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Old 11-14-2014, 06:26 AM
 
Location: Mount Monadnock, NH
752 posts, read 1,483,861 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by coolgato View Post
I only knew about the funerals and wakes in people's houses but I didn't know about how they would embalm people, even doing autopsies on them in their own homes. That is totally freaking me out right now! A death, not to mention a funeral in a home is not great to hear but is acceptable and won't deter me from buying the house (if the person died very elderly and naturally) but the embalming and autopsy in the home thing is a total deal breaker - I don't care how old the person was when they died. The Lizzie Borden house history was not a deal breaker for the current owners though - they opened it up as an inn and I think they even have the original furniture like the sofa where I think the dad died and the step mom in the upstairs bedroom where I think they kept the same carpet and bed. It is good that in America there are a lot of funeral parlors now. In rural areas of China until recently, I think the family carried out burials themselves because even if there were these services available, families were so poor that they did most of the duties that a mortician would and that must be very difficult for them when they are grieving.
Back in those days autopsies were not performed as often as they are now, even in situations in which today it would certainly be done. Many times, even as late as the early 1900s, they might be conducted out of curiosity when a patient had symptoms which were baffling, though not necessarily indicating foul play. If it could be helped, the body was dissected in a medical theater or morgue, but if that was not possible then yes, they were done in the home.

As with embalming, even in 1900 it not used universally: it was becoming more common but it was still more common among the middle class and well to do, not the poor so much. Arsenic was a common ingredient in the chemical until about 1910 when formaldehyde replaced it; only when commercial funeral parlors became more popular did the use of embalming become very widespread and among most classes; before the US Civil War it was rarely practiced.
For example, the famed poet Emily Dickinson died in May, 1886 after a lengthy illness of cardiovascular disease at her family home in Amherst, Mass. The night she died, the undertaker was brought in and her body was embalmed in her own bedroom; the funeral was conducted in the side parlor and she was interred in the town burial ground a short distance away. That was a typical scenario in that time among at least the upper middle/upper classes. Certainly not something you'd see today!
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Old 11-14-2014, 09:55 AM
 
15,442 posts, read 21,268,037 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JBtwinz View Post
Not to sidetrack the topic........but if one was to buy a home that had had a tragic death "murder suicide" do you think someone would rent the home if you purchased for investment property?
Our house where the young man hung himself in the garage continued to stay well rented even though some of the people who rented said they knew the fellow. The property was in a very small town where most of the people knew each other. It was however a very good rental property at the edge of the city park on over 2 acres.
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Old 11-14-2014, 11:47 AM
 
19,685 posts, read 10,015,636 times
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Someone died in our house before we bought it and we have been here for 22 years.
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Old 11-14-2014, 08:15 PM
 
8,495 posts, read 4,134,026 times
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Default Arsenic

Quote:
Originally Posted by Austin023 View Post
Back in those days autopsies were not performed as often as they are now, even in situations in which today it would certainly be done. Many times, even as late as the early 1900s, they might be conducted out of curiosity when a patient had symptoms which were baffling, though not necessarily indicating foul play. If it could be helped, the body was dissected in a medical theater or morgue, but if that was not possible then yes, they were done in the home.

As with embalming, even in 1900 it not used universally: it was becoming more common but it was still more common among the middle class and well to do, not the poor so much. Arsenic was a common ingredient in the chemical until about 1910 when formaldehyde replaced it; only when commercial funeral parlors became more popular did the use of embalming become very widespread and among most classes; before the US Civil War it was rarely practiced.
For example, the famed poet Emily Dickinson died in May, 1886 after a lengthy illness of cardiovascular disease at her family home in Amherst, Mass. The night she died, the undertaker was brought in and her body was embalmed in her own bedroom; the funeral was conducted in the side parlor and she was interred in the town burial ground a short distance away. That was a typical scenario in that time among at least the upper middle/upper classes. Certainly not something you'd see today!
I didn't know about arsenic being used as a preservative for embalming. I never did understand why embalming is so popular. My belief is when a person goes, they decay, just like plants. No one's going to see them so why go through the indignity of being embalmed. I know what they do with cotton balls... I think a lot of world leaders that have died are still lying in state where people can look at their preserved bodies, and that would be a good reason for embalming, but other than that, why do people want to be embalmed?

