what were funerals like in the 1920s

A Reformers organized societies that promoted cremation instead of burial in both Philadelphia and Lancaster. Within a few short years, there were more than 500 stations across America. Here, the band plays a show in Oakland, California,in the early '20s. Undertakers orchestrated funerals and embalmers prepared bodies. Parents may not have had their child photographed while they were alive. In 1921, there were no sound engineers, massive lighting rigs or drone shots. Where were your ancestors living 100 years ago? The massive death toll of the Civil War was a boon to undertakers and embalmers, and the viewing of Abraham Lincolns embalmed body by thousands of Americans popularized the technique. In the first half of the decade, the maternal mortality rate in America fluctuated between 700 and 800 deaths per 100,000 births. They could gather with their friends and enjoy all the latest in music and dance steps such as the Charleston, black bottom, shimmy, fox-trot, and the Lindy Hop! Here, the USC Trojans play a 1921 game against the Occidental Tigers. the body involved a bucket of water, a wash rag, shaving razor and a comb. In the 1880s the average downtown parlor held 200 funerals a year; by 1920 a neighborhood funeral home held only 50 or 60 a year. That decline became even steeper after 1920. As ethnic groups moved out of their original neighborhoods, their funeral homes moved with them as "branches." Glass windows allowed onlookers to see inside the hearse as it proceeded to the cemetery. mercantile. The furnishings and their placement in this house was typical for the nineteenth century. Although the traditional business suit was still common, Grandpa may have tried a sportier trend with oxford bag pants and V-neck sweaters. Families who desired to show their love and respect for their deceased did so by patronizing these professionals. Radio programs broadcasted the news, sports, comedy, and music. In addition, larger houses, such as the one built by Funeral processions in Roman times looked very different, and sounded different too. WebFor several reasons, during the early part of the twentieth century, some African Americans in South Carolina buried their loved ones immediately and had formal funerals during a later time. Crepe could be restricted to trimming dresses, capes and bonnets. History: The Parlor. In 1888 a lady dressmaker informed readers that widows need not wear a mourning cap and veil after the first six months but a large muslin collar should be worn for a year. [Dixon, 1989: 145 giving extracts from the Girls Own Paper ]. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. By 1650, the English had a permanent presence on the eastern coast of the New World. The parlor furniture was made of richer materials and included the piano for entertaining guests. him right there. The Victorian street was a very, very noisy place probably more so than the modern version, and the mourning family had to be relieved of the stress of the cacophony. What America looked like 100 years ago. The Characters Behind the Characters. with the dead is a very real part of life, and it's a job which we will This 1921 photo shows the young couple on the lawn at Zelda's mother's home in Alabama. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Movie sets were pretty different. Simplicity characterized Quaker practices: they used plain coffins, which were sometimes stacked on top of others, and, although proscribed, they marked graves with nondescript headstones. The original 1921 description of this photo says these children are "caging a basket.". mother owns a house in Plainwell, just north of the Kalamazoo River on Weaver, Karol K. Painful Leisure and Awful Business: Female Death Workers in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 140 (Winter 2016): 3155. Exhuming Womens Premarket Duties in the Care of the Dead. Gender and Society 9 (April 1995): 17392. Many people still bought newspapers from sellers, often children, on street corners. Some of the more intricate vaults were completed with a drainage system that protected the chambers from flooding. uncle, who is a pastor, arranged his mother's funeral to be like an artist's Her tiered dress was perfectly fashionable wedding attire for the era. her life centered around her simple, but warm, home, where she and her Pictured here is the viewing at Independence Hall for Elisha Kent Kane, an explorer born in Philadelphia, who traversed the Arctic regions in the First and Second Grinnell Expeditions. is stuffing body cavities with herbs, like myrrh. This was a conventional funeral in the 1960s, but this send-off of the dead has undergone adjustments over the decades. A long funeral procession made a grand sight, members of the public stopped and bowed their heads as the carriage passed by. You would simply do the best you could cleaning the body and fixing the A black diamond of fabric could also serve the same function. Farming the land. The obscene loss of life, coupled with the need to keep the country functioning meant that people simply didnt have the time to shut themselves away from the world. The year 1920 ushered in a new decade and brought new innovations and a life of abundance. Before For aunts or uncles related by marriage: 6 weeks to 3 months Mourning was conducted without crepe, as it was for great aunts and uncles. In the Philadelphia region, burial and funeral rituals have served to honor the dead and comfort the living. The funeral museum has a replica of the coffin that carried Lincoln from Washington to Springfield in 1865. It was never ratified. The first individual to have a public viewing in Independence Hall was former President John Quincy Adams, who died in 1848 while a member of the United States House of Representatives. Chemist and physicist Marie Curie discovered the element radium, but, as a widowed mother living on a professor's salary in 1920, she could not afford to purchase any to continue her