casket shroud | |
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In a non-descript building in north Houston, TX the National Museum of Funeral History houses the country's largest collection of funeral service artifacts. |
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view from | |
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the entrance | |
We could only make one stop in Houston, and once I saw this place listed it was a natural choice, part of our quirky-museum wanderings.
The museum was low-lit, taxing my cheap pocket camera. I've pushed some pictures when they were really dark, but left most as-is to save a lot of work and keep my image file sizes small. This museum shows signs of needing more space - some similar items are scattered around the place. So unlike my usual museum order based on how we walked through, this one has been ordered more by the topics represented. |
Hearses: Horse-Drawn
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1832 Horse Drawn Hearse | |
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1880 Rockfalls Hearse |
1888 Kimball Brougham ("widow's coach") | |
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sleigh hearses |
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Hearse, late 1800s | |
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1900 Children's White Hearse (Quebec) | |
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1850 German Hearse | |
1860 German Hearse | |
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| History of the Restoration of the Funeral Carriage of King of France Louis the 18th | |
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Hearses: Motorized
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1916 Buick Sayers & Scovill Hearse | |
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oak hand-carved to resemble drapery | |
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two levels for flowers and casket | |
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1916 Packard Funeral Bus | |
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the only surviving vehicle of its kind | |
1921 Rockfalls Hearse | |
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1924 Ford Model TT Hoover Hearse | |
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mahogany hand-carved to resemble drapery and columns | |
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1926 Sayers & Scovill (S&S) Hearse | |
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1929 Studebaker - Superior Hearse | |
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1935 Studebaker Dictator Superior Hearse | |
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1938 Henney-Packard Flower Car | |
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1939 Superior - LaSalle Mount Claire Hearse | |
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1940 LaSalle Touring Sedan | |
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1951 Superior - Cadillac Laundaulet Hearse | |
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1972 Japanese Ceremonial Hearse |
A modified 1972 Toyota Crown Station Wagon, with music system and speakers mounted on the outside to play music during the funeral procession. The casket is carried on the roof.
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1973 Mercedes Hearse |
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Caskets
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Old Casket Shop | |
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1925 Glass Casket | |
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The Money Casket (1970s) | |
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Cruciform Casket (early 1900s) | |
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Casket for Three (1930s) | |
Fantasy Coffins of Kane Quaye
Kane Quaye (1922-1992) was a Ghanain carpenter turned master coffin builder who made a reputation for elaborate and representative coffins. | |
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Artifacts and Ephemera
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Early Funeral Home Advertising Items |
$105.75 for a 1899 funeral | |
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1926 advertisement in "The Casket and Sunnyside" | |
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1949 advertisement for Batesville "Monoseal" casket | |
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Marcsellus Casket Company Salesman Sample (1920-35) |
Buffalo Burial Vault Works brochures | |
History of Embalming
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entrance |
Mummification | |
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Civil War practices |
Early Embalming (circa 1920s) | |
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Icebox Containers, Adult and Youth Coffins | |
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| From the 1850s there was an emerging practice to encase the deceased in a receptacle whose claim to public acceptability lay in the fact that it was beautiful and thus suitable for funerals. Five major themes in fulfilling the proper function of the burial receptacle were utility, status indication, preservation of the body, protection, and aesthetic representation.
Prior to the contemporary principle of chemical embalming, undertakers employed various devices for preserving the deceased by application of ice. Surrounding the deceased with ice in a traditionally-designed coffin was objectionable for a number of obvious reasons. New designs emplying a cooling board along with a compartment for ice storage below the deceased because widespread as an acceptable method of temporary preservation. The Ice-box coffin was used for over two decades until the practice of embalming by injection became standard procedure. | |
| The late 1920s and early 1930s ushered in the modern era of funeral home service to families. A gradual shift from in-home embalming and funeral services led to the expanded conveniences of the "complete" funeral home. | |
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Wicker "first call" basket | |
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Embalming Tools |
Embalming Machines (early 1900s) | |
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Table with Eckels Gravitation Injectors | |
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Funeral Home parlour |
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Famous People
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Michael Jackson | Elizabeth Taylor | |
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Suspense and Thrillers | |
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Wild Wild West | |
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Gone Too Soon | |
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Frank Sinatra | |
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Sally K. Ride | Neil A. Armstrong | |
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Buck Owens | |
Celebrating the Lives and Deaths of the Popes
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Zucchetto
(Skull Cap) | |
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Election of a Pope |
Papal Vestments | |
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Rite of Papal Death |
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Preparation for a Papal Funeral |
Funeral Mass |
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John Paul II | |
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Papal Coffins | |
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Papal Coffin |
Rite of Interment | |
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1982 Range Rover Popemobile |
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Mexican Day of the Dead
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Tucked in the back of the museum, an odd little diorama of a Mexican household with death knocking at the door. It sparked a completely irreverent cackle from TFS. |
Presidents
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Lincoln | |
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(not the real) Lincoln | |
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Lincoln Funeral | |
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Lyndon Baines Johnson
John F. Kennedy | |
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Harry S. Truman pins | |
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Presidential Funeral Hearse
Ronald W. Reagan
Gerald R. Ford | |
An odd yet entertaining and informative couple hours. There's a gift shop too, with death-related items like a "The Cremator" BBQ apron, t-shirts with "Graduate of Undertaker University", and items with the museum's branding. I got a can coozie. |
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Not related to the museum, except for being deceased, this giant statue of Sam Houston along the I-45 about an hour north of Houston. At 67 feet (20.4 meters) tall it can't be missed from the road. |
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