DUBOIS- Appearing in a full black Victorian mourning dress, guest speaker Barb Emmer, fascinated attendees with a program “Victorian Funeral Customs”.
Emmer, a DuBois Area Historical Society board member, backed her presentation with a photo presentation, some a little disturbing. She opened the program by explaining that Queen Victoria (1819-1901) of Great Britain brought about many funeral changes during her mourning for her husband, Prince Albert (1819-1861), foremost of which was wearing black during mourning.
“Funerals were held in the home, usually in the parlor, the origin of the word funeral parlor,” she explained. “There were undertakers, but their role did not include preparing the body. Two female family members did the preparation in total silence.
“Those attending the viewing and funeral received a printed invitation and the family would serve mourning biscuits to those invited. The body was removed from the home feet first and coffins were designed with a bell in case the person was not dead and only in a coma.”
Those attending got to sample a mourning biscuit prepared by historical society board member Michelle Tonkin.
In an age when life expectancy was 42, funeral preparations started at an early age. Women would start planning their funeral dress on their wedding day. Children were gifted funeral kits containing dolls and caskets.
Among other funeral customs during the Victorian time period were:
- Deep-mourning for widows (dressed in black the entire time) lasted 18 months. Mourning for widowers was three months.
- Funeral Clubs (much like a Christmas Club) to pay for a funeral.
- Mourning Warehouses, where funeral items could be purchased.
- Clocks in a home were stopped at the time of death to prevent bad luck.
- Mirrors in the home were covered because they were portals to the otherworld.
- Wreaths (available for purchase at the Mourning Warehouse) in black designated the home of the recently deceased.
- Photographers were hired to take post-mortem photos of the living with the deceased.
Forty-six people attended the DuBois Area Historical Society program held at Parkview Community Center in DuBois.
The DuBois Area Historical Society has one more program scheduled this year. Dick Castonguay will present “October 1924” highlighting the news, social activities, advertisements and other items from that year. The program is November 13 at 7 p.m. at the E. D. Reitz Museum and is free and open to all.
