Saved by the ......bell?

The funeral industry has had some pretty strange

inventions over the past 200 years. One of the oddest

goes back to the 19th century.. when someone invented,

believe it or not....the safety coffin.

Those two words seem to compete with one another

do they not? The idea of the coffin was simple. A long

rope was tied to the hand of the deceased...fished thru

a home in the lid of the coffin..and I assume thru some

type of cylinder to the top of the grave, and finally

attached to a bell near the headstone. The idea was, if

you were buried prematurely, comatose, whatever....

and if you awakened after burial .. you just pulled the

cord and the bell would be sounded.. summoning

someone to come save you!

The Germans were busy

with this, with over 30 different patents for such

devices. One was so elaborate, it had a cord tied

to each hand and to each foot...so the slightest

movement would ring the bell. They didn't realize

that body decomposition could form gas and

bloating...and could actually cause movement

enough to set off the alarm. Amazing.  And so

comes the terms; 'saved by the bell' ...and

'dead ringer'.....so now you know.