The National Museum of Funeral History in Houston, Texas

Eric & I at the National Museum of Funeral History

This is a huge space with many displays and takes hours to tour.

Casket Making

Most Caskets in this country are made of wood.  Taking care of the dead was done by family for hundreds of years.  The body was washed, clothed, and displayed in the Parlor of the grieving family's home. 

Embalming became common in the US during the  Civil War.

This Cruciform Casket is from the 

early 1900s.

It is a work of art.

This Glass Casket is rare.

By the time adult-sized

Caskets were manufactured,

the demand had dried up.

This Casket for Three has 

a tragic story.

The death of a child is devastating.  Following the death of their young child, the parents created this plan...  They went to another state to have the Coffin for Three custom-built.  The husband would murder the wife, the wife would commit suicide,  and they would be put into the Casket together. It would then be shipped to the town where their child died.  The disinterred child would lie between the parents forever.  The couple didn't follow through with their gruesome plan and the Casket eventually made its way to this Museum. 

Hand-drawn Carts were used to transport the dead until the development of the Hearse in the 1800s.

A Horse-Drawn Hearse

was built in 1832.

This white Children's Hearse 

was built in 1900.

Its small Casket

This ornate late 1800s Hearse

is an "all-weather vehicle."

In the winter the sled beneath

can be attached.

The 1916 Packard Funeral Bus

The Driver's Seat

Casket with flowers

Seating for the Mourners

Eric's favorite is the 1921

Rock Falls Hearse.

The carved drapery is

exquisite.

This 1850s Casket & the 

Hand-Caned "Board"

are quite rare.

The Casket is designed to hold 

ice to keep the body from

decomposing & the Caned

Board keeps the body from 

getting wet during the viewing.

The Funeral Parlor Business

in this country started in

the early 1800s.

The Duel Purpose Hearse...

1929 Studebaker-Superior

Hearse

There's a Stretcher inside.

This Hearse did double duty

as an Ambulance.

1938 Henney Packard

Flower Car

Remembering famous people who have died...

Marilyn Monroe

Elvis Presley

Kobe Bryant

Crematoriums & Cremations

started in the US in 1876.

Modern Cremation

Egyptian Embalming

Anubis, God of Embalming

The Embalming Room

An Egyptian Sarcophagus

Mexico's Day of the Dead

has many traditions.

People in Ghana are buried in

hand-crafted Fantasy Coffins.

The Swiss Guard guard a

 deceased Pope's body.

The Funerals of George

& Barbara Bush

This Hearse was used for Former

Presidents Ronald Reagan &

George H. W. Bush.

This Blog Post is an overview of the many displays at this Museum dedicated to the history of America's  Funeral Industry.