessor mainly by some embossed ornaments. This casket is still manufactured today by VerPlank Enterprises of Iron City, TN and can be seen in the Online Catalog of that Company. Other original Elgin designs have survived the end of the company as well, for example the thermo deposited "Citadel", a 48 oz bronze double lid design, which is manufactured currently by the York-Matthew company under the name "Marquis". Elgin was a very innovative company which came up with several patents. Since 1974 Elgin possessed a registered trade mark and pictured logo featuring a helmet as part of a knight's armor.
The roots of the Elgin Metal casket company can be traced back to the Elgin Silver Plate Company, a casket hardware producer which was founded in Elgin, IL around the year 1892. Its products were so convincing in quality and price that already in 1899 the factory size had to be doubled; soon the production line was expanded to zinc casket liners. In 1926, the Elgin Silver Plate Company was acquired by the Western Casket Hardware Company (founded in 1903). Around 1928, the company's production line was expanded to metal caskets, which more and more became the main product of the firm. For that reason, the company's name was changed to Elgin Metal Casket Company. After the Second World War, Elgin concentrated on manufacturing metal casket shells which it distributed through a jobber organization known as Elgin Associates; these jobbers completed the casket shells with handles and / or interiors in accordance with the orders of the local funeral directors.
One really wonders why such a big company with renown quality products hasn't survived. The downfall of the company probably began when it was acquired by companies not related to the funeral industry (mattress producer Simmons in 1968 and oil giant Gulf & Western in 1974). The loss of its experienced team of some 200 craftsmen caused by the move of the complete manufacturing plant from Elgin, IL. to Indiana in 1982, seems to have been the final blow for the famous casket manufacturer, which closed down in the 1980s and which should not be mixed up with the modern "Star of Texas Casket Company", a manufacturer of fine hardwood caskets and wooden urns located in Elgin, Texas.
No, the company, which existed under the name "Elgin Metal Casket Company" since 1939 and manufactured up to 70.000 metal caskets a year, - including the caskets of two American presidents - closed down in the 1980s. The roots of the company can be traced back to the Elgin Silver Plate Company, a casket hardware producer which was founded in Elgin, IL around the year 1892. Its products were so convincing in quality and price that the factory size had to be double in 1899 already; soon the production line was expanded to zinc casket liners. In 1926, Elgin Silver Plate Company was acquired by the Western Casket Hardware Company (founded in 1903) . Around 1928, the company's production line was expanded to metal caskets, which more and more became the main product of the firm. For that reason, the company's name was changed to Elgin Metal Casket Company. After the Second World War, Elgin concentrated on manufacturing metal casket shells which it distributed through a jobber organization known as Elgin Associates; these jobbers completed the casket shells with handles and / or interiors. As mentioned, Elgin provided the caskets for two American presidents. Already in 1933, Elgin caskets were regarded as being of such a high quality that an Elgin casket was chosen for the funeral of President Coolidge. He was buried in a polished solid bronze Elgin casket. The round corner design had separately hinged caps and was equipped inside with a hermetically sealing full length oval plate glass lid. In 1963, Elgin provided the casket in which President Kennedy was taken from Dallas to Washington, DC: his Elgin "Handley" model was a double lid sealer casket (without inner glass lid) weighing more than 300 lbs empty. The exterior had a "Britannia" (that is: partially brushed) finish with a transparent amber (reddish) tint. The interior consisted of an adjustable inner mattress and a white velvet and satin lining. The casket certainly would have been used for Kennedy's burial, had it not been damaged during the loading / unloading process by the Secret Service people who tore off the ornamental attachments of the swing bar handles. For that reason, the Elgin casket was replaced with a new casket (a Marsellus solid mahogany model). The original Elgin casket eventually was dumped in the Atlantic ocean in 1966 by the Air Force in order to prevent it from becoming an object of morbid curiosity. The successor to the "Handley" model is still in production. A few years after President Kennedy's death, the Elgin Company changed the flaring round corner design of the original "Handley" somewhat by giving it a more pronounced urn shape. After the Elgin company had been bought by the renown mattress producer Simmons in 1968, the "Handley" was replaced by the "Winchester" model, which differed from its predecessor mainly by some embossed ornaments. The casket is still manufactured nowadays by VerPlank Enterprises of Tennessee and can be seen in the Online Catalog of that Company. Other original Elgin designs have survived the end of the company as well, for example the thermo-deposited "Citadel" which is manufactured currently by the York-Matthew company under the designation "Marquis". Elgin was a very innovative company which came up with several patents. Since 1974 it possessed a registered trade mark and pictured logo featuring a helmet as part of a knight's armor. One really wonders why such a big company with renown quality products hasn't survived. The downfall of the company probably began when it was acquired by companies not related to the funeral industry (mattress producer Simmons in 1968 and oil giant Gulf & Western in 1974). The loss of its experienced team of some 200 craftsmen caused by the move of the complete manufacturing plant from Elgin, IL. to Indiana in 1982, seems to have been the final blow for the famous casket manufacturer, which should not be mixed up with the modern "Star of Texas Casket Company", a manufacturer of fine hardwood caskets and wooden urns located in Elgin, Texas.
