What's for Lunch?

There is nothing like a morning funeral for sharpening the appetite for lunch - Arthur Marshall

During my research I came across a book called " Death Warmed Over - Funeral Foods, Rituals, and Customs from Around the World" by Lisa Rogak.(2004)


""An elderly man was at home dying in bed when he smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookies baking. He wanted one last cookie before he died. He fell out of bed , crawled to the landing, rolled down the stairs, and dragged himself into the kitchen, where his wife was busy baking cookies. WIth his strength waning, he made it to the table and was just barely able to life his withered arm to the cookie rack. As he grasped a warm, moist chocolate chip cookie, his wife suddenly whacked his hand with a spatula. "Why?" he whispered. "Why did you do that?"
"They're for the funeral!" ""
- Thank you Lisa Rogak  for this bit of humor!







Have you ever really thought about the food at funerals?
The act of preparing and delivering food to a neighbor upon the death of a family member has changed over time. Have you ever brought food to a neighbor following a death?

Do we care what is served after a funeral?
Does anyone ever attend a funeral just to have a free meal afterwards?
Some people only stay for the luncheon out of obligation following the funeral.
I do not think anyone would really say, " Hey, lets go to Billy-Jo's funeral because I hear they are going to have an amazing luncheon afterwards or lets skip the luncheon because I hear the family has terrible food!" 

Do you care what is served at your own funeral?  Is that something you would plan out ahead of time?  I am pretty sure that you will not remember the food that is served at your own funeral so does it really matter?

Do you pay attention to the foods served after a funeral?  Do we judge the family by the food served at the funeral? Perhaps it is like food served at weddings.  Those attending really only remember the food if it is really great or if it is just horrible.

It seems as though a funeral ritual of providing food following a funeral has been present at least since the 20th century and is still common in modern times.  People find comfort in food.
The types of food served after a funeral depended on the region, but many times, a tradition was serving casseroles. Today, we may see more hams or fried chicken, but I have still seen casseroles being provided. 
In the past, food may have been prepared by neighbors and family members, but in more modern times, it is often catered by a company/restaurant. This is one change we have seen in the funeral food rituals.
I was at a funeral recently and fried chicken was provided. It was purchased instead of being made by friends/family.
What types of foods have you seen at funerals?

PBS 'Dying Green' Explores Conservation Through Natural Burial VIDEO

Green Burial - Back to traditional ways?

In  prior post I mentioned green burials. This is an alternative to the traditional funeral/burial and an alternative to cremation.
Embalming and fancy caskets were not always used in the past. Embalming and expensive sealed caskets are not required by law.
What is a green burial?
A Green burial, or referred to as a natural burial, ensures that the burial site remains as natural as possible. The body is placed in a biodegradable casket and no embalming fluids are used.


Most do not understand is that embalming with toxic chemicals was not prevalent in the United States before the turn of the last century. Embalming is actually rarely done outside of about a half dozen countries. Vaults are almost never used outside of North America and they were never used here in the United States until the 1930s   (McDonald, 2003)  Green burial is also referred to as a natural burial and is a method of interment which emphasizes ecologically friendly practices and is a return to traditional burial customs. Green burials abstain from the use of toxic embalming fluids and the use of concrete or steel burial vaults. It also encourages the use of biodegradable coffins or shrouds, and sustainable land management techniques for cemeteries (McDonald, 2003).

Video I found on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKLqB0CGubo . See next post for video clip

Question of the Day: Would you choose a 'green burial'? 
I am considering this for myself but still unsure at the present time. 



sources: 

GreenBurials.org (2008, September 17). Green Burials,...Return Naturally. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from http://www.greenburials.org/

Green Burial & The Environment | Funeralwise. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2013, from http://www.funeralwise.com/learn/green/

National Geographic (2010, October 28). "Green" Burials Offer Unique, Less Costly Goodbyes. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0909_050909_greenburial_2.html 

McDonald, G. (2013, April 22). Grave Concerns: Would You Choose a Green Burial? : Discovery News. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from http://news.discovery.com/human/life/would-you-choose-a-green-burial-130422.htm 

PBS NewsHour (2013, April 12). 'Dying Green' Explores Conservation Through Natural Burial [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKLqB0CGubo 

From Plain to Pretty

The typical funeral in modern day America is a recent happening. In the past, funerals tended to be plain, with a pine wooden box,  family and friends cared for the body, and then there was a simple burial. Until the 20th Century most caskets were constructed of wood ( the pine box). They were built one at a time by skilled cabinet and casket makers in almost every town. In modern times, caskets are now made in bronze, copper, stainless steel and various gauges of steel.

