I remember the day this ‘casket key’ (sometimes called a burial vault key) was handed to my daddy at my grandfather’s burial in March of 1964.
Being nine years old, I did not think much about it at the time.
I am always ‘going through’ boxes of memories; and there it was.
This is a specialized hex-head wrench used for two main purposes: locking the casket and adjusting the bed (the interior platform the body rests on). They are designed to look decorative because they are sometimes used in front of families.
In many traditions, the locking of the casket is a significant emotional moment marking the ‘finality’ of the service. Funeral homes usually keep these as tools (after further investigation - I found markings, etc. that signals this was not a universal wrench/key. Could that have been why it was given to my daddy?
According to research, it has become a modern tradition in some areas to present the key to the next of kin after the casket is locked as a symbolic gesture of ‘keeping their loved one safe’ or as a promise that the rest will not be disturbed.
I loved my grandfather - William Luther Allison (1876-1964).
I love finding keepsakes - memories of a precious times.
Whether or not this is common - I have never seen another ‘key’ handed to anyone . . . at any burial. Perhaps I will. Beautiful - to me.
Anna Allison-Burgess
January 18, 2026
