#deathcare — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #deathcare, aggregated by home.social.
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ΆLETHEIA-ENGIN™🪶PallCortège™ Funerary Suite (PNG/PDF Updated)
The PallCortège™ transports the PallBier™ (both space-frame chassis) is a compact, serial hybrid electric with range extender (REX), all-wheel-drive (AWD), catamaran-style LiFePO₄ skateboard battery pack encapsulating an overhead straddle crane that securely holds and decants the aforementioned PallBier™ with its casket and flowers.The concept is inspired in part by the straddle carrier or straddle truck, a once common freight-carrying vehicle that carried its load underneath by "straddling", rather than carrying it on top of a bed like a conventional truck.
#DeathPositive #Thanatology #GraveCare #LastResponder #Hearse #HearseLife #Coachbuilt #FuneralCoach #FuneralCart #GothiCar #GrimRider
#FuneraryArt #MourningArt #DeathArt #DeathCarehttps://aletheng.org/2026/07/13/aletheia-engin-pallbier-pdf/
https://aletheng.org/2026/07/13/aletheia-engin-pallcortege-pdf/ -
ΆLETHEIA-ENGIN™🪶PallCortège™ Funerary Suite (PNG/PDF Updated)
The PallCortège™ transports the PallBier™ (both space-frame chassis) is a compact, serial hybrid electric with range extender (REX), all-wheel-drive (AWD), catamaran-style LiFePO₄ skateboard battery pack encapsulating an overhead straddle crane that securely holds and decants the aforementioned PallBier™ with its casket and flowers.The concept is inspired in part by the straddle carrier or straddle truck, a once common freight-carrying vehicle that carried its load underneath by "straddling", rather than carrying it on top of a bed like a conventional truck.
#DeathPositive #Thanatology #GraveCare #LastResponder #Hearse #HearseLife #Coachbuilt #FuneralCoach #FuneralCart #GothiCar #GrimRider
#FuneraryArt #MourningArt #DeathArt #DeathCarehttps://aletheng.org/2026/07/13/aletheia-engin-pallbier-pdf/
https://aletheng.org/2026/07/13/aletheia-engin-pallcortege-pdf/ -
ΆLETHEIA-ENGIN™🪶PallCortège™ Funerary Suite (PNG/PDF Updated)
The PallCortège™ transports the PallBier™ (both space-frame chassis) is a compact, serial hybrid electric with range extender (REX), all-wheel-drive (AWD), catamaran-style LiFePO₄ skateboard battery pack encapsulating an overhead straddle crane that securely holds and decants the aforementioned PallBier™ with its casket and flowers.The concept is inspired in part by the straddle carrier or straddle truck, a once common freight-carrying vehicle that carried its load underneath by "straddling", rather than carrying it on top of a bed like a conventional truck.
#DeathPositive #Thanatology #GraveCare #LastResponder #Hearse #HearseLife #Coachbuilt #FuneralCoach #FuneralCart #GothiCar #GrimRider
#FuneraryArt #MourningArt #DeathArt #DeathCarehttps://aletheng.org/2026/07/13/aletheia-engin-pallbier-pdf/
https://aletheng.org/2026/07/13/aletheia-engin-pallcortege-pdf/ -
ΆLETHEIA-ENGIN™🪶PallCortège™ Funerary Suite (PNG/PDF Updated)
The PallCortège™ transports the PallBier™ (both space-frame chassis) is a compact, serial hybrid electric with range extender (REX), all-wheel-drive (AWD), catamaran-style LiFePO₄ skateboard battery pack encapsulating an overhead straddle crane that securely holds and decants the aforementioned PallBier™ with its casket and flowers.The concept is inspired in part by the straddle carrier or straddle truck, a once common freight-carrying vehicle that carried its load underneath by "straddling", rather than carrying it on top of a bed like a conventional truck.
#DeathPositive #Thanatology #GraveCare #LastResponder #Hearse #HearseLife #Coachbuilt #FuneralCoach #FuneralCart #GothiCar #GrimRider
#FuneraryArt #MourningArt #DeathArt #DeathCarehttps://aletheng.org/2026/07/13/aletheia-engin-pallbier-pdf/
https://aletheng.org/2026/07/13/aletheia-engin-pallcortege-pdf/ -
Added a new sticker to my laptop for Pride. Also giving free airtime and notice to Chelsie Niemcziek, Lewis County's pick for Coroner this year. They seemed very outgoing and down to Earth, and apparently maybe open to future collaboration with Yours Truly™. We'll see where the rest of the year takes us.
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Added a new sticker to my laptop for Pride. Also giving free airtime and notice to Chelsie Niemcziek, Lewis County's pick for Coroner this year. They seemed very outgoing and down to Earth, and apparently maybe open to future collaboration with Yours Truly™. We'll see where the rest of the year takes us.
