Funeral Transportation Abraham Lincoln’s Funeral Train 1865
Readings Question #1 What are the French and Latin origins for the word hearse? Describe the first hearse.
Early Methods bier (bear): “forerunner of today’s hearse; a hand stretcher on which the uncoffined body was carried to the grave” horse-drawn carts: 1648 “hearse on wheels”
Colonial Hearses wagon horse-drawn hearses “Gentleman’s Coaches” “liverymen” 1787: American funeral hearses early pioneer: simple
Hearses with Horses Readings Question #2: What impact did the Civil War have on the style of hearses? Readings Question #3: Compare and contrast the hearse of the 1850’s with the hearse used during the Civil War.
President Lincoln’s Funeral Car 1865
Readings Question #4 Compare and contrast the “funeral cars” of the following innovators: James Cunningham, Hudson Samson, and Crane & Breed.
Gas and Electric Vehicles 1885: Baltimore- electric street railway Readings Question #5: Describe the first trolley funeral car. “a specially designed train car run on a city’s trolley line to transport casket and mourners to cemeteries on the outskirts of the city”
Gasoline-powered Hearses Fred Hulberg: 1908 NYC Crane and Breed Manufacturing Company: 1909 “auto-hearse”
Other Funeral Vehicles Ambulance: 1909 Undertaker’s Buggy: “vehicle used by undertakers to transport the necessary mortuary paraphernalia to the homes where funerals were typically held….had an appearance similar to a hearse, but were much less ornate” Limousine: early 1920’s
Hearse Sizes and Colors up to Civil War: black after the war increase in length and width children: white larger funeral cars: darker colors most popular: black light-grey: carved hearses World War I: black then grey
Cadillac Hearses
National Coach 1957
Transportation of Flowers regular hearses equipped with special trays or receptacles first flower cars: 7 passenger touring cars emergence of vans and other converted vehicles
Readings Question #6 How did the evolution of funeral transportation influence the responsibilities of the funeral director? Lincoln’s Funeral Procession