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Home Memories on Parade Meet the Family A Town is Born The Growing McCullough Family A Church Becomes a Reality A Closing Word The Man Called Guelcksie A is for Arthur The Coffin House Poet and Philosopher -- Aged Seven The Two Room School House Open the Windows and Open the Doors Sixteen Girls in White Four Girls and Five Boys The Poet in Hot Water Windows Open for Edith The Great Decision Bo Peep Epilogue Notes |
THE COFFIN HOUSE The Coffin House was another of Papa's small businesses and a lucrative one. There was no competitor in a wide area. It was a long windowless building that bordered our lawn on the north side and had one big front door that opened to the street. The door was high and opened over a platform at the level of a wagon bed. The building contained boxes that stood on end along the walls, the lighter inner boxes that were to be decorated with fabric and braid in soft colors, and the bigger outer boxes that encased the the smaller. On the shelves along the walls were boxes of braid, tassels, nails with ornamental heads, and handles of metal and wood. When a wagon was backed up to the front door we knew that someone had died and that a coffin was being selected and would be called for when trimmed and ready. We were not allowed to go in the building at any time. The trimming was another job that was left to Arthur, who often worked at it at night. I remember listening to the tap tap tapping of his hammer after I had gone to bed. |