Pattern of Later Nineteenth Century Funerals 1880-1920

Question 1

1. Family reaction and behavior is universal
2. The great migration

Answer 1

First Response to Death

Question 2

To death this is universal, to say the least, a shattering experience.

Answer 2

Family Reaction and Behavior to Death

Question 3

Funeral mood of gloom originated in England and was reinforced during ___ ___ _______ by southern and eastern Europeans who entered the United States betwen 1880-1920.

Answer 3

The Great Migration

Question 4

• Mostly Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Hebrews fleeing feudalism.
• Their funeral orientation was the pompous, elaborate rigidity prescribed prolong, morbid, feudal-type funeral with stiff formality was transplanted after 1880 into the United States during the great migration.
• These people wanted to enter the US due to the industrial revolution with plentiful jobs. They came by the millions.

Answer 4

Who Came and Funeral Orientation of the Great Migration

Question 5

Hospitals and nursing home deaths are a phenomenon of the 20th century (after 1945).

Answer 5

Most Deaths Occurred at Home (Before 1945)

Question 6

Was rapidly changing during the Great Migration; from a rural agricultural society to an urban, industrial, commercial life style.

Answer 6

American Life

Question 7

• The undertaker played an important advisory role, thus preparation of the deceased was delegated to the undertaker.
• Preparation procedure was either ice or embalming by 1900, and was mostly done in the home. After 1900, more embalming than ice preservation.

Answer 7

Procedures in the Cities Relating to Funeralization

Question 8

• Often no undertaker was available and funeralization tasks were performed within the family unit.
• Preparing procedure was again limited to the availability of the undertaker. This varied from simply washing and dressing by the family members, usually women, to ice preservation and by 1900, embalming begins to dominate.
• Funeralization related tasks in the rural areas was more of less the shared responsibilities of the family and neighbors (or by undertakers if available).

Answer 8

Procedures in the Rural Areas Relating to Funeralization

Question 9

The concept of the funeral director replacing the sexton, liveryman, and cabinet maker, appears first in the large cities as _____ _______. Coffin Trust- ______ _____ controlling all aspects- stopped by Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Answer 9

Furnishing Undertakers

Question 10

• A milking stool, cooling board with wicker panels that could be folded in half, gravity bottle of at least one gallon volume, arsenic and metallic poisons in solution, instruments including rubber hoses, trocars, scalpels, and drain tubes, were the needed equipment.
• Features were posed, that is eye were closed, mouth was closed, injection usually through left axillary artery, drainage through the right axillary vein and following injection of the arterial system some attempt to preserve the viscera was made.
• By this time te rudiments of mortuary cosmetics were available. The deceased was dressed and waked on a draped cooling board of slumber couch.

Answer 10

Outline in Detail “Home Embalming Procedures”

Question 11

With this invention, more thorough arterial injection, venous drainage, and aspiration of the cavities, prior to treatment of the viscera, was now possible.

Answer 11

Hand Pump and Jug Method

Question 12

Provided by the undertaker to wake the embalmed deceased until the casket arrived. It was adjustable at one end and was upholstered in red or blue mohair.

Answer 12

Slumber Couch

Question 13

1. Notification was done by telegram
2. Casket Selection
3. Other Arrangements, included as part of the undertaker’s duties, by 1880 (full itemization).

Answer 13

Funeral Arrangements 1880-1920- “The Great Migration”

Question 14

• Usually selected from a catalog
• Various types were available by 1880
• Delivery problems

Answer 14

Casket Selection

Question 15

(Furnishing undertaker), and sometimes from an undertaker’s selection room, or from a manufacturers showroom if in a large city.

Answer 15

The Casket was Usually Selected from a Catalog

Question 16

Cloth covered wood and metal in various designs and colors, all trimmed with some kind of interior, and elaborate hardware were available.

Answer 16

Various Types of Caskets were Available by 1880

Question 17

Existed but by 1880 most undertakers could be supplied within 24-36 hours. Most undertakers warehoused back up units.

