The Pattern of Late 19th Century Funerals

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Chapter 10

• The Pattern of Late 19th Century Funerals

2
American Views of Death

• America showed wide variations in funeral
  thoughts and customs
• What do you think that the rural areas were like?
• What about the cities?
• There is only a small amount of uniformity in
  death customs
• What are they?
• What are some of the variations today?

3
American Views of Death

• Catholic Church in Cincinnati
• Long time custom that the mourners are seated on
  the right side or the Epistle side of the
  church.
• Only 40 miles away in Brown Co., Ohio they are
  seated on the left side of the or Gospel side.
• During the latter part of the 19th Century there
  were broad changes and patterns developed
• The patterns and changes molded the modern day
  Funeral Director.

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First Response to Death

• Family reaction and behavior
• atmosphere of anxiety and emotional strain
• funerals had a prevailing mood of gloom
• Borrowed from the old days in England.
• A final contribution of 19th Century behavior
• They wanted to provide a beautiful setting to the
  mood, gloom and somberness which had been
  imported from the feudal times.

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First Response to Death

• At the Home
• Most deaths occurred at the home
• If it occurred away from home the body was
  quickly returned there, so the home was the
  central point of mourning.
• A hush fell over the household, blinds were drawn
  and people walked about on tiptoe and spoke in
  restrained tones.
• First gesture-WOMEN-closed the eyes and
  straightened the limbs
• Funeral Directors were summoned to come and
  take charge.

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First Response to Death

• When death occurred at a hospital
• The family was insistent upon bringing the body
  back to the house as soon as possible.
• Funeral parlors were used for people who had no
  home of their own or had no relatives or friends
  who would offer the facilities of their quarters.

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First Response to Death

• People delegated the care of the deceased to the
  Undertaker.
• In addition to agreeing upon a place of the
  funeral it was necessary to decide how much time
  would elapse before burial took place
• If more than one day, preservative measure were
  taken.

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First Response to Death

• The two preservation methods were
• The body was kept in a cooler or corpse
  preserver surrounded with ice.
• The undertaker could embalm with chemicals.

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First Response to Death

• At the Home
• Procedures in rural areas
• Usually no undertaker available.
• Preparation procedures- The family washed and
  dressed the deceased.
• Preparation procedures- The family used a corpse
  cooler or chemical embalming.

10
Influence of the Introduction of Embalming

• Social problems.
• People were afraid of what they did not
  understand
• Many people viewed embalming as mutilation of the
  body.
• A male family member was allowed to watch the
  embalming.
• What do you think about a family member watching
  the embalming procedure?

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Influence of the Introduction of Embalming

• Procedure
• Chemical embalming similar to process today.
• Body laid out
• Body was washed
• Dressed in the best or favorite suit
• Body was moved into the parlor to be viewed
  (even before the casket was obtained)
• The funeral and the viewing were then held in the
  family home

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Influence of the Introduction of Embalming

• Psychological Jargon
• If the undertaker had training in embalming he
  undoubtedly protested the humaneness of
  embalming.
• The supposed advantages were
• Sanitation (Protection)
• Duration (Preservation)
• Reliability (Presentation)
• Simplicity
• Oh, yes and dont forget the possibility of the
  body exploding in the casket during the funeral
  ceremonies.

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Influence of the Introduction of Embalming

• Psychological Jargon
• The astute embalmer never failed to mention the
  possibility.
• Interesting thing was
• Chemical embalming and corpse cooling was about
  the same cost unless the amount of ice was great.
• Dr. Thomas Holm 20 years earlier charged 100
• Hudson Samson charged as little as 15

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Influence of the Introduction of Embalming

• Now, would you ever try to use psychological
  jargon to make a family do something they did
  not want to do?
• How about try to up-sale because your salary
  depends on commission?

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Funeral Arrangements

• If the body was to be chemically embalmed
• The undertaker brought a cooling board
• Embalming tools,
• Embalming fluid
• And a door badge

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Funeral Arrangements

• The Door Badge
• A door crepe or badge that was attached to the
  door in such a manner that the door bell of
  knocker was covered.
• Why would they want to cover the knocker or door
  bell?

