During the 19th century into the early 20th century, both Americans and Europeans had similar, sometimes odd, customs that were practiced after a loved one died.
One custom many today find
“creepy” was Postmortem Photography,
also known as memorial portraiture. This practice involved taking a photograph
of the recently deceased.
Postmortem Photo. |
This practice was common for
the middle class, for it was a way for families to remember their
deceased loved ones. With the invention of the daguerreotype in 1839, these photos
became an affordable alternative to the more expensive painted portraits that the wealthy commissioned.
Many also felt they helped
with the grieving process. By far, most of these photos were of infants or
children. These portraits sometimes were the only photograph the family had of
their deceased loved one.
Another common practice was wakes or waking. This custom was to keep
a close watch over the deceased until they were buried. Most wakes lasted three to
four days, to provide out of town relatives time to travel in for the
funeral.
Victorian wake. |
Wakes originated from a
practice that was considered a safeguard. Time was allowed to pass before the
deceased was buried to make sure they were really dead, and not just
in a coma.
One practice related to the one
above was “the fear of being buried alive.”
Safety coffin with air supplied. |
Coffin makers in this era
addressed this issue by designing warning systems. One of these was a bell on
the grave that was attached by a chain inside the coffin. The expression,
“saved by the bell” evolved out of this practice. Another post that focuses
on this topic is located here.
Grave Robbery was common in
this period—mostly because the medical profession needed fresh corpses for
their dissecting classes. Young doctors often robbed graves.
Grave robbers. |
The fear that a loved one's corpse might be robbed led to many family’s “bricking-over” graves to ensure
their security.
Other often practiced customs that surrounded death and burial in the Victorian age included:
Curtains were drawn and
clocks were stopped at the time of death.
Mirrors were covered in crape
or a veil to prevent the deceased spirit from becoming trapped, in these
looking glasses.
A wreath of laurel, with black ribbons, was hung on doors, to announce to those who
passed by, that there had been a death in the home. This was to ensure the proper
respect was shown.
The use of candles and
flowers were used to mask any unpleasant odors in the room where the body was
displayed—this was before the practice of embalming became common.
During this era the dead
where carried out of a home foot first to prevent the deceased from looking
back—which might lure other family members to follow them into death.
Flowers to disguise smells. |
Family photos were placed
face down, to prevent close relatives or friends of the deceased, from being
possessed by the dead person’s spirit.
Lavish meals were often
served after internments.
The color black was used to
denote someone was in mourning. While the color white was used for the funeral of a child—including white gloves, white ostrich plumes, and white
coffins.
In cemeteries, the majority
of the graves had the deceased laid out with their heads to the west and their feet
to the east. This custom can be traced back to Pagan Sun Worshippers, but now is
more often associated with the Christian belief that the final summons to
Judgment comes from the east.
In Part ll of Victorian Death Customs and Superstitions, several superstitions connected to death are shared.
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