Pens with human remains in them

[ParramattaPaul]

1 hour ago, alexwi said:

 

I'm not offended at all by this discussion and, as much as I obviously loathe that period of history, I find it anything but taboo - http://photo.alexwieder.com/my-favorite-spoon/

 

If anything, it's an interesting thread - a few weeks ago, I purchased a couple of tiny pill holders on aliexpress that are marketed as vessels supposed to be filled with ashes and hung on a necklace, which I find utterly silly, but to each their own.

 

Alex

The topic doesn't offend me either. Nor does any discussion of things, times, and places historical. History needs to be remembered and discussed lest we forget and repeat it. 

My issue here is as mentioned earlier, turning human remains into an item like a pen does echo the NAZI's use of human skin to make lampshades.  More importantly there are questions in my mind about whether such practices recognise and honour the person that was, or is it motivated by something else.

[Aether]

The body of the deceased should be a resource.  Seems a waste not to use as much of it as possible.  And in fact this does happen with organ donors of course.  At the very least use the remains as fertiliser.

 

 

[Catpaws]

I think its creepy to use a persons body parts for something else. I would not want to buy a pen made from another persons body. Saving a lock of hair seems to be a way to stay connected with a loved one. Maybe I am superstitious. What if the essence of an unhappy person ends up in that pen?

[Catpaws]

Plus it gives me Harry Potter Deathly Hallows vibes. 

[amberleadavis]

In the last two years, I my mother passed, and my two neighbors passed and I've had to make decisions for others and being very sick myself, I have been talking with my children about my own remains.

 

For my (step) mother, I had her remains made into a paperweight along with matching paperweights of her parents ashes.

 

For myself, I asked my my kids if they wanted paperweights. My son has decided to have ink made from my remains.  Not only can you make tattoo  ink, but you can make fountain pen ink from remains.  My son says it gives a whole new meaning to "writing mom" -  and we share the joke.  

 

Discussing end of life decisions is difficult but I wish that my mom had spent time talking with me about more of her wishes for herself and her parents.  I take comfort in having her with me in the paperweight, but that same paperweight distresses my daughter.

 

Though now, @Lamy4life has given me an idea of a glass dip pen.

[Garcia-Deschacht]

Once I made a fountain pen with a small container in the back of the pen to hold some remaining ashes of a person, for a client of mine.

It was very important to this client to have her relative with her everyday.

[essayfaire]

8 hours ago, Garcia-Deschacht said:

Once I made a fountain pen with a small container in the back of the pen to hold some remaining ashes of a person, for a client of mine.

It was very important to this client to have her relative with her everyday.

This reminds me of people who kept the ashes in urns in their living rooms.  Quite traditional and touching rather than macabre.

[Paul_LZ]

@amberleadavisI think it is very courages to talk about this matter with one's family and I admire you for this. I wouldn't mind having my remains converted into a paper weight, something to keep when I am gone. 

[Paul_LZ]

4 hours ago, essayfaire said:

This reminds me of people who kept the ashes in urns in their living rooms.  Quite traditional and touching rather than macabre.

True!

[Paul_LZ]

23 hours ago, Catpaws said:

I think its creepy to use a persons body parts for something else. I would not want to buy a pen made from another persons body. Saving a lock of hair seems to be a way to stay connected with a loved one. Maybe I am superstitious. What if the essence of an unhappy person ends up in that pen?

A lock of the person's hair...

This is something I will do when my wife passes away, if she does so before I do. 

And tie it up with a fine lilac ribbon, our favourite colour. 

 

[Garcia-Deschacht]

15 hours ago, essayfaire said:

This reminds me of people who kept the ashes in urns in their living rooms.  Quite traditional and touching rather than macabre.

I agree with that.

[inkstainedruth]

Of course now I'm remembering *this* : 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[amberleadavis]

On 6/2/2022 at 8:27 PM, inkstainedruth said:

Of course now I'm remembering *this* : 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Okay, that was worth a big laugh!

[peroride]

On 6/2/2022 at 8:27 PM, inkstainedruth said:

Of course now I'm remembering *this* : 

🤣 Thank you, I miss Night Court and the good old days of TV

 

As to remains, as an earthing going back to the earth when my time is up, I hope to be repurposed into something useful like a tree, but a pen is not bad either.

 

Either way, I won't be choosing!

[ParramattaPaul]

1 hour ago, peroride said:

Either way, I won't be choosing!

I on the other hand, have chosen.  I've made it quite clear to my adult children that I am to go in the ground -- our family plot -- with my late wife and their mother.  It is something that is important to them and to me, so the matter is solved.

[amk]

I *have* made dip pens which included human remains. If anyone would like to buy a slightly bloodstained dip pen... yup, accidents happen on the lathe 🙂

 

There is a book bound with the skin of the Red Barn murderer, William Corder, in the Moyses Hall museum in Bury St Edmunds. The museum also displays his scalp. The book is, in a way, poetic justice - it's a copy of the proceedings of his trial. The link is part of an intriguing piece of research about criminals' remains.

 

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/William-Corder-display-case-Moyses-Hall-Museum-Bury-St-Edmunds-The-display-includes_fig3_303740370

 

But yes, I confess to being uneasy about using human skin or ashes in objects. It is, as several people already noted, too close to the Holocaust, but also, as a keen reader of MR James, I know what happens to you if you look through dead men's eyes or enshrine ashes at the heart of your maze...

[Aether]

I want a pen made from the bones of my enemies!!! hahahahcough

[carola]

Someone I know told me once, they would have their father´s ashes made into an artificial diamond and that diamond made into a necklace.

 

Personally, I wouldn´t want to carry someone´s dead body around with me. Not because I find it disgusting or frightening, I think it would literally weigh me down. I also wouldn´t want to keep an urn with ashes in my living room. I have been confronted with death frequently enough, I don´t need that kind of memento mori in my life.

 

And I think there is a significant difference between donating organs, donating the whole body for science or burying ashes beneath a tree which will help the tree grow on one hand and making objects like the infamous Nazi lamp shades or books bound in some poor sod´s skin that will serve as morbid objects of curiosity and earn someone probably a lot of money on the other. Also, no taxidermy for me.

[ParramattaPaul]

19 minutes ago, carola said:

Someone I know told me once, they would have their father´s ashes made into an artificial diamond and that diamond made into a necklace.

 

Personally, I wouldn´t want to carry someone´s dead body around with me. Not because I find it disgusting or frightening, I think it would literally weigh me down. I also wouldn´t want to keep an urn with ashes in my living room. I have been confronted with death frequently enough, I don´t need that kind of memento mori in my life.

 

And I think there is a significant difference between donating organs, donating the whole body for science or burying ashes beneath a tree which will help the tree grow on one hand and making objects like the infamous Nazi lamp shades or books bound in some poor sod´s skin that will serve as morbid objects of curiosity and earn someone probably a lot of money on the other. Also, no taxidermy for me.

Well-reasoned and well said.  Thank you.

[Aether]

I think the following article is worth a complete read. I don't expect any Westerners to change their view on the subject but it may give some pause to think.

 

BBC article