Batesville Casket is coy about starring role in Jackson funeral
Rob Cibik
By John Russell
Indianapolis (IN) Star
July 9, 2009
An Indiana company was center stage at pop superstar Michael Jackson's
funeral this week with a product no one could miss: a gleaming golden
casket, shined to a mirror finish.
Batesville Casket, the world's largest maker of caskets, provided the
luxurious Promethean model, which traditionally comes with a deep-blue
velvet interior.
Like Jackson, the casket is extravagant and showy. And it was front
and center at Jackson's service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles,
which millions watched live on television.
But like a low-key funeral provider that prefers to remain behind the
scenes, the company modestly confirmed the news without actually doing
so.
"We never discuss any particular business transaction, but based on
the images we saw on television, it appears to be a Promethean," said
Teresa Gyulafia, a Batesville spokeswoman.
She declined to reveal whether the casket had unique, custom-built
features or to disclose the price. Various funeral homes list the
Promethean at $25,000 to $30,000 on their websites.
Batesville is comfortable with high-profile funerals. It provided
caskets for Presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, John
Kennedy and Harry Truman. Celebrities buried in Batesville caskets
have included Bob Hope, Wilt Chamberlain, Farrah Fawcett and Fred
Astaire.
Three years ago, the company provided a Promethean casket, similar to
the one Jackson was buried in, for soul singer James Brown.
Batesville Casket is one of the largest companies in the small town of
Batesville, Ind., about 70 miles southeast of Indianapolis. It sells
caskets and related products through a direct sales force in the U.S.,
Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and South
Africa.
The company began in 1884, when furniture craftsmen and cabinetmakers
started building caskets in Batesville.
But in recent years, the operation has been struggling as more people
choose cremation over casket burials. Revenue of parent company
Hillenbrand (HI) fell 11% the three months ended March 31, to $170.8
million. The company has lowered its outlook for fiscal 2009, citing
weak casket demand.
But it had a shining moment at Jackson's funeral.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/2009-07-09-michael-jackson-casket_N.htm
Larc
I read somewhere that MJ saw James Brown's casket and said at the time he would
like to be buried in one like it.
Reports are Batesville delivered three for the Jackson family to choose from.
Having more than one of them on tap makes me wonder if the one brought to the
Staples Center could have been one of the two not picked and was empty. The
casket containing MJ's body could have been quietly slipped into Berry Gordy's
empty Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills wall crypt temporarily while public attention
was diverted elsewhere. Adding to this suspicion is news that the Forest Lawn
hearse that transported the casket in the procession to the Staples Center left
before services even began. Another hearse took the casket away from Staples,
but it wasn't in the departing procession and reportedly had no identifying name
on it. All Forest Lawn hearses supposedly have that name prominently displayed
in both rear side door windows.
Not only would that scenario have been easily possible, it would have been
logical and even preferable IMHO. The Staples Center affair wasn't MJ's
funeral. That was held in the Forest Lawn Hall of Liberty prior to Staples.
What would have been the need of actually hauling his body there and then back
when the casket wasn't even opened? An empty identical prop would have done the
job just as nicely as the real thing, and nobody other than family and those in
on the charade would have known the difference.
Larc
Tim J.
Matthew Kruk
nevermind.
"Rob Cibik" <lcp...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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