Changing Faces Of The Funeral Industry: How It Has Changed In The Last Three Hundred Years

Like everything, the funeral industry has undergone massive changes in the last three hundred years. If you like to know what they are, here are some of them:

If you thought that wearing black in a funeral has been always the norm, then you can’t be wrong. The trend of wearing black to funeral started during the Victorian Era when Queen Victoria wore black for long after the death of her beloved Prince Albert. Another thing that this era contributed to the funeral rituals is using a different place for viewing the dead body instead of keeping it in the home of the deceased person. The place that time was called “Chapel of Rest” and nowadays, funeral homes in Hialeah are the place you do that.

The next big change that funeral tradition and rituals, happened during the First World War which saw death on an unimaginable scale. Many times, there were not even bodies to bury hence the war memorials and communal mourning became common. Another thing that started during this time was the publishing of the obituary of ordinary people in the newspaper. Now anyone could announce the sad news of the demise of their loved one; something that was only the privilege of the aristocratic class before.

The next big change that happened in the funeral industry was the emergence of funeral home chains and corporatization of this business during the mid-20th century. Before that, funeral homes where always family-run businesses; like your mom-and-pop stores around the corner. In the decades following the 1960s, larger corporations bought these small family-run businesses and consolidated the market. They did not change the name or even the people who ran the business, because most of these funeral homes were run by people who were active members of their community. Only the management side or “back office” maintained by the corporation.

Since then, the funeral traditions and rituals have also started changing with the changing tide of society. For example, wearing black during the entire mourning period slowly became less important. True even today you have to dress conservatively while attending a traditional funeral but any dark clothes and not necessarily black is allowed. The most change has happened about what a widow should be wearing after the funeral; before the 1960s, a widow was supposed to wear all black, cover her face in a veil and should not attend any social event. This period generally lasted 6 months for most. But nowadays, no one will look aghast if a widow is wearing any colored dresses during the mourning period. Also, no one looks down on her if she attends a social event during what is considered a mourning period.

Another great change that has happened in this century is that the serious and often gloominess one associated with a funeral or funeral homeis gone. Before, even the sermons of the preachers during a funeral tended to be heavy with stress on sin; a funeral home a dark and somber place. Now funeral homes in Hialeah have colorful exterior and interior; and funerals are marked with joyful remembrance of the deceased person and filled with song and positivity.