A book on the popular and material culture of Victorian death and mourning.
HUMAN PHOSPHATES. The Cremated Remains of a Lady Sent to This Country as a Sample Free of Duty. [New York World.] The steamship Alexandria, which is due from Mediterranean ports, will have on board the first cremated body ever entered at this port. The ashes are those of a wealthy lady of Philadelphia, the widow … Continue reading A Lady’s Remains Labeled “Phosphate of Lime”: 1886 →
Since today is Underwear Day (no idea why), let’s look at some of the discussions about mourning underthings, arranged by date. Black corsets contrasted with the prevailing fashion for lighter colors during the nineteenth century. Widows often wore black corsets as part of their mourning costumes, but black was also a fashion color. Corsets were … Continue reading Mourning Underwear: 1868-1915 →
Mourning Attire Changed Radically New York Sun. Fashions in mourning attire have changed radically within recent years, and it is exceptional now in this country to see a woman heavily swathed in crepe, though Parisians still cling rather tenaciously to that type of first mourning garb, This change has been brought about rather by considerations … Continue reading White Crepe and the Success of…
A Disconsolate Widow Wants a Photograph of a Funeral Profession. [From the San Antonio Herald.] A few mornings ago, a young lady came into Bingham’s photograph gallery. “I would have come before,” she explained, “but there has been sickness in the family; grandma died this morning, and this is the first chance I have had … Continue reading She Wanted a Photograph of a Funeral Procession: 1876 →
THEIR OCCUPATION GONE. A Body-Snatcher Can No Longer Make a Living in Chicago. Beneficial Results of the New Law Legalizing Dissection. The Graveyards Are No Longer Robbed. How Bodies Are Procured for the Medical Colleges. The Methods of Preservation, Division, Dissection, Etc. The subject of dissection, especially of a human body, is not a pleasant … Continue reading A Body-Snatcher Can No Longer…
The Corpse and the Dog. The other day a woman shipped her husband’s remains and a dog over the Central. At Albany she appeared at the door of the baggage car to see how they were getting along. “How does he seem to be doing?” she asked, with a sniff. “Who, the corpse?” inquired the … Continue reading The Corpse and the Dog: 1899 →
Somebody’s Father. I think that one of the saddest incidents of the war which I witnessed was after the battle of Gettysburg. Off on the outskirts, seated on the ground with his back to a tree, was a dead soldier. His eyes were riveted on some object held tightly clasped in his hands. As we … Continue reading Somebody’s Father at Gettysburg: 1863 →
At the weddings of the past, a certain amount of horseplay was expected in the form of pranks played on the bride and groom. Guns might be fired, pots and pans banged, and all kinds of noise was made to “serenade” the happy couple and disrupt the wedding evening. In the US this was called … Continue reading Fatal Wedding Pranks: 1878-1915 →
Død, Sven Jorgensen, 1896 http://samling.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/object/NG.M.01078 The next scene that stands out clearly against the background of the past is that of my father’s death-bed. The events which led to his death I know from my dear mother. He had never lost his fondness for the profession for which he had been trained, and having many medical friends, he would … Continue reading Papa’s…
STRANGE AND UNCANNY. Affecting Separation of Lovers A Young Lady Made a Bride on Her Seeming Death-Bed Reappears Years Afterward Perhaps She Was Buried Alive and Resurrected. [Chicago Herald] An English officer tells the following strange and most uncanny story, which ought to be given as far as possible in his own words; “A great … Continue reading The Resurrected Bride: c. 1870 →