Katharina Buczek
If no one was around to hear the chimes, though, those underground did not need to fret– because Franz considered that possibility, too. That’s why he also included a ladder, which was supposed to allow people to independently “ascend from the grave.”
Imagine seeing that walking past a cemetery today!
The Easy Lift Coffin
By 1907, inventor Johan Jacob Toolen had also jumped on the patent bandwagon and unveiled his easy-opening casket.
Johan believed that the prematurely buried might be a bit groggy and disoriented– which was a fair assumption. Plus, they would probably want to get back on their feet as soon as possible without relying on people outside for help.
So, he decided to design a coffin with easy-to-lift lids that were light and required little strength to open.
“With very slight exertion on his part, [the presumed dead] can immediately obtain a supply of fresh air and may afterward leave the coffin,” Johan said of his invention.
Other Survival Strategies For Accidental Burial
In the eighteenth century, one English woman named Hannah Beswick left all of her assets for her doctor, Charles White.
But Hannah’s only condition for affording him the inheritance was that her body could never be buried. Ever!
Instead, Hannah had concocted a foolproof plan to ensure that her soul had truly departed and was not still trapped inside her body.
