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The phenomenon of dying can be very daunting. Perhaps because the thought of leaving behind so much is what scares us the most. There are probably some things you’d want to take with you to the afterlife because they hold special sentimental value in your hearts. A photo that’s dear to you or a love letter you want to be a part of you for eternity.
Manifestly, throughout history, people have been buried with their most valued possessions. Things they wanted to keep with them forever.
The name Leonard resonates with prowess in the field of music. This famous composer is the maestro behind timeless songs in musicals like “On the Town” and “West Side Story.” Bernstein was buried with a copy of Alice in Wonderland, a baton, a lucky penny, a piece of Amber and also a copy of Gustav Mahler’s fifth symphony. Bernstein idolized the Austrian conductor.
Even though the phenomenal actor was cremated, his remains were buried with a gold whistle inscribed with the words “If you want anything, just whistle.” He had given the whistle to his wife Lauren Bacall, years earlier. The line is in reference to a film “To Have and Have Not,” the two starred in together in 1944. The original lines from the film are,
“You know you don’t have to act with me. You don’t have to say anything, and you don’t have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.” But that’s a little too long to put on a whistle, don’t you think?
Burns had a long and impressive career. His expertise in comedy, acting and singing spanned generations. Nonetheless, the one monotonous thing about all his photographs is that he always had a cigar in his mouth or his hand. And unsurprisingly, he was interred with a pair of cigars in his pocket.
The British writer is responsible for the classics “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “James the Giant.” Dahl loved chocolate, so he was buried with some snooker cues, a power saw, a bottle of burgundy pencils and some chocolate.
The famous magician and escape artist died at an early age of 52 because of a ruptured appendix. Houdini was interred with a letter written to him by his beloved mother.
Lugosi tried his utmost best to breach his association with Transylvania’s creepiest resident. However, until the end of his life, he was never able to and will forever be known as Dracula. Nevertheless, Lugosi was buried in his full Dracula apparel.
The filmmaker and artist was buried with an Estee Lauder perfume. “I really love wearing perfume. Sometimes at parties, I slip away to the bathroom just to see what colognes they’ve got. I never look at anything else—I don’t snoop—but I’m compulsive about seeing if there’s some obscure perfume I haven’t tried yet, or a good old favorite I haven’t smelled in a long time. If I see something interesting, I can’t stop myself from pouring it on. But then for the rest of the evening, I’m paranoid that the host or hostess will get a whiff of me and notice that I smell like somebody-they-know.”
Burroughs wrote some of the most controversial novels of the 20th century. After his death, the Beat Generation writer was buried with a marijuana joint, a fedora, a sword cane and a loaded 38 revolver.
The singer died at the age of 29 in a plane crash. He was interred with his black hat and fishing pole.
The Jamaican reggae artist left behind a legacy. He died of cancer at the age of 36 and was buried with some marijuana, a bible and his Red Paul Gibson guitar.