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Cremation's Rise Reveals Complex Preferences in End-of-Life Decisions
📰 Original title: Boom in cremation hides surprising truths about what Americans really want when they die
🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Usuarios: It's not clickbait ✅View full AI summary: https://killbait.com/en/cremations-rise-reveals-complex-preferences-in-end-of-life-decisions/?redirpost=7f097c2f-d1be-41cb-9721-63ca84298aea
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Cremation's Rise Reveals Complex Preferences in End-of-Life Decisions
📰 Original title: Boom in cremation hides surprising truths about what Americans really want when they die
🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Usuarios: It's not clickbait ✅View full AI summary: https://killbait.com/en/cremations-rise-reveals-complex-preferences-in-end-of-life-decisions/?redirpost=7f097c2f-d1be-41cb-9721-63ca84298aea
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"And we have a lot of people that will also say, 'I want to be a tree,' or, 'I want to plant this tree at my mom’s grave.' We help them get to the place of understanding what it might be to be the whole forest."
John Christian Phifer for Atmos: https://atmos.earth/science-and-nature/giving-our-bodies-back-to-the-earth-the-rise-of-conservation-burial/
#Longreads #Death #Burial #Nature #Restoration #Earth #DeathCare #GreenBurial #NaturalBurial
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"And we have a lot of people that will also say, 'I want to be a tree,' or, 'I want to plant this tree at my mom’s grave.' We help them get to the place of understanding what it might be to be the whole forest."
John Christian Phifer for Atmos: https://atmos.earth/science-and-nature/giving-our-bodies-back-to-the-earth-the-rise-of-conservation-burial/
#Longreads #Death #Burial #Nature #Restoration #Earth #DeathCare #GreenBurial #NaturalBurial
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Inside Recompose, where the human composting startup is ready to grow its formula beyond Seattle - Recompose founder and CEO Katrina Spade in front of the vessels in the company’s ... - https://www.geekwire.com/2025/inside-recompose-where-the-human-composting-startup-is-ready-to-grow-its-formula-beyond-seattle/ #funeralindustry #humancomposting #katrinaspade #deathcare #recompose #startups #funding
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Inside Recompose, where the human composting startup is ready to grow its formula beyond Seattle - Recompose founder and CEO Katrina Spade in front of the vessels in the company’s ... - https://www.geekwire.com/2025/inside-recompose-where-the-human-composting-startup-is-ready-to-grow-its-formula-beyond-seattle/ #funeralindustry #humancomposting #katrinaspade #deathcare #recompose #startups #funding
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Some, scared off by the complexity of picking a #HealthInsurance policy & by the #PriceTag, tumble over the edge & go without #insurance, in a #health system where the rate for an ER visit can be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars.
Today, an estimated 15% of 26-year-olds go #uninsured, which, acc/to an analysis by the health research group KFF, is the highest rate among Americans of any age.
#US #healthcare #eugenics #DeathCare #HealthyIfYoureWealthy #ACA #Obamacare
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Some, scared off by the complexity of picking a #HealthInsurance policy & by the #PriceTag, tumble over the edge & go without #insurance, in a #health system where the rate for an ER visit can be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars.
Today, an estimated 15% of 26-year-olds go #uninsured, which, acc/to an analysis by the health research group KFF, is the highest rate among Americans of any age.
#US #healthcare #eugenics #DeathCare #HealthyIfYoureWealthy #ACA #Obamacare
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Some, scared off by the complexity of picking a #HealthInsurance policy & by the #PriceTag, tumble over the edge & go without #insurance, in a #health system where the rate for an ER visit can be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars.
Today, an estimated 15% of 26-year-olds go #uninsured, which, acc/to an analysis by the health research group KFF, is the highest rate among Americans of any age.
#US #healthcare #eugenics #DeathCare #HealthyIfYoureWealthy #ACA #Obamacare
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Some, scared off by the complexity of picking a #HealthInsurance policy & by the #PriceTag, tumble over the edge & go without #insurance, in a #health system where the rate for an ER visit can be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars.
Today, an estimated 15% of 26-year-olds go #uninsured, which, acc/to an analysis by the health research group KFF, is the highest rate among Americans of any age.
#US #healthcare #eugenics #DeathCare #HealthyIfYoureWealthy #ACA #Obamacare
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Some, scared off by the complexity of picking a #HealthInsurance policy & by the #PriceTag, tumble over the edge & go without #insurance, in a #health system where the rate for an ER visit can be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars.
Today, an estimated 15% of 26-year-olds go #uninsured, which, acc/to an analysis by the health research group KFF, is the highest rate among Americans of any age.