research. Click here to learn more about the paranormal library, Click here to view location 940 W Chapman Ave, Suite 101, Orange, CA 92868, Click here to visit our Google My Business Profile. of digging the grave for an additional fee. While the crowds might have differed, funeral parades themselves took essentially the same form. Hundreds of police officers or firefighters participated in these funerals honoring their comrades and highlighting the dangerous but essential work these men and women performed. In 1921, Curie stood arm-in-arm with President Warren G. Harding, clutching that pricey gram of radium. New Jersey constructed its first crematoriums in the early twentieth century. It's been 100 years since the birth of America's "Roaring Twenties." A person might choose to be laid to rest in the church graveyard, in a church vault, or, most prestigiously, in the church itself. It was important to get it right. The first-ever Miss America pageant was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1921. The open-door policy that brought millions of people to ports like Ellis Island would begin to close in 1921. Crowds flocked to the trains, at every stage of the journey, to pay their respects to the men they never knew in an outpouring of public grief which marked their own personal loss a loss they couldnt mark with the burial of their own loved one, as he was lost in some distant battlefield. Although caring for the dead became a task carried out primarily by men in the nineteenth century, women significantly contributed to the history of funerals and burial practices in Philadelphia. The very first public American high school was established 200 years ago, in 1821, but for a long time secondary education wasn't for everyone. Rising hemlines and the apparent influence of jazz counterculture drove millions of Americans to the pew. The Tulsa massacretook place in 1921. For aunts and uncles: 3 to 6 months No crepe, but plain black fabric with jet ornaments. The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect on January 16, 1920. The economic crisis combined with a Though Wilson rode along in the car, he missed the ceremony due to ill health. Kid Ory's Original Creole Jazz Band, out of New Orleans, was an early jazz act. embalming is not 'the law' here in Michigan. After World War I, anti-immigration sentiment grew in the United States. Germantown was home to one of the nations oldest coffin producers, the workshop of Jacob Knorr. The Origin and History of Embalming. In Embalming: History, Theory, and Practice, edited by Robert G. Myer, 44585. Italians who settled in South Philadelphia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries adapted funeral rituals from Italy to their urban neighborhoods. WebThey would sell you a casket which could run as high as $100.00 for the fancy units. Additionally, the automotive industry led to steel production, highway building, and more. This section of the exhibition explores a twenty year period of momentous change in Melbourne. Motorized hearses, forerunners of those used today, came into use in urban areas during the 1920s. The automotive industry also introduced assembly-line work. But, with the help of President Theodore Roosevelt, the NCAA approved rule changes in 1906 and again in 1910 that slowed player fatalities. Alternatively, the hair of the deceased could be woven into intricate designs or chains, and silhouettes or other likenesses were acceptable. to carry the dear departed's body one last time down her street, past her It normally happens quietly in a hospital with family and loved ones being told after the event. Black was their shield from society at a time of grief. The parlor may have been the most elegantly furnished and formal room in the house, but the presence of the sewing machine ballooned the value of the sitting room's content/s. The prohibitive cost of transporting the bodies home were also beyond the reach of many families. be embalmed, the law says that it must be buried in 48 hours. This beach remained a summer hotspot until the 1930s, when construction of a landfill moved the shoreline further east, separating the park from the water. Funeral processions and viewings have been held at Independence Hall to honor American heroes, such as Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John Quincy Adams, explorer Elisha Kent Kane, and soldiers who lost their lives in the United States occupation of Mexico in 1914. Funeral and burial customs also developed in response to the arrival into the area of a lot of money The Old Saint Pauls Episcopal Church became the final resting place for many Philadelphians. For example, A small girl in the 1920's wrote about her experience after her grandfather's death. Mens fashion began to take on a more casual appearance in the 1920s too. Frames were built to support the deceased and supporting rods would be inserted through the back of their clothing. A performer waves from atop one of the rearing pachyderms. And with the increasing popularity of radio, the personal electronics industry boomed. Harris, Mark. It was even known for the street outside to be strewn with reeds to mute the sound of traffic as it traveled by the home of the bereaved. Get more stories delivered right to your email. Mourners often dressed in all black. He points to demographic changes, decreasing mortality, and the growth in hospitals and the medical profession as reasons. mother's parlor, right in the home mother loved so much, and right where In this photo from 1922, a car drives up an unpaved Topanga Canyon Road near Los Angeles. The Characters Behind the Characters. The body was watched over every minute until burial, hence the custom of waking. They gave copious instructions about appropriate mourning etiquette. If the body is not going to Additionally, society activities would be given up for three months. