They say that everyone is guaranteed two things in life: taxes, and death 💀 Given that I have always had a morbid fascination with the macabre, I figured this could be a perfect read for me! Originally written in 1963, this book explores the American funeral industry, and how some of our North American traditions first came to be...
There were a few things in this book that I was fascinated to learn about. For one, it was horrifying to discover just how great the funeral industry manipulates the public. Many people believe that a close death places them at the mercy of funeral directors, and the directors recognize this. In 1963, one funeral home was providing cremations for $400; within 15 years, it had risen to $1,000. In 1961, the cost for a casket and funeral was $750; by 2000, it was nearly $7,800.
"The cost of a funeral is the third largest expenditure, after a house and a car."
This took place for a good reason: "The undertaker ... pockets slightly more than half of the funeral dollar." Therefore, they were sure to take advantage of the situation. The cost of a casket could be marked up anywhere from 400-900%. Grave sites would sell for $350, and be marked up 100-200%. Cremation was originally $255 in the 1970s; by the 1990s, it was $1,200!
The only reason the funeral industry is entertained in the first place is largely due to historical myths! America used to be one of the only countries where embalming and open casket funerals took place; many other countries, including Britain, viewed it as a strange practice.
We can thank Dr. Thomas Holmes for this. "He was the first to popularize the idea of preserving the dead on a mass scale." Holmes was expelled from medical school due to "his passionate interest in cadavers," and by the time the Civil War arrived, he seized the opportunity to start embalming.
Yet, there is no need for the practice. No law requires embalming, no religious doctrine commends it. Embalming does not preserve the remains longer. A dead body does not become any more sanitary.
Why, then, has embalming taking off the way that it has? For one purpose: money! 💰🤑💰 "The true purpose of embalming is to facilitate an open casket funeral. Embalming is a procedure that boils down to sales and profits."
What is perhaps the most ironic part of all of this, is the fact that funerals have very little to do with what the "consumers" want. When asked, "What kind of funeral would you like?" most people answered, "Plain, cheap, and quiet." My husband has even been quoted with saying, "They can throw me in a ditch for all I care -- I'll be dead!"
In fact, most religions would agree with the sentiment. Christianity believes that "the body has served its sacramental purpose, that of housing the personality of the individual." Judaism also looked down upon the practice of embalming, and early Christians considered it to be a pagan custom.