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Funeral Arrangements

• The Door Badge
• Black was the color of the of the old
• White for the young
• And black with white rosette and ribbons for the
  young adults.
• Purple, lavender and grey were later used

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Funeral Arrangements

• Embalming
• Many people believed that embalming necessitated
  the removal of all the organs.
• When the observer saw the size of the incision he
  was generally satisfied and seldom remained to
  watch the balance of the procedure

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Funeral Arrangements

• Embalming
• The body was undressed
• Washed on the bed
• Orifices were plugged
• Entire body was swabbed with embalming fluid
• Shaved
• Eyes closed
• Lips sewn together
• Then the embalming
• This was an early attempt at Restorative Art

20
Funeral Arrangements

• Embalming
• The undertaker employed arterial injection
  followed by cavity injection with a TROCAR
  inserted in the umbilicus and the corner of the
  eye.
• Why were they using the trocar in the eye socket?
• The next step was a conference with the family to
  complete the arrangements.

21
Funeral Arrangements

• Notification of relatives
• The funeral director sent telegrams.
• What do we do today and who is responsible for
  getting that done?
• Notified the clergy
• Arranged for the singers
• Contacted the pallbearers
• Notified the Sexton

22
Funeral Arrangements

• Casket selection
• They were chosen from a catalogue, undertakers
  display room or a stockroom.
• Hardwood was the most popular as opposed to
  metallic and cement caskets.
• Cloth covered caskets make their debut.
• Delivery problems-
• What do you think caused the biggest problems?

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Funeral Arrangements

• It took between 20-60 hours to get a casket.
• Depending on request, availability, and distance.

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The Funeral

• In the City
• Role of the undertaker- sent invitations, general
  supervisor, supplier and arranger of funeral
  paraphernalia.
• Locations for the funeral- most likely in home,
  maybe church, and seldom in the funeral parlor.
• Participants- friends, family, pallbearers,
  clergy, funeral director, hearse driver

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The Funeral Cont.

• In Rural Areas
• Role of the undertaker- ordered the casket,
  casketed deceased, and generally arranged things
  so that the preacher could play the dominating
  role.
• Locations for the funeral- most likely in home,
  maybe the church, and seldom in the funeral
  parlor.
• Participants- most of the people of the town or
  village were involved.

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The Funeral Cont.

• Church vs. Home Funeral
• Are there any advantages to having the funeral
  services in the church?
• What then are the advantages of holding the
  funeral at the home of the deceased?
• Which do you think would be more beneficial to a
  family?
• Why?

27
The Funeral Cont.

• Open vs. Closed Casket
• The custom of opening the casket at the church
  for a final viewing was not accepted very readily
  by the clergy or the undertakers.
• Why do you think they did not accept or like the
  open casket?

28
Professional Dress of the Undertaker

• Clothing kept with the somber-toned tradition
• Black broadcloth
• Doe skin coats
• Pantaloons
• Vest
• Single breasted and buttoned up completely to the
  neck. White linen shirt and black tie with black
  gloves and black top hat.
• It was very difficult to have the livery men look
  respectable.

29
The Funeral Procession and Burial

• Formation of the cortege in the city
• The hearse maintained the center of focus in the
  procession.
• The plumes now again become important to show how
  wealthy or impoverished you were. (social status)
• The first flower carriage is used to transport
  the flowers to the cemetery.

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The Funeral Procession and Burial

• Formation of the cortege in the city
• Clergy
• Flower carriage
• Honorary Pallbearers
• Active Pallbearers
• Hearse
• Immediate family and relatives
• Friends.

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• The one exception was, if a society or fraternal
  order was involved then they always took the
  lead.
• Procedure at the graveside
• The undertaker lead the pallbearers and the
  clergy to the grave.
• THE UNDERTAKER SUPERVISED THE LOWERING OF THE
  CASKET.

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• When is your job done at the cemetery, before or
  after the casket is lowered?
• The grave was usually not filled in front of the
  family.
• Rural variations
• There were hell, fire, and damnation sermons at
  the grave.
• The grave was usually filled in front of the
  family.

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Late 19th Century Mourning Symbols

• Personal dress was black clothing.
• Appearance of the home
• Door Badges
• Draped room or entire house with black cloth
• Dark colored veils covered the doorways of the
  home.

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• Timetable of mourning behavior
• Lasted two years for the widow
• One year for the widower
• The first 6 months was the period of deepest
  mourning for all family members.
• Stationary- the width of the border on the
  calling card told how long the person had need of
  mourning.

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• Social Emblems
• Badges were made for Undertaker, Pallbearer
  or Masonic or Catholic emblems.
• Funeral music was gloomy

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Early 1900s

• The attitude went from gloomy to beautiful.
• Caskets were made to be more aesthetic.
• The couch style was designed to make the deceased
  to look as comfortable and natural as possible.

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• Flowers
• For a time they were considered pagan, wasteful,
  and worldly.
• Eventually they became popular to help avoid the
  gloomy atmosphere of the funeral.
• Artificial flowers were used because real flowers
  were hard to get.