On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 12:52 PM, DARWIN LOLA WEBER <[email protected]>wrote: > Who might have been the mortuary to handle the last burials in Cooke's > Burial Ground: > > I forgot to answer this part. The original "coffin makers" were stores that sold furniture. Some places made and sold. A casket was literally a "pine box". As such, it was often the furniture maker closest to the family's house. The original way to handle a death was... The deceased died at home, was washed and re-dressed by family, and "laid out" in the front parlor with the casket brought to the home by the furniture maker or picked up by wagon by the family. Flower bouquets were to cover any odors. There was little embalming used, if any, in the earliest days. Also, remember Washington had a Crematorium, the first. So many people did choose that route after a few days to a week of "viewing" in the person's former residence. I don't know the exact date that embalming started. But originally there were no State laws to embalm. Over time, rooms in the furniture store were used as a "funeral parlor". The furniture maker either became a mortician or was associated with a physician or other person who acted as mortician. Eventually, furniture sales separated from coffin makers/sales. Morticians also began to assume the sole duties within the community (but the mortician also had a second occupation). Then, "funeral homes" arose, just like it became more common for people to die in hospitals vs at home. States also had enacted embalming laws, so a one-stop-service was more logical. The mortician/funeral home became one entity, even if there was more than 1 embalmer on staff. Health-wise, the 1980s marked the re-beginning of "dying at home". Hospices began. But there was no change in the "funeral home" aspect. As far as funeral homes, the norm originally was up to a 4 to 7 day viewing to allow out-of-town people time to arrive for the funeral. Slowly, that was reduced. For a while, a 4-day viewing became the norm. Then, some families wanted a 2-day, or even a 1-day, with service. NOW, funeral home directors have told me that pretty much anything can be accommodated. If a family wants to play Jazz music...country music...no music.... No viewing...up to however many days... No service or memorial... to funeral home service with transport to a church for a "funeral". No flowers.... tons of flowers... or just money donations. No "objects"... to teddy bears that are later donated to a church. Caskets can be pine box... to lavish with satin pillow and coverlet. Some funeral homes now cater to the "green" generation with no plastics, all organic flowers etc. It is now basically a personalized "send off". All you need is to ask. >From wagons to wagon hearse (doubled as early ambulance), to car-hearse like we know today... or glass hearse... or now a glass hearse that can be towed by motocycles... it's yours for the asking, if you have money to pay for the special affair. Not sure I covered every aspect here.... Judy