I’m not sure what made me think of this today, but every now and then I see an American Embalming Fluid manufactured by American Fluid Co. Kansas City MO crate when I’m perusing the antique malls here in Kansas City. I’m not sure why I’ve never pulled the trigger and purchased one, but the next time I see one, I think I’m a buyer. When I do, I’ll post some better pictures as well.
I’ve had a lot of trouble trying to track down the American Fluid Co. here in KC. I do know that they held a patent for one of the first embalming pumps from 1919 to 1937. After an exhaustive search, I did find that their location was at 3842 Indiana Avenue, which is now a vacant lot behind a bus stop. (Any history buffs interested, I finally found it here in the 1920 Kansas Citian.) Several later directories from the 1960’s list the address as 4002 Woodland Avenue, which is another empty lot, this one in a residential neighborhood (though it may be zoned commercial.)
What would you do with one of these American Embalming Fluid crates? If you’re like me, you’d place it somewhere in your home where it would undoubtedly start many a conversation. If you were more ambitious though, you could turn it into a pretty sweet guitar.