The U.S. population both grows and grows older, but the number of caskets sold in 1996 is no more that the number sold in 1980. Some in the casket business think the answer to cremation is hotter caskets. If you're a military veteran, say, you might think your box would look smart with American flag accents. A major casket company will customize. The episode's traveler was exploring the upper Atlantic coast of Africa and stopped to observe funerary practices in one of the countries.
Coffins are temporary, celebratory things.
If the deceased liked his cigarettes, his coffin might look like a pack. If he liked his rum, his coffin would look like a fifth of it. Were he an athlete, he might be buried in a plywood Nike. My mom's still waiting for me to scatter her in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. But I still have a few years before she'll wait longer than my stepfather waited for her to scatter him there.