- A third steamer Cape Girardeau was christened 100 years ago (3/26/24)
- Cape Girardeau christens its namesake (3/19/24)
- The humanist philosophy of Lester Mondale (3/12/24)1
- Cape Osteopathic Hospital opens its doors (3/5/24)
- 8 killed and a million dollars damage done in 1924 tornado (2/27/24)1
- Jackson's militant priest, county recorder at odds over marriage licenses (2/20/24)
- Streaking fad comes to Cape (2/13/24)2
Bonus blog: Halloween and coffins just seem to go together
This being Halloween, I thought this odd little story about a glass-lidded coffin might be appropriately weird for the day. It also tweaked my memory about a story from my first year at the Southeast Missourian, and I found the article with little effort. I've removed the names of the university students charged in the case of the purloined prop. No doubt, today they are all three upstanding members of society.
Published Dec. 16, 1994, in the Southeast Missourian:
Lonnie Brandes of Peddler's Corner bought a slightly-used coffin this week. He's looking for a buyer. (Fred Lynch ~ Southeast Missourian archive)
SECOND-HAND STORE OFFERS SLIGHTLY-USED COFFIN FOR SALE
By SAM BLACKWELL
Southeast Missourian
For Sale: Casket. Slightly used.
It appeared earlier this week next to the tables and chairs lining the sidewalk next to Peddler's Corner, an antiques and second-hand store at the corner of Broadway and Sprigg Street. Price tag:$65.
The casket has a mysterious history.
A middle-aged woman walked in the store Monday and asked manager Lonnie Brandes "if I bought stuff."
He walked outside with her to find, in the back of her small pickup, a coffin.
He bought it. "I kind of like weird things," he says in explanation.
The casket was in good shape and about six feet long. The top was made of see-through glass, the bottom lightweight metal. The inside was silky.
The woman told Brandes her husband acquired the casket while attending mortuary school.
The family apparently learned that coffins can be versatile. "They had used it as a coffee table," Brandes said.
The family also took advantage of the glass top by putting a terrarium inside.
The woman didn't say why she'd want to get rid of such a grand terrarium.
Where she's from also is unknown.
"I didn't ask too many questions about it," Brandes said.
He reasons that putting a coffin on the sidewalk is at least a good way to get people to notice his business.
It's been a source of humor among his regular customers, who wonder whether his business license covers coffins.
In his 2 1/2 years in the business, Brandes has bought and sold odd items before. A shoe shine stand, for instance.
"But this is the first (coffin) I've ever had," he said.
It might not be the last. "I like weird things," Brandes reiterated.
Published on the front page of the Thursday, Nov. 6, 1980, Southeast Missourian:
COFFIN PUSHERS PUSH THEIR WAY FROM ELLIS TO CITY JAIL
By GREG SELLNOW
Southeast Missourian
The mystery, horror and suspense of Halloween was supposed to have faded into the past for another year. But strange things were happening in Cape Girardeau Wednesday night nearly a week after Halloween.
Susan Saint James had just flown off with Dracula in the movie, "Love at First Bite," on CBS. But that was just a film.
Just after the movie, real-life "grave robbers" were seen rolling a coffin down Ellis Street. Three men were caught by police minutes later and arrested on suspicion of burglary.
Police said they received a call from a woman at about 10 p.m. who told them that she saw three persons wheeling a black coffin down Ellis Street.
Police approached three men rolling the Fiberglas coffin down Ellis Street on a dolly shortly after the call, and when the men could not come up with a viable reason for wheeling a coffin down the middle of the street at 10 o'clock at night, officers suspected the coffin might have been taken from the Jaycees Haunted House at 802 Independence St.
They then notified Ben Griffith, chairman of the haunted house committee, who went to the house and determined that it had been entered.
In the meantime, police examined the coffin and found a body inside -- the body of a female mannequin that is.
Griffin said entry into the haunted house was gained by removing a board from a second story window. He said several mannequins were knocked down. But he said nothing appeared to be missing other than the casket, borrowed from a resident in Jackson, and the female mannequin.
Griffin explained that Jaycees had started to remove items from the house earlier in the day, and planned to continue Thursday.
Charged today with trespassing and stealing were Mark D. ______, 18, of Ballwin, Missouri; Mark B. _______, 18, of St. Louis and Charles A. _______, 18, of Florissant, Missouri. All three are Southeast Missouri State University students.
Sgt. Steve Strong of the detective division explained that stealing is a "serious offense."
Before formal charges had been field, Strong noted that burglary probably would not be included in the charges because of "the nature of the offense."
Strong pointed out that the incident may have been intended as a prank. However, he emphasized that breaking into a house can warrant severe penalties, prank or no prank.
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