Why be buried in a boring coffin, when you can get handmade coffins that look like a Mercedes Benz, lobster, onion, shoe, beer bottle, even a cigarette?
From the website:
For the Ga tribe in coastal Ghana, funerals are a time of mourning, but also of celebration. The Ga people believe that when their loved ones die, they move on into another life -- and the Ga make sure they do so in style. They honor their dead with brightly colored coffins that celebrate the way they lived.
The coffins are designed to represent an aspect of the dead person's life -- such as a car if they were a driver, a fish if their livelihood was the sea -- or a sewing machine for a seamstress. They might also symbolize a vice -- such as a bottle of beer or a cigarette.
Hello. My name is Mari of Osaka,JAPAN. I'd like you to make mine. In Japan, The size of a coffin is required; 50x60x160~190.( My height is 163cm.)+ made of THIN,easily burn WOOD(this is A MUST). Is it possible to order one without visiting you in Teshi,Ghana? Please email me. Then I'll tell you the details about my coffin(shape,collor,etc.)+ I'd like to know　the price. Am waiting for your reply. THANK YOU. email add.;mariguitar@hotmail.com name;Mari tel+fax;72-298-5162(Japan) BEST REGARDS,
That picture shows shelves in the bottle which would preclude it from being used as a coffin. Obviously a made up story that shows how gullible people are. As for Mari from Japan, you really need to calm down before publishing all of your personal information on a public blog, especially one that is talking about a bogus product. Why don't you just start sending your money to Nigeria right now.
Bob, did you actually go to the linked website to see the rest of the coffins? I agree that the shelf things are suspicious. Maybe the corpse is supposed to go through the cap and the door is just for viewing.
This is real people, I've seen carpenters make and sell those coffins in Teshie, Ghana. It's a tradition of the Ga-people. Nothing freaky about it - that's just what you make of it by looking through your western glasses.
"Obviously a made up story that shows how gullible people are."
Actually it is very real. I read an article about it in the economist recently. They are worried about the ammount of money the Ghanians are spending on their funerals, when they are so poor. They say wasting money in this way will be economically bad for the country. But culturely the funeral is perhaps their biggest statement to their community, always trying to out do others.
Another interesting fact is that they try and keep bodies frozen in the morgue for as long as possible, as this shows how afluent you are (it costs alot).
email add.;mariguitar@hotmail.com
name;Mari
tel+fax;72-298-5162(Japan)
BEST REGARDS,
As for Mari from Japan, you really need to calm down before publishing all of your personal information on a public blog, especially one that is talking about a bogus product. Why don't you just start sending your money to Nigeria right now.
Actually it is very real. I read an article about it in the economist recently. They are worried about the ammount of money the Ghanians are spending on their funerals, when they are so poor. They say wasting money in this way will be economically bad for the country. But culturely the funeral is perhaps their biggest statement to their community, always trying to out do others.
Another interesting fact is that they try and keep bodies frozen in the morgue for as long as possible, as this shows how afluent you are (it costs alot).
The "shelves" may not be shelves. I work with modern caskets, and they have support stuts in them beneath the lining.
real fantasy coffins