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, were notable personalities of the Jazz Age. That in itself could create a problem, as black crepe tended to rust, before the invention of aniline dyes. But something big was on the horizon. If no men were present, the women would take turns reading. husband raised their kids. 29th July 2015 1900s - Edwardian article, dress, edwardian, mourning. Cotter, John L., Daniel G. Roberts, and Michael Parrington, eds. Muted shades were suitable, but deep black was reserved for the family only. One of the significant changes we have seen recently is that funerals have become more of a celebration of the life of a In this photo from December 1921, William C. Durant, head of Durant Motors, inspects cars at a factory in Queens. In February of 1920, Carrie Chapman Catt founded the League of Women Voters in Chicago, Illinois. Family and friends, spread across the nation and around the globe, paid their respects to lost loved ones through online memorials that allowed viewers to see photographs of the deceased, offer condolences, and share memories. Before the professionalization of mortuary practices, women known as layers-out of the dead, or shrouders, prepared the body. Here, outgoing President Woodrow Wilson rides in a motorcade with newly elected President WarrenHarding on the way to the latter's inauguration. Heres what they looked like. Strange Victorian Foods For The Poor , The Victorian craze that sparked a mini-sexual revolution, Spinach Ice Cream And 5 Other Weird Victorian Recipes, Unwritten Laws of the Past and the Freedom to Kill, The Strange Victorian Fashion Of Self-Electrification, Female Soldiers of the American Civil War, Jesse Pomeroy: Americas Youngest Serial Killer, THE LONDON GARROTTING PANIC OF THE MID-19TH CENTURY, Forensic Ballistics: Who Did The Shooting?, For 10 years, Jolly Jane poured her poison, The Roman empress who used forensic science to identify her rivals head, Why Brain Scientists Are Still Obsessed With The Curious Case Of Phineas Gage, Edinburghs Mysterious Miniature Coffins. Laderman, Gary. After the 1915 release of D.W. Griffith's film "Birth of a Nation" glorified the post-Civil War era Ku Klux Klan, a man named William Joseph Simmons revived the group as modern white supremacist organization (and pocketed the membership fees). Modern cyclists report being cited for traveling too fast downhill in school zones. Prohibition, the nationwide ban on alcohol, went into effect in 1920 and lasted until December 1933. In the summer of 1921, Madison Square Garden in New York City was transformed into a massive indoor swimming pool. Mid-nineteenth-century homes included a formal parlor, sometimes described by social historians as a "sacred" space, where weddings, funerals, and other public events were held. One Connecticut father remarked to a local newspaper that transporting his sons remains from Washington, DC, to Winsted cost $125.00almost $2,000 in todays moneyand the trip was not possible without the personal attendance of some friend, and every step is attended by some incidental expense.This meant that those who were being repatriated were treated as a kind of surrogate target for mourning. from Sears & Roebuck. Dealing WebIn the 1880s the average downtown parlor held 200 funerals a year; by 1920 a neighborhood funeral home held only 50 or 60 a year. A hundred years ago seems very far away, but there are still some similarities to the way we live now. The Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1923. Although most of the headstones are no longer fully legible, the dates on the markers document deaths prior to the twentieth century. One's closest neighbors were likely to include relatives and in-laws of various degrees. Here, a Penobscot Nation chief and his wife host a discussion on suffrage in 1921. These photos show American life the strange, the quaint, the funny, the disturbing in the early 1920s. Throughout the 1920s, the legacies of the Great War were inescapable. WebAlthough funerals moved from the home to park-like cemeteries, which were often at a considerable distance, children were still in attendance. If you look closely at the photo to the left, you can see a base behind the girls feet and a post would go up from that with clamps at the waist and neck and the clothing would b, These photographs were a common aspect of American culture, a part of the mourning and memorialization process. For women, it was 54.6 years. However, only a century or so ago, things were very different. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992. Early casket which could run as high as $100.00 for the fancy units. The Characters Behind the Characters Maud Francis Davis Sociologist and Social Reformer. If you lived in a major city, you could expect to see funeral most days, The Victorians lived with death in a way their ancestors would recognise, and most of the rituals and traditions came directly from their own past. Most burials took place in nearby Santa Ana Cemetery. Archaeological excavations in the yard of St. Pauls on Third Street near Walnut Street uncovered burial vaults, evidence of the desire of the deceased, or their relatives, to highlight their socioeconomic standing. Johnson, Edward C., Gail R. Johnson, and Melissa Johnson. Once Some army regiments and sportsmen wear them on the right so as not to cover insignia, or to be confused with a leaders armband. Demographic changes also affected the burial and funeral practices in the Greater Philadelphia region. Infant mortality was incredibly high, while life expectancy, especially in some major cities was frightfully low. That year, Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, setting birthplace quotas meant to lock in America's demographic makeup. The Characters Behind the Characters Tom Horn Murderous Killer-for-hire and Lawman. She held the viewing in her with; the same cedar which lines chests and closets; the same juniper berries During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, horse-drawn hearses transported caskets of the recently deceased to cemeteries. In others, it gave