Casket for Three
Learn the tragic story behind the ‘triple casket,’ the family-sized Casket for Three on display at the National Museum of Funeral History in Houston, TX.
These grave markers are as sad as they are sweet. These dollhouses were built by grieving parents for their beloved daughters, complete with favorite toys and other significant items. Though they are plagued by vandalism through the years, they continue to be kept up and restored when need be.
Dorothy Marie Harvey (1926-1931)
Dorothy Marie Harvey and her family were passing through Medina, Tennessee on their way North to find work. When Dorothy got measles and died, the townfolk helped her family bury her in Hope Hill Cemetery.
Her parents left her behind and continued on.
Local legends says that you can sometimes see Dorothy when you look in the windows of her dollhouse.
Vivian Mae Allison (1894-1899)
The dollhouse of Vivian Mae Allison is located in the Connersville City Cemetery in Connersville, Indiana.
Lova Cline (1902-1908)
Lova Cline’s dollhouse memorial is in the Arlington East Hill Cemetery in Arlington, Indiana.
Nadine Earles (1929-1933)
The grave of Nadine Earles is in the Oakwood Cemetery in Lanett, Alabama.
The story goes that Nadine wanted a dollhouse for Christmas. Since she died just before the holiday, her parents built her a dollhouse on her grave and filled it with her toys and personal belongings.
The dollhouse with the headstone of “Kelly” next to it is in Emery Cemetery, outside of Phillips, Wisconsin. The little girl’s name was Bertha and she drowned when she was 5 years old in a pond behind the barn at her sister’s home. She was born in 1907 and died in 1912.
Vivian Mae Allison, This was how i knew we were almost to my Grandparents house is when we passed this site. I always thought it was an interesting way to remember a child.
i couldnt imagine the pain of these parents losing a child so young.these dollhouses in every respect are amazing. If building these dollhouses for their daughters is a way to ease a pain that that these parents had that probably never went away when they were alive(early dates) then that is their wish. In their eyes they are finding a way to make their daughters at rest and happy. I am a believer in the spirit world. with encounters throughout the years. and with children spirits. So wheither or not they visti their site, they will do what they are… Read more »
once I heard about Nadine Earles I was sad and just wanted to keep researching about her every day
totally agree with you Kathlees! I would spare no expense for my grandaughters!
right i agree with you Kathleen
I wonder who dusts and keeps the interior clean…..they all seem to have been looked after
Sorry to say however the third picture is not what you claim. Facts be given this little girl rest with watch from her favorite doll in Emery, Wisconsin.
I live near the Lova Cline marker. It is a sweet memorial to her. We see little toy figurines and candy set out for her beside the little house from those who visit by.
I would do this for my daughters in a heartbeat, but I hope I will never have to.
It made a huge difference to the families of these children, which you would know had you ever lost one, I’m sure. The memorials are for the living, not the dead, so others may share in their lives and know who they were, and how much they were loved.
I visited Lova Clines grave as a child. I was probably 4-5 years old. Made a huge impact on me as a child. I am now 63 years old and I still remember it. I was fascinated as a child to peer in the windows and look at the toys inside. My family is buried in this cemetery also dating back to 1879.
What’s the diff? Their spirit will not visit
What a waste of time, money, and effort on worldly things! The dead children will never know it was done and the family members that would remember them are all long gone or very, very old in 2020. I do understand the mourning and sorrow of losing their child, but this is just too weird for me. But then,I think all graves are a waste of space that the living could be using. I say just cremate me and scatter my ashes to the wind!lol Not saying anyone has to agree, of course, but just offering a different viewpoint…