Cremation

Scholars have generally agreed that cremation most likely began during the early Stone Age around 3000 B.C
In North America, there had only been two recorded instances of cremation before 1800.  The real start began in 1876 when Dr. Julius LeMoyne built the first crematory in Washington, Pennsylvania.
 The second crematory opened in 1884 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and was owned and operated by a cremation society.  Some of the forces behind early crematory openings were Protestant clergy who desired to reform burial practices and the medical profession was concerned with health conditions around the early cemeteries.

Crematories began to come about in places such as Detroit, Los Angeles, Buffalo New York, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. By 1900, there were about twenty crematories operating. By the time Dr. Hugo Erichsen founded the Cremation Association of America in 1913, there were fifty-two crematories within North America and over 10,000 cremations that took place within that year.
In 1975, the name changed from the Cremation Association of America  to the Cremation Association of North America. The purpose was to be more indicative of the membership composition of the United States and Canada as well. By 1957, there were at least 425 crematories and nearly 150,000 cremations preformed

By the year of 1999, there were 1,468 crematories and 595,617 cremations, a percentage of 25.39% of all deaths in the United States. 
By the year of 2009, there were over 2,100 crematories and over 900,000 cremations, and 36.84% of deaths in the U.S. were handled through cremation, a percentage that is expected to grow to over half of deaths by the year of 2018. 

Why people began to favor cremation

In a national survey respondents expressed the following reasons for their preference to be cremated.

• To save money (24 percent)
• To save land (17 percent)
• Personal preference (11 percent)
• Simplicity and convenience (9 percent).

Other reasons listed included: concerns for the environment, cold-weather constraints, and ease of transportation to distant burial sites. This information came originally from (Cremationist 2000, 36(1):25). but I found this info at http://ncsu.edu/ffci/publications/2003/v8-n1-2003-january/fa-1-cremation.php



I found this table on the  Cremation Association of North America website

I found a cremation video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHBaCZ3slis

Another interesting video I found on YouTube from TIME http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stVvCeVy3Sw

( different posts included with the videos)


Cremation Association of North America (n.d.). History of Cremation - Cremation Association of North America (CANA). Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://www.cremationassociation.org/?HistoryOfCremation

Cremation Association of North America (n.d.). Industry Statistical Information - Cremation Association of North America (CANA). Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://www.cremationassociation.org/?page=IndustryStatistics

Goetting, Marsha A., and Claire DelGuerra. 2003. Cremation: history, process and regulations. The Forum for Family and Consumer Issues 8(1). Retrieved December 1, 2013 from http://ncsu.edu/ffci/publications/2003/v8-n1-2003-january/fa-1-cremation.php

Cremation of human body [Video file]. (2013, December 1). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHBaCZ3slis

TIME (2013, June 17). Ashes to Ashes [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stVvCeVy3Sw