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Need a knock ‘em dead prop for your haunted house?  Try Eisenbrant’s spring loaded “Life-Preserving Coffin!”

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“Life-Preserving Coffin, In Doubtful Cases of Actual Death”

Drawing for a Life-Preserving Coffin, 11/15/1843

The fear of being buried alive led Christian Henry Eisenbrandt to patent a “life-preserving coffin in doubtful cases of actual death.” In his application, he claimed that through a series of springs and levers, even the slightest motion of the head or hand would instantaneously open the coffin lid.

via DocsTeach

(Also fun at parties)