Published In:
Ann Arbor News, July 3, 1952
Caption:
NO MUMMY, THIS: This is not a mummy - it's a cast iron casket more than 100 years old. It was discovered this week in the basement of Mack & Mack, the furniture store at 211 W. Michigan Ave. in Ypsilanti, which is being remodeled. Proprietor Atwood R. McAndrew, jr., believes it dates back to the mid-1800's when the present store housed a business which manufactured its own coffins. Earliest records indicate the store was taken over in 1840 by Daniel Coon, who operated an undertaking parlor and furniture company. In 1872, Harrison Vinkel of Dexter and George McElcheran bought the business, and Vinkel sold out to his partner. Thomas W. MacAndrew, grandfather of the proprietor, became a partner to McElcheran in 1876 and the pair founded the firm, Mack & Mack, a contraction of the two surnames. Holding the casket in this picture is a store employe, Carl Stafford of 1286 Danvers Ct., Willow Village. Designed for a deceased child, it features a hinged iron plate over a glass plate, permitting a view of the cadaver's face. The iron caskets were used before modern embalming skills were known.