In the dead of the night, with the economy facing the last rites, unemployed carpenter John Peddar struck an idea for a boom and bust-proof career — coffin making.

"It was during the recession of the 90s and there wasn't much work around," Mr Peddar recalled.

"I was lying in bed one night and I thought: 'What can I do that people will always need? And I thought 'coffins'."

That was 25 years ago.

"I contacted a funeral director, found out about this company, got a job and I've been here ever since."

Making coffins, curiously, seems to encourage longevity.

Paul Callahan, the manager of the funeral company, joined the business 20 years ago.

He did not expect to stay that long, but the work has provided some unexpected satisfaction.

"When we get feedback from funeral directors about how happy a family was with a coffin … then you know you've helped someone at a time they really needed it," he said.

Many families now request to have coffins customised. ( ABC News: Simon Royal )

Bigger coffins make eternity more comfortable

Mr Callahan said the firm was the only one in South Australia which manufactured caskets completely in-house, rather than just assembled pre-cut components.

A simple, unlacquered coffin can be made within a day, while a stained casket takes a little longer to cure.

Mr Callahan said that back when he started in the job, 70 per cent of coffins were a standard size.

This coffin proved too big for a church doorway. ( ABC News: Simon Royal )

"There's a six-foot coffin which traditionally was a coffin for a man and there's a five-foot-nine coffin which is traditionally a coffin for a woman and these were 20 inches wide and 12 inches deep," he said.

Increasingly, though, the growing girth and height of Australians means those dimensions would make eternity a tight fit.

The company now builds an oversized range — longer, deeper and wider than the standard.

Mr Callahan said stocks of those coffins turned over quickly so there were always some on hand.

Sometimes, though, bigger is still not big enough.

In those cases Mr Callahan said the funeral director would give the exact measurements of the deceased for a coffin to be made.

But just because it is made to measure does not mean the coffin will fit where it is needed.

"We've got two coffins like that," Mr Callahan said.

"The funeral director had ordered the coffin and then discovered that it wouldn't fit through any door in his premises and then, on another occasion, the coffin wouldn't fit into the small church where the funeral was due to be held.

"So we had to take them back and hurriedly make slightly smaller versions."

Individuality changing coffin requirements

Coffins remain in high demand, but not the most expensive top-end models. ( ABC News: Simon Royal )

Working in the industry does have its melancholy moments.

For cabinetmaker Denis Sampson, they come when he is making a small coffin.

"You do the little boxes, baby boxes, and it sort of hits you for a while — they haven't had a chance to live their life," he said.

But it is not just the changing shape of Australians affecting coffin making. Changing tastes are having an impact too.

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Mr Callahan said about 70 per cent of people now chose cremation rather than burial, shrinking the market for expensive, top-of-the-line coffins and caskets.

But while people are opting for lower and middle-range products, they are also demanding much more individuality.

"That can be in the way of photos, or colours or markings or decorations [on coffins]," he said.

Some requests — such as making coffins out of wicker or wool — cannot be met, but Mr Callahan said the company would always try to do its best.

"We had a customer who wanted us to cut a small hole in the side of an ash urn and place the deceased's artificial eye in that hole so the ash urn could sit on the ledge and the eye would be looking at the person," he said.

"We are basically here to serve the funeral director and the customer and, yes, we thought it was unusual, but if that's what the customer wants we are happy to do it."