I wonder if Emily Dickinson's house is still standing - I wouldn't want to stay there, especially in her bedroom where she went through the embalming process. I could never be comfortable with that. The Victorians were really creepy with their death customs and practices. I remember seeing a movie where the main character finds an album of photographs of deceased people being posed as if they were alive. That would be really freaky for the present owners of a house to find an album and see dead people from over 100 years ago being posed in the living room of the house.

Cremation - sounds more attractive and probably a lot of people are finding that it is a better option because it's growing in popularity.
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Old 11-14-2014, 08:16 PM
 
8,495 posts, read 4,134,026 times
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Momento mori - that's it. I couldn't think of the word for the practice of Victorian death photography.
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Old 11-14-2014, 08:21 PM
 
Location: Somewhere in America
15,479 posts, read 15,542,365 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JBtwinz View Post
Not to sidetrack the topic........but if one was to buy a home that had had a tragic death "murder suicide" do you think someone would rent the home if you purchased for investment property?
I wouldn't. It could be free and I still wouldn't.
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Old 11-14-2014, 08:26 PM
 
Location: Somewhere in America
15,479 posts, read 15,542,365 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by coolgato View Post
I didn't know about arsenic being used as a preservative for embalming. I never did understand why embalming is so popular. My belief is when a person goes, they decay, just like plants. No one's going to see them so why go through the indignity of being embalmed. I know what they do with cotton balls... I think a lot of world leaders that have died are still lying in state where people can look at their preserved bodies, and that would be a good reason for embalming, but other than that, why do people want to be embalmed?
Because you begin to decay the moment you die. You get really stinking really fast! Unless the funeral is going to be within a few hours, it needs to be done. There's also laws about this because of bodily fluids.

Would you want to be at grandpa's funeral when he died 4 or 5 days ago and he wasn't embalmed? The odor would knock you over. And he would be bloated and full of insects. Little Joey would be grossed out and bump the casket. Poor grandpa moves and explodes....yeah I don't want to see that!

Ever see how fast roadkill disintegrates? Doesn't even have to be summer or hot for the animals to dissolve into practically nothing.
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Old 11-14-2014, 10:00 PM
 
19,685 posts, read 10,015,636 times
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Cremation is a lot cheaper.
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Old 11-15-2014, 12:19 AM
 
8,495 posts, read 4,134,026 times
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Default Odor

Quote:
Originally Posted by ss20ts View Post
Because you begin to decay the moment you die. You get really stinking really fast! Unless the funeral is going to be within a few hours, it needs to be done. There's also laws about this because of bodily fluids.

Would you want to be at grandpa's funeral when he died 4 or 5 days ago and he wasn't embalmed? The odor would knock you over. And he would be bloated and full of insects. Little Joey would be grossed out and bump the casket. Poor grandpa moves and explodes....yeah I don't want to see that!

Ever see how fast roadkill disintegrates? Doesn't even have to be summer or hot for the animals to dissolve into practically nothing.
I forgot about the several days sometimes before a service, and yes, it would not be too pleasant for the mourners. Sometimes I think it would be better to bury the deceased right away (less than 24 hours) as some religions dictate instead of having a service with a casket and the body for viewing - I think most people would rather remember the deceased as they once were, and not see them for the last time in that box and have that as part of their memory of their loved one, friend, etc. After the private burial held right after death, a memorial dinner or lunch can be held at a later time for friends and extended family and they don't even have to wear black - should be a celebration of the person's life.
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Old 11-15-2014, 12:23 AM
 
8,495 posts, read 4,134,026 times
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Default Cremation

Quote:
Originally Posted by Floorist View Post
Cremation is a lot cheaper.
A lot cheaper and also the ashes fly away (or can be kept at home on the family mantle - close to home) and go all over the world, instead of being buried under the ground and just left there to decay.
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