Answer 17

Delivery Problems

Question 18

1. First call
2. Brief record of the deceased’s life
3. Clergy information form
4. Cemetery
5. Pallbearers
6. Florist
7. Secure permits
8. Transportation rentals
9. Chair rental

Answer 18

Other Arrangements, Included as Part of the Undertaker’s duties, by 1880 (Full Itemization)

Question 19

Embalming is performed in the home or use of a corpse cooler (different than today).

Answer 19

First Call

Question 20

Maintained by the funeral establishment.

Answer 20

Brief Record of the Deceased’s Life

Question 21

Including type of service to be held.

Answer 21

Clergy information Form

Question 22

Information regarding lot, grave liner, etc.

Answer 22

Cemetery

Question 23

May have to hire.

Answer 23

Pallbearers

Question 24

Including crepe or scarf for the door (door badge).

Answer 24

Florist

Question 25

Burial permits, transit permits, and file death certificates (after WWI Health departments are born replacing church records).

Answer 25

Secure Permits

Question 26

Carriage and hearse.

Answer 26

Transportation Rentals

Question 27

And other needed equipment for the home funeral- flower stands, etc.

Answer 27

Chair Rental

Question 28

Urban development

Answer 28

City

Question 29

Agriculture based.

Answer 29

Rural Environment

Question 30

By 1880, this was the role of the undertaker

Answer 30

Coordinator of Tasks

Question 31

Ice cooling or arterial injection/embalming

Answer 31

Preparation of the Deceased at Home

Question 32

Or in a casket if available, also used draped cooling boards.

Answer 32

Placing the Deceased in State on a Slumber Couch

Question 33

Racking flowers, and assisting the minister during the home funeral or conveying the remains to a church.

Answer 33

Working the Wake

Question 34

If the home was the place of service (Trolley cars in big cities).

Answer 34

Securing Carriages and Placing them in Some Order in front of the home

Question 35

And bringing the funeral cortege from the place of service to the cemetery in some kind of order.

Answer 35

Directing the Funeral

Question 36

Assisting the _____ in the committal service.

Answer 36

Clergyman

Question 37

All funeral paraphernalia and equipment removed prior tothe families return to the cemetery.

Answer 37

Making sure the Home was Cleaned

Question 38

Either to practice or to embalm, another 15 years, 1895, were to elaspe before states began to pass licensing legislation, with the establishment of bureaus or departments of vital stastics. It became incumbent upon undertakers to meet certain legal requirements before arranging for the burial or cremation fo the dead. (Related to the sanitation movement).

Answer 38

In 1880 the Undertaker was not Licensed

Question 39

Involves personalized rites and or ceremonies with the body present to commemorate that a life has been lived.

Answer 39

Traditional Definition of a Funeral

Question 40

• Formation of carriages
• Procedure at graveside

Answer 40

The Funeral Procession and Burial

Question 41

Undertaker and clergymen, flower carriage, honorary pallbearers, active pallbearers, hearse (“The funeral car”), immediate family, relatives and friends.

Answer 41

Formation of Carriages

Question 42

Clergyman leads the way, the undertaker directs avtive and honorary pallbearers, seats the family, and assists clergy with committal service.

Answer 42

Procedure at Graveside

Question 43

• Personal dress
• Appearane of the home
• Time table of mourning behavior
• Stationary and calling cards
• Social emblems for funeral participants
• Funeral music

Answer 43

Late 19th Century Mourning Symbols

Question 44

Special mourning clothes were perscribed for both widow and widower. These were almost always black. Sometimes arm bands and hat hands were worn when in mourning. A lack luster appearance by the widow in her dress was taken literally.

• Widow’s Weeds (Woeds)
• Dresses or suits for the widow/widower could be rented

Answer 44

Personal Dress

Question 45

The use of the crepe or scarf on the door symbolizing mourning was common. The crepe or scarf, sometimes called a door badge, was made of black silk or rayon and adorned with flowers. Drapery and veils of black or dark grey, sometimes purple, were utilized inside the house. The undertaker provided the backdrop. (Jack-in-the-box curtain back drop).