The term refers very probably to the casket in which the late President Kennedy was taken from Dallas to Washington. His "Handley" casket had been manufactured by the (former) Elgin Metal Casket Company of Elgin, (IL), which had provided the bronze casket of President Coolidge already. The "Handley" was a double lid sealer casket (without an inner glass panel) weighing more than 300 lbs empty. The exterior had what Elgin called a "Britannia finish" (meaning that the metal had been partially "brushed" or "scratched") with a transparent amber (dark reddish) tint. The interior consisted of an adjustable inner mattress and a white velvet and satin lining. The casket certainly would have been used for Kennedy's burial, had it not been damaged during the loading / unloading process by the Secret Service people who tore off the ornamental attachments of the swing bar handles. For that reason, it was replaced with a new casket (made of solid mahogany). The original Elgin casket eventually was dumped in the Atlantic ocean in 1966 by the Airforce in order to prevent it from becoming an object of morbid curiosity. The successor to the "Handley" model is still in production. A few years after President Kennedy's death, Elgin changed the flaring round corner design somewhat by giving it a more pronounced urn shape. After the Elgin company had been sold to the renown mattress producer Simmons in 1968, the "Handley" design was replaced by the "Winchester" model, which differed from its predecessor mainly by some embossings. The casket is still manufactured today by VerPlank Enterprises of Iron City (TN) and can be seen in the Online Catalog of the company.
Vernon O'Neal provided a solid bronze double lid (non-glass) sealer casket named "Handley", manufactured by the (former) Elgin Metallic Casket Company of Elgin, Ill. It had an amber "Britannia" finish - Elgin's designation for a partially brushed (i.e. "scratched" looking) casket exterior, the unbrushed parts of which possessed a transparent tint or dye - in this case of amber (reddish) color. The casket had an adjustable mattress and an eggshell velvet interior. The empty weight of the casket was over 300 lbs. O'Neal requested a sales price of $ 3.995 (estimated wholesale price at that time around $ 1.000) from the US-government, but was forced to lower the price later by $ 500. The casket certainly would have been used for Kennedy's burial, had it not been damaged during the loading / unloading process by the Secret Service people who tore off the ornamental attachments of the swing bar handles. For that reason, it was replaced with a new casket (a Marsellus # 710 solid mahogany casket for which Gawler's funeral home in Washington, D.C. charged $2460 ). The original Elgin casket eventually was dumped in the Atlantic ocean in 1966 by the Airforce in order to prevent it from becoming an object of morbid curiosity. The successor to the "Handley" model is still in production. A few years after President Kennedy's death, the Elgin Company changed the flaring round corner design of "Handley" somewhat by giving it a more pronounced urn shape. After Elgin had been bought by the mattress producer Simmons in 1968, the "Handley" was replaced by the "Winchester" model, which differed from its predecessor mainly by some embossings. The casket is still manufactured by VerPlank Enterprises of Tennessee and can be seen in the Online Catalog of that Company. p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; } a solid bronze double lid model named "Handley", manufactured by the former Elgin Metallic Casket Company of Elgin, Ill. It had an amber "Britannia" finish - Elgin's designation for a partially brushed (i.e. "scratched" looking) casket exterior, the unbrushed parts of which possessed a transparent tint or dye - in this case of amber (reddish) color.
When former President Calvin Coolidge died in 1933, he was buried in a polished solid bronze casket featuring a round corner design. It had been manufactured by the Elgin Metal Casket Company of Elgin, Ill., which had started building caskets in 1928 and which decades later provided the bronze casket in which President Kennedy was taken from Dallas to Washington. The top of the Coolidge casket had a hinged cap design: it had separately hinged bronze panels and was equipped with a hermetically sealing full length inner oval plate glass lid. Pictures of the casket at the viewing and at the graveside are available on the Internet.
It came from Vernon O'Neal's funeral home. The bronze casket had been manufactured by the (former) Elgin Metal Casket Company of Elgin, Ill. It was replaced in Washington with a solid mahogany casket.
Elgin National Watch Company was created in 1864.