people space, and the visibility, for people to be understanding of their grief. The furniture in the parlor included a square rosewood piano, a "mahogany stand for bric-a-brac," a marble-topped mahogany table, two large upholstered rosewood sofas, two large chairs and five smaller chairs covered in the same material, and unspecified bric-a-brac. death. President Harding and his wife, Florence, continued the tradition of having pets in the White House. Baseball certainly wasn't the only source of entertainment in the country in 1921. However, only a century or so ago, things were very different. Here are 10 photos of Pennsylvania from the early 1900s that give us a glimpse into life long ago. Philadelphia directory records suggest that most undertakers by the time of this lithograph were men. Jewelry was very dark, made of stones such as jet, or garnets. Additionally, society activities would be given up for three months. In the event of a sudden death, the family would have rushed the body along to photographers to have a photograph taken as a reminder of their child. Donald Trumps contempt of Sen. John McCain in life and death is on full display in his new $95 book. figs, honey, cypress, wine, dock, and calamus, among other herbs and ingredients: Love Pennsylvania? By the late nineteenth century, embalming, undertaking, and funeral directing emerged as masculine occupations, changing funeral and burial practices both locally and nationally. On top of this, most people died in their homes, often the home they were born in, often the same home where they watched their parents die. One of the first parts of the body to deteriorate after death are the eyes and many photographers became experts at painting false eyes on to closed eye lids. Until the mid-nineteenth century, women were the primary caretakers of the dead prior to burial, while male sextons interred bodies. Women made frequent visits with relatives, sometimes for several days at a time, and they carried handwork in order to keep their hands occupied during these visits. And throughout that time, funerals in the American settlements didnt change much. One cent.". One She even picked out and decorated Click here to view some of the oldest photos ever taken in PA. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. As ethnic groups moved out of their original neighborhoods, their funeral homes moved with WebUntil the 1900s, folks were buried only in a shroud (aka winding sheet) or in a 6-sided coffin. Gary Laderman makes a similar argument, claiming that by the 1920s, funeral homes were commonplace in the United States. He points to demographic changes, decreasing mortality, and the growth in hospitals and the medical profession as reasons. Religious and ethnic traditions affected the arrangement of the corpse and the symbolic objects placed in the coffin and burial site. WebAn open casket with an embalmed body rests in front of the crowd. Farming the land. North Main street, which housed, in the 1880s, the Plainwell Marble Factory. Dr. Mary Walker Larger than Life. Today there is no culturally normative response to post-mortem photographs. After that, the song becomes lively and buoyant, just as youd imagine how a band echoes down the sidewalks on Bourbon Street at a New Orleans jazz funeral. The rules for who wore what, and for how long, were complicated, and were outlined in popular journals or household manuals. Full veils allowed women not to worry about tears, mottled complexions, or other concerns such as hollowed out eyes through lack of sleep. They had two dogs, a squirrel named Pete and several canaries. To keep the dead from visiting those who remained, they tucked treats, such as cigarettes, into caskets. Despite all of the medical and technological advances of the Victorian era, the populace was still very much surrounded by death. In 1919, after World War I, the U.S. government lifted a ban on civilian radio ownership and transmission, and it wasn't long before commercial radio became a favorite source of entertainment. painting, designed to showcase the inner beauty of this dear mother WW1 saw the end of many of these traditions and rituals. Compared with the Evins estate, the household inventory of Mary's maternal grandparents is much less detailed, but nonetheless revealing. Following the viewing, Lincolns funeral train continued to its final destination in the deceased presidents home state, Illinois. deal with her mother's death. It normally happens quietly in a hospital with family and loved ones being told after the event. From her bobbed styled hair to her Mary Jane sensible-heeled shoes, women of the 1920s had style and dressed appropriately for every event. When Silas Benson died in 1875, the officials conducting the inventory chose to provide a single appraisal figure for the content/s of each of the nine rooms rather than itemizing the individual objects. In 1921, Dr. Albert S. Hyman helped footprint a newborn baby at Jewish Maternity Hospital in Philadelphia. Other colors were permitted in half mourning, such as dark blue, dark purple, gray, and lavender, gradually becoming lighter in shade as the period went on. Mathias, Elizabeth, The Italian-American Funeral: Persistence through Change. Western Folklore 33 (January 1974): 3550. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. same properties that make essential oils useful for so many modern purposes In this photo from 1921, a girl reads a book at her desk at Pleasant Green School, in Marlinton, West Virginia. Today outside of certain professions, it is rare for peopleto actually encounter death. Larger, more ornate, rectangular in shape, adorned with elaborate handles, and sometimes topped by a window through which the living viewed the dead, the casket was a receptacle that housed a precious treasure. wife's friend's experience taught us some stuff we didn't know. Some photographers were more skilled than others at this macabre task.

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