An interesting site I happened to come upon is the Natural Museum of Funeral History. http://www.nmfh.org/exhibits/coffins/gallery.php Photos are from the
Natural Museum of Funeral History website. 
National Museum of Funeral History (2013). National Museum of Funeral History. Retrieved October 18, 2013, from http://www.nmfh.org/exhibits/coffins/gallery.php 
Next time I am in Texas, I will have to check this place out!




This is a photo that depicts 20th century materials used in the sale of burial services











 

This is a modern looking casket that looks 'prettier' . 



National Museum of Funeral History. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://nmfh.org/exhibits/coffins/info.php


Casket Connection Co. (2013). Caskets for Sale | Discount Caskets | The Casket Connection is your online caskets store. Retrieved October 18, 2013, from http://www.casketconnection.com/

Coffin or Casket - are they the same?

Are coffins and caskets the same thing? The answer is no. 
We may use the terms interchangeably, but they are different. 

First, a brief history lesson...

The 'casket' can be traced back to ancient Egypt where nobles were wrapped in cloth and then entombed in a sarcophagus which is an ornately decorated box. As the years have passed, there have been many incarnations of the coffin depending on the region and also customs of society. 
Beginning around the 8^th century in Europe, the Celts were known for making caskets out of flat stones but those were only used to bury aristocrats and nobility. Common-folk were just simply wrapped in cloth and placed into a hole in the ground.
In the United States, early caskets and coffins were made of wood on an as-needed basis by local furniture or cabinet makers who also doubled as the undertakers. During the time of the Civil War, this changed when thousands of coffins were needed to transport bodies of the deceased soldiers.  Essentially, a new industry was then established in order to mass produce the needed caskets. 

Now that we have learned a bit of history, lets discuss some differences between coffins and caskets. 

A coffin shape is tapered at the head and foot, whereas a casket is rectangular in shape.
A coffin has a removable top and a casket has a hinged top.
Coffins are six-sided, and are hardly used in the United States in modern times. Casket shapes are rectangular and are primarily made of thin metal or a hard wood like oak or mahogany.  Caskets are also made from simple plywood, pine, fiberglass, stainless steel, copper or bronze. 
source: Alirangues , L. (n.d.). Morbid Outlook - Funerary Practices - Early and Modern America. Retrieved October 17, 2013, from http://www.morbidoutlook.com/nonfiction/articles/2003_06_america.html



picture source: Victoria Funerals (n.d.). Coffins, Caskets, and Urns | Victoria Funerals Products. Retrieved October 17, 2013, from http://www.victoriafunerals.com.au/includes/ourProducts/ourProducts.html

Majority of coffins used in the Ozarks( Missouri)  in the early twentieth century were homemade. Besides the rectangular shape, many were made pointed or shaped like the body.

 

A coffin was homemade whereas a casket was purchased from a local undertaker or a local furniture store.

Brelowski, D. (1975). Springfield-Greene County Library -- Bittersweet. Retrieved October 17, 2013, from http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/fa75f.htm



Question of the day: Have you been to a funeral where the body was put in a coffin or a casket? Would you choose a coffin or casket for yourself or a loved one?

The Undertaker

During the the 20th century, communities had undertakers. The undertaker would go to the home of the deceased person and take on the responsibility of obtaining a casket, preparing the funeral service, notifying family members and friends, arranging the burial and would prepare the body. They began to see themselves as Funeral Directors. They began to see themselves as professionals and would charge for their services.

