A Local Legacy - 2012 Mastercraft Casket Company

G
enuine, solid wood has always
been a symbol of comfort and
elegance. If we think back to
the cradles that rocked us as infants,
the polished and painted toys we played
with as children, and the dining room
tables that every year are laden with
Thanksgiving dinner, handcrafted wood
is always present. High-quality handcrafted wood is hard to come by these
days, but Mastercraft Casket Company
in Graham understands the significance
that fine wood has always played in our
lives and the lasting memories it creates.
That is why their hardwood caskets
are still made the old-fashioned way,
taking weeks to months and, in some
cases, years to manufacture. For example, a casket made from African mahogany can take years to create because the
African mahogany tree only grows deep
in the jungle. When the tree is found
and cut down, elephants drag the tree
hundreds of miles to a major river, then
place it in the river to float down stream
to a major shoreline. There the saw
mill cuts the tree into boards. Wooden
lumber for caskets has to cure one year
per inch of thickness. So boards that are
four inches thick have to air dry for four
years before Mastercraft can even begin
to use them to make a casket.
Casket – what does it mean? The word
is derived from the French word caisse,
meaning “precious chest”. From ordinary jewelry boxes to elusive treasure
chests, people have used wood to encase
what is dear to them. A loved one, more
precious than any material possession,
deserves a “precious chest”.
Bill Simpson, the president of the
Mastercraft Casket Company takes
pride in the fact that since the end of the
Civil War in 1865, there’s been a casket
company in continuous operation in
Alamance County. First there was Burlington Coffin Company which operated
for 105 years in downtown Burlington.
In 1970, a 98-year-old company from
Syracuse, New York named the Marsellus Casket Company came to town
as Burlington Coffin Company was
phasing out of business. Bill Simpson
worked for years with Marsellus, but
when the economy changed in 1979,
Marsellus decided to close its southern
branch. Bill and other former Marsellus
employees decided to try to start a new
company for themselves.
The first item of business for the new
company was to come up with a name.
Most casket companies are named after
an individual or a city. The founders
chose the name Mastercraft, meaning
home of the “Master Craftsman”. Mastercraft specializes in all handcrafted,
solid hardwood caskets from a one inch
thick solid pine to a four inch thick
solid American black walnut or African
mahogany. Everything at Mastercraft is
all solid wood, no veneers, totally built
by hand, and constructed with the best
materials possible; including solid copper nails and solid brass screws.
“We are the last casket company that
is doing things the old-fashioned way,”
Simpson says. Mastercraft is committed to maintaining the course of quality,
customization, service, and dedication.
They recognize the importance of a local market in an outsource-dominated
economy, and plan to remain in North
Carolina, the heart of the furniture industry, for years to come.
Many businesses today compromise
quality for speed and quantity. Metal
caskets are conducive to mass production and can be stamped out and welded
together in minutes. The average Mastercraft casket has 55 hours of work put
into it; some of the premier pieces take
over 300 hours to complete. With an
average of over 20 years of experience
each, the company’s craftsmen create
the shape of the casket by gluing small
boards together to make larger boards,
shaping the ends, sides, and tops of each
masterpiece, and sewing the beautiful
interior lining.
Mastercraft – the local company with
a national reputation. A company that
has provided the finest of products for
world leaders, heads of state, celebrities and political leaders, as well as your
family. Mastercraft’s caskets are 100%
American made. It’s a family-owned
local company, serving local, as well as,
international funeral homes, employing
local people, paying local taxes and supporting our local community.
The public has no reason to think
about the fact that the same number of
people die on Christmas Day and other
holidays, as they do on any other regular
given day. When this happens, Mastercraft, through your local Funeral Director, is there to serve your every need.
Mastercraft is not a store; they do not
sell directly to the public. Mastercraft is
chartered as a wholesale manufacturer
selling to licensed funeral homes. Their
job is to help you and your local funeral
director make your loved ones funeral
more meaningful.
Churches, civic groups and individual
families can call and arrange a tour. Seeing the raw, unfinished wood enter-
ing one end of the Mastercraft Casket
Company in Graham and a beautifully
elegant work of art emerging from the
other end is like watching the transformation of a chrysalis into a stunning
butterfly. The artisans who perform
their magic between those two points,
whether master woodworker or gifted
seamstress, take great pride in their work
and accept nothing less than perfection.
Thirty-three years of careful attention
to detail, has earned Mastercraft Casket
Company a rightful place in the elite
ranks of successful custom manufactures in the country. And they’re one of
the facets of the glittering jewel we call
Alamance County.
(Kim Lilienthal is an Elon University
student studying Literature and Professional Writing and Rhetoric. She is highly
involved in the New Student Orientation
program, and works year-round with a
small group of student leaders to prepare
for first-year move-in day.)
Published in May 2012
Alamance Magazine