Although the manufacturers of the original caskets of President Kennedy and of Marilyn Monroe are out of business, both designs - with minor changes - are still in production and can be bought either directly or through funeral homes, provided you are willing and able to spend that much money for one of these luxury caskets. The Kennedy part of the question is somewhat more difficult to be answered because for the late President two different caskets had been used. For the transport from Dallas to Washington, DC it was a bronze casket manufactured by the (former) Elgin Casket Company of Elgin, Ill. After this casket had been damaged during the loading / unloading process, it was replaced by a mahogany casket which was used for the burial. President Kennedy's Elgin casket had been a double lid "Handley" model with a "Britannia" (that is: partially brushed) finish and an amber (reddish) transparent tint. A few years after President Kennedy's death, the Elgin Company changed the flaring round corner design of the "Handley" somewhat by giving it a more pronounced urn shape. After Elgin had been bought by the renown mattress producer Simmons in 1968, the "Handley" model was replaced by the Winchester model, which differed from its predecessor only by some embossed ornaments. The casket is manufactured nowadays as "Winchester Twin Lock Amber Britannia" by VerPlank Enterprises of Iron City, TN. The design is shown in the VerPlank Online casket catalog. President Kennedy's second coffin, a mahogany unit, was a very plain round corner design manufactured by the Marsellus Casket Company of Syracuse, NY under the type designation 710. In 1997, the Marsellus family sold the company to SCI (Service Corporation International) of Houston, which in 2003 decided to close down the Marsellus factory. The brand name Marsellus and several of the company's most famous designs - among them the "Seven-Ten" - were bought by the Batesville Casket Company of Hillenbrand Industries. Since then, Batesville has manufactured the "Kennedy casket" under the designation (Marsellus) "President". The Batesville model looks still the same as the Marsellus 710. The main difference consist in the fact that Batesville does no longer offer an almost unlimited choice of outer (casket top / handles / finishes) and inner (textile material and colors of the lining) custom designs. Nowadays, the "President" is available only in a perfection half couch style (split lid) and in a full couch style (undivided lid), but, for example, not with a "hinged cap" top as in the original Kennedy casket. Also, an inner bronze or copper liner is no longer available. It seems that Batesville has strictly limited the choice of available varieties of the "President" design in order to keep the (nevertheless still high) price of the casket within reasonable bounds. The successor models to both "Kennedy caskets" - the VerPlank "Winchester" and the Batesville "President" can be bought both through funeral directors and through several Online casket shops. Marilyn Monroe was buried in a luxury coffin which has been called the "Cadillac of caskets": a silver finished 15 ga / 48 oz (that is: extra strong and heavy) "Masterpiece" bronze casket with a hand tufted champagne colored velvet, satin and silk interior manufactured by the (former) Belmont Casket Company of Columbus, Ohio. The casket was equipped with a hermetically sealing double lid (without inner glass panel). Although the Belmont factory closed down in 1979, the "Masterpiece" design is still in production. It is manufactured nowadays under the same name by VerPlank Enterprises of Tennessee, although the original design underwent a few minor changes: while the beading ornaments of the "Monroe casket" still exist, the swing bar handles look slightly different now. Interestingly however, VerPlank still offers the Masterpiece in 48oz bronze and with a silver finished exterior, which makes the casket a kind of replica of the Monroe casket. Pictures of the "Silver Twin Seal Masterpiece" are shown in the VerPlank Online casket catalog.
The casket chosen for the late President Kennedy was not the Elgin bronze casket in which he was taken from Dallas to the capital because that casket had been damage by the Secret Service people during the loading / unloading process. Therefore, the damaged bronze casket was replaced by a mahogany casket provided by the prestigious Joseph Gawler's Sons funeral home of Washington, DC. The design chosen was a "Seven-Ten" (710) made by the nation's leading hardwood casket manufacturer, the (former) Marsellus Casket Company of Syracuse, NY., which already had provided the mahogany casket of President Truman. Although the "Seven-Ten" had a plain and unpretentious looking design of timeless simplicity, it was nevertheless an expensive luxury casket from solid 1-1/4" and 2-1/2" planks of up to 500 year old African mahogany trees - a fact which did not yet evoke any noticeable environmental criticism at that time. The understatement design had heavily rounded corners and all wooden swing bar handles with bronze tips and lugs. The Marsellus company had acquired the reputation of following extraordinarily high manufacturing standards in the production of its luxury caskets, involving a high percentage of hand crafting by expert craftsmen. The company accepted for example only 20% of the wood as meeting the "select grade" standard for ribbon grained mahogany. All casket parts were assembled with copper nails and brass screws. Marsellus also claimed that the amount of mahogany used in each 710 model was about 140 board feet - an equivalent of almost 3.700 square feet of veneer, enough for some 200 dining tables. The finishing process took about three weeks and consisted of a dozen different operations which included the application of half a dozen layers of sealer and lacquer as well as half a day of hand rubbing. President Kennedy's non ornamental, yet highly elegant and stylish mahogany casket had a brownish wooden stain and a semi gloss finish; inside, it featured a shirred champagne interior of non- rushing premium velvet and a moisture absorbing bed of pure white spun rayon. Gawler's Sons charged $ 2460 for the casket, which had a wholesale price of about 500 at that time, respectively an estimated 800 including an solid bronze inner liner. The high price of Kennedy's casket as well as the less common "hinged cap" design of its lid (of which only the uppermost part of the - divided - top was opened for viewing) seem to indicate that, probably, Kennedy's casket had been equipped with such a hermetically sealing inner bronze liner including a full length oval glass top, raising the weight of the (empty) casket from 260 to about 500 lbs. Due to the fact that the Marsellus # 710 model was also chosen for the burial of President Ford and Pres. Nixon, and probably for Pres. Hoover as well, this design has become almost synonymous with "the presidential casket" in the US.
