ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses that the coffin lid to the body of the coffin, which generally replaced thumb-screws in the early twentieth century. This typology, with its primary divisions along functional lines, serves to encompass much of the mass-produced coffin hardware encountered in North America. Critical for the development of a broader discussion of coffin hardware and inter-site comparisons is a standardized typology. Garrows hardware typology included coffin handles, thumbscrews and escutcheons, glass viewing ports, coffin plates, and other hardware including cap lifters, a Masonic emblem, upholstery items, decorative brass studs, ornamental metal, and coffin fasteners or closures. More recently, James Davidson has done extensive research into coffin hardware catalogs available in both private collections and publicly-accessible repositories. Handles have been documented in North American burials dating more than a full century prior to the development of the domestic coffin hardware industry, but these examples are few and far between.
