...In 1960, the creator of the “Jim Wilson Desk” at American Airlines, Harry Bate, established a special outreach to funeral homes for the shipment of bodies system-wide, which also enhanced the patronage of family transportation in harmony with the decedent. At the time, a “sleeping bag type” rental unit known as PADAT was utilized by airlines, as its tight dimension strapped to the casket allowed for expanded opportunities to final destinations in smaller aircraft. But they had a major problem: caskets were constantly arriving at the funeral home destination with dents and damage, with no evidence of damage outside the container. The airline was forced to assume damage claims and sometimes pay for a new casket when the cause of the damage could not be identified. After studying the potential causes for damage, I created the wooden tray with the smallest dimension that would contain a standard casket. Allan fiddled with folded cardboard and we created “The Casket Airtray,” which had a folding inner liner and a telescoping top that could lower exactly to one inch above the crown of a casket. This allowed the funeral director and airlines to know which aircraft could accommodate the shipment. In May 1960, the first Casket Airtray was presented at the California Funeral Directors Association convention. Its general concept has become the world standard for most all shipments...