The Elgin National Watch Company was founded in August 1864 in Chicago, Illinois.It was a major watch maker for the US until it was closed for business in 1968.
The Galaxie is a type of watch that is made by the Elgin watchmaking company. The Galaxie somes in several different styles and in both mens and womens versions.
Elgin boat company
The expression means that for the late President Kennedy two different caskets were used because the first one had been damaged. After Kennedy's death, the Dallas funeral home of Vernon O'Neal had provided their top of the line model, a hermetically sealing solid bronze casket "Handley" casket, manufactured by the (former) Elgin Metal Casket Company of Elgin, Ill., which had already produced the bronze casket of President Coolidge. The "Handley" was a double lid sealer casket (yet without an inner glass lid) weighing more than 300 lbs empty. The exterior had a "Britannia" (that is: partially brushed) finish with a transparent amber (reddish) tint. The interior consisted of an adjustable inner mattress and a white velvet and satin lining. O'Neal requested a sales price of $ 3.995 (estimated wholesale price at that time around 1.000) from the US Government, but was forced to lower the price later by 500. While loading and unloading the casket, the secret service people damaged some of the swing bar handles, which made it necessary to replaced the casket. The original Elgin casket eventually was dumped in the Atlantic ocean in 1966 by the Air Force in order to prevent it from becoming an object of morbid curiosity, especially after O'Neal had made the requested to buy it back for showing it in his funeral home. The damaged Elgin bronze casket was replaced by a mahogany casket provided by the prestigious Joseph Gawler's Sons funeral home of Washington, DC. The design chosen was a "Seven Ten" (710) made by the nation's leading hardwood casket manufacturer, the (former) Marsellus Casket Company of Syracuse, NY., which already had provided the mahogany casket of President Truman. Although the "Seven Ten" had a plain and unpretentious looking design of timeless simplicity, it was nevertheless an expensive luxury casket from solid 1-1/4" and 2-1/2" planks of up to 500 year old African mahogany trees - a fact which did not yet evoke any noticeable environmental criticism at that time. The understatement design had heavily rounded corners and all wooden swing bar handles with bronze tips and lugs. The Marsellus company had acquired the reputation of following extraordinarily high manufacturing standards in the production of its hardwood caskets, involving a high percentage of hand crafting by their expert craftsmen. The company accepted for example only 20% of the wood as meeting the "select grade" standard for ribbon grained mahogany. All casket parts were assembled with copper nails and brass screws. Marsellus also claimed that the amount of mahogany used in each 710 model was about 140 board feet - an equivalent of almost 3.700 square feet of veneer, enough for some 200 dining tables. The finishing process took about three weeks and consisted of a dozen different operations which included the application of half a dozen layers of sealer and lacquer as well as half a day of hand rubbing. President Kennedy's non ornamental, yet highly elegant and stylish mahogany casket had a brownish wooden stain and a semi gloss finish; inside, it featured a shirred champagne interior of non crushing premium velvet and a moisture absorbing bed of pure white spun rayon. Gawler's Sons charged $ 2460 for the casket, which had a wholesale price of about 500 at that time, respectively an estimated 800 including a solid bronze inner liner. The high price of Kennedy's casket as well as the less common "hinged cap" design of its lid (of which only the uppermost part of the - divided - top was opened for viewing) seem to indicate that, probably, Kennedy's casket had been equipped with such a hermetically sealing inner bronze liner including a full length oval glass top, raising the weight of the (empty) casket from 260 to about 500 lbs. Due to the fact that the Marsellus # 710 model was also chosen for the burial of President Ford and Pres. Nixon, and probably for Pres. Hoover as well, this design has become almost synonymous with "the presidential casket" in the US.