Answer 45

Appearance of the Home

Question 46

• The first 6 months after death was called the period of deep mourning.
• Mourning colors grew progressively lighter from the seventh month on.
• It was not until the beginning of the third year that the widow or widower could wear ordinary clothes again. (Two full year mourning period).

Answer 46

Time Table of Mourning Behavior

Question 47

These cards or letters trimmed in black were utilized by the bereaved family to announce death. Many of these cards were distributed by “inviters to funerals” a role dating back to the 17th century and by 1880 a service provided by the undertaker.

• The width of the black border on these calling cards decreased in size as the mourning period went on.

Answer 47

Stationary and Calling Cards

Question 48

Black formal wear was required for all participants including clergy, undertaker, carriage drivers, pall bearers, and other functionaries. Top hats, gloves, banners, scarves, ribbons, plums for horses, crepes, arm bands, etc., were black or dark grey. The undertaker had to provide these items.

Answer 48

Social Emblems for Funeral Participants

Question 49

It was not uncommon for a brass band to lead a walking procession. Organ music and the tolling of church bells were also common. Singing mournful funeral dirges were expected (sand and mournful hymns).

Answer 49

Funeral Music

Question 50

This was reflected in mourning behavior and garments by the turn of the century by relaxing many stringent customs, that basically were European in origin.

Answer 50

Attitude Change from Gloom to Beauty

Question 51

With these new so called designs, popular after 1880, with plush and lighter colored interiors, gloom changed to beauty in casket designs. (About the turn of the century).

Answer 51

Luxury Couch Casket (Drop Down Front)

Question 52

• Casket backdrops
• Artificial flowers

Answer 52

Introduction and the use of Flowers

Question 53

Changed from heavy black drapes (Jack-in-the-box) to extensive use of floral designs (racking flowers) specifically designed as funeral pieces. Many were huge in size with large ribbons with writing on them.

Answer 53

Casket Backdrops

Question 54

Were widely used when natural flowers were unavailable especially during the 1890’s. Even with criticisms lodged against both these and natural flowers by some segments of society, their use was here to stay.

Answer 54

Artificial Flowers

Question 55

This is the only ethnic group that avoided the use of floral tributes in funeralization.

Answer 55

Hebrews

Question 56

• Provider of all funeral goods, sold or rented.
• Seller of his service is now specialized
• Skilled, to a degree, in the preparation of the dead and placing the dead in state (ice preservation and embalming).
• Transportation of the body from place of death, to place of service, to place of disposition.
• As a director and coordinator of all tasks related to ceremonial disposition “Undertaker” replaced by “Funeral Director” (full time).

Answer 56

What led to the Control Over the Funeralization Process that the Undertaker Seemed to Achieve by 1900? (Full Time Undertaker Evolved from the Furnishing Undertaker)

Question 57

1. Embalming by chemical injection for most dead bodies carried with it the need for special clinical working facility superior to a private residence.
2. The crowding of cities, the development of small living units, both as apartments for renters and homes for owners, demanded the development of a special facility for the ceremonial disposal of the dead for the wake.
3. The promotion by the funeral director of his facility as superior to the private home for funerals especially by those that built chapel facilities for religious ceremonialization of the dead. The “Funeral Home”.

Answer 57

The Establishment of the “Funeral Home” and the Emerging Service Occupation Related to this new role Called “Funeral Director” Grew out of Three Needs:

Question 58

Developed from a storefront operation because of the three aforementioned reasons. The concept of the funeral home/funeral director was developing together.

Answer 58

The “Funeral Parlor”

Question 59

The last area to accept the concept of the funeral parlor and the removal of the body for embalming.

Answer 59

Rural Areas (Urban areas led to the rise of “Funeral Parlors”)