Laderman, G. (2003). Rest in peace: A cultural history of death and the funeral home in twentieth-century America. New York: Oxford University Press.

undertakers turning into funeral directors

The late 19th century reflected the rise of the funeral home and the funeral director. Most social and cultural transformations resulting in the modern funeral profession were completed by the 1950's. In our society today,  the focus of the profession remains the funeral home. 
With the passage of time, 'undertakers' become known as morticians and funeral directors. In the early 1900's, the newly formed National Funeral Directors Association was pressing members to consider themselves "professionals," and not as tradesmen as the earlier coffin makers had been. As time passed, regular use of embalming was encouraged, and the new "professionals" used it to suggest they were the keepers of public health ( the funeral source).

U.S. Funeral History- North American Funerals: The Funeral Source. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2013, from http://thefuneralsource.org/hi0301.html 


Duke, T., Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks, Glendale, California, Sloane, D., Laderman, G., & Prothero, S. (2004, June). Cemeteries and Funeral Rituals: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow | ICCFA. Retrieved October 13, 2013, from http://www.iccfa.com/reading/2000-2009/cemeteries-and-funeral-rituals-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow 

I found an interesting article called "13+ Things A Funeral Director Won’t Tell You"
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/13-things-a-funeral-director-wont-tell-you 

Crouch, M. (2011, June). 13+ Things A Funeral Director Won't Tell You | Reader's Digest. Retrieved October 13, 2013, from http://www.rd.com/slideshows/13-things-a-funeral-director-wont-tell-you 

  
 Questions to think about:
-Have you had any experience with a funeral director? 
-Should funeral directors encourage embalming? ( there is a prior post about embalming)
-Would you want to be embalmed? why or why not?
-Would you ever rent a casket or buy one from Walmart or Costco?

Death

In the early 1900's many people were born and died at their home. Funerals/visitations in the early 1900's were not held in a 'Funeral Home' that we are accustomed to seeing today, but inside a persons home in a room called the 'parlor'. The parlor would contain a piano, a chandelier, pictures on the walls, a few fancy chairs and tables,  a fireplace with a mantel, and some plants. During a funeral, the deceased body was taken to the parlor of the home and then the coffin was set on a table. After the visitation, the body would be taken to the church and then the cemetery to be buried.   
One of the funeral customs in the 1900's was that everyone wore all black clothing. 
 “We mourn in black”  (Shakespeare) 
Women would wear black taffeta dresses and the men would wear black suits and a black hat. 
The clothing etiquette has changed in modern times. Women no longer just wear black dresses and men do not always wear black suits to a funeral or visitation. 





Mourning wear included a bodice, skirt and hat.
Silk, satin, taffeta ribbons, plush trim, jet, and cambric lining
Accessories photo shows late 19th–early 20th centuries mourning accessories  such as the men watch fob, chatelaine, finger purse,clamshell reticule, hair comb, and fan

University of Missouri Museum of Art and Archaeology (2013). Funerals, Burials and Mourning - Final Farewell: The Culture of Death and the Afterlife Exhibition - Museum of Art and Archaeology-University of Missouri. Retrieved October 9, 2013, from http://maa.missouri.edu/exhibitions/finalfarewell/funeral.html

University of Missouri Museum of Art and Archaeology (2013). Funerals, Burials and Mourning - Final Farewell: The Culture of Death and the Afterlife Exhibition - Museum of Art and Archaeology-University of Missouri. Retrieved October 9, 2013, from http://maa.missouri.edu/exhibitions/finalfarewell/funeral2.html

Funeral and mourning clothing attire became less customary after the mid-twentieth century. It is still customary to indicate mourning through semi-formal dress at the funeral. Men often wear a suit and tie, and women usually wear a dark colored dress or pantsuit.
It seems as though some are losing respect for the deceased and the family by wearing inappropriate clothing to a visitation/funeral. At a funeral I was recently at I observed both men and women wearing jeans and t shirts to both the funeral and visitation. 

What do you feel is appropriate funeral attire? Would you wear jeans to a funeral/visitation?

Coming back full circle?

What I have been researching is general changes that have occurred since the early 1900's until present day. There has been the transition of viewing untreated bodies in the homes (prepared by family members) in the early 1900s ,  to embalming and viewing in a funeral home with burial with either a traditional 'funeral' or 'memorial' service,  to cremation options and keeping ashes of loved ones , and more recently there have been options of "green burials" without embalming.  Seems like it may be coming back full circle. More to come!