#US #healthcare #eugenics #DeathCare #HealthyIfYoureWealthy #ACA #Obamacare
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Plans sold in the online #insurance marketplaces have no stringent quality standards. #Costs keep rising, & #eligibility requirements & subsidies are a moving target.
The erosion of the #law has now created an “insurance cliff” for Americans who are turning 26 & don’t have a #job that provides #medical coverage.
#US #healthcare #eugenics #DeathCare #HealthyIfYoureWealthy #ACA #Obamacare #HealthInsurance
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Art helps while grieving—imagine if you could see a painting that shows those evening walks in the garden, or horse riding sessions, the rain on the terrace, or baking sessions in the kitchen with grandma, or browsing the library shelf with a sibling—the flashes of memories when raised on a canvas can bring a certain calmness in our bereavement experience.
Around builds those experiences for you, here is a preview of what it means.
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Art helps while grieving—imagine if you could see a painting that shows those evening walks in the garden, or horse riding sessions, the rain on the terrace, or baking sessions in the kitchen with grandma, or browsing the library shelf with a sibling—the flashes of memories when raised on a canvas can bring a certain calmness in our bereavement experience.
Around builds those experiences for you, here is a preview of what it means.
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#WordyWednesday: Ptomaine 💨🤢🤮
Pronounced: toe-MAIN.
The unholy gang of nitrogenous stink compounds responsible for the indescribable stench of decomposing bodies. Found in decaying vegetable and animal matter and formed by the action of putrefactive bacteria.
Includes cadaverine and putrescine (the smell of putrefying flesh or rotting fish), indole (smells like mothballs), and skatole (smells like poop).
Other chemical compounds produce smells akin to rotting cabbage, nasty garlic, and rotten eggs. Ptomaine was originally thought to cause food poisoning but has been disproven.
Raise your hand if you've had this smell cling to your nose hairs after a long day at work! Semi-related, death workers deserve a raise.
#HisAndHearsePress #Ptomaine #Decomposition #Cadaverine #Putrescine #Indole #Skatole #Putrefaction #Funeral #MortuaryScience #DeathCare #Embalming #Vocabulary #Stinky #Decomp
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#WordyWednesday: Ptomaine 💨🤢🤮
Pronounced: toe-MAIN.
The unholy gang of nitrogenous stink compounds responsible for the indescribable stench of decomposing bodies. Found in decaying vegetable and animal matter and formed by the action of putrefactive bacteria.
Includes cadaverine and putrescine (the smell of putrefying flesh or rotting fish), indole (smells like mothballs), and skatole (smells like poop).
Other chemical compounds produce smells akin to rotting cabbage, nasty garlic, and rotten eggs. Ptomaine was originally thought to cause food poisoning but has been disproven.
Raise your hand if you've had this smell cling to your nose hairs after a long day at work! Semi-related, death workers deserve a raise.
#HisAndHearsePress #Ptomaine #Decomposition #Cadaverine #Putrescine #Indole #Skatole #Putrefaction #Funeral #MortuaryScience #DeathCare #Embalming #Vocabulary #Stinky #Decomp
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When a loved one dies: how academia can support bereaved colleagues
The lack of clarity around doctoral students’ bereavement benefits is partly because the policies for staff don’t always extend to them, and student policies might apply only to undergraduates.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01832-1
#DeathCare #DeathTech #BereavementX
PS: I am working on an MVP in this category, please DM me or leave a comment if you want to join us in our *user research* survey.
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When a loved one dies: how academia can support bereaved colleagues
The lack of clarity around doctoral students’ bereavement benefits is partly because the policies for staff don’t always extend to them, and student policies might apply only to undergraduates.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01832-1
#DeathCare #DeathTech #BereavementX
PS: I am working on an MVP in this category, please DM me or leave a comment if you want to join us in our *user research* survey.
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#AmReading: All the Living and the Dead:
From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work
By Hayley Campbell
Real talk: I was hesitant when I first saw this book because I knew it had the potential to sensationalize or demonize the funeral profession. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Hayley interviewed exceptional people and portrayed them accurately. Phew!
She didn’t shy away from the graphic nature of each person’s occupation, but she also kept it within a professional context. I appreciate her efforts to shine a light on the workers people prefer to ignore and prove that we’re compassionate and empathetic rather than a flock of vultures (fun fact: it’s actually called a “wake” of vultures).
As a funeral director and embalmer, I highly recommend this book. Everyone ought to know a bit about what happens behind closed doors before passing a broad judgement based on stereotypes.
FYI, this book covers the duties of workers in the USA and UK. Practices and laws vary by location. Here’s the book’s blurb:
“A deeply compelling exploration of the death industry and the people―morticians, detectives, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, executioners―who work in it and what led them there.
We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what we’re so afraid of, when we are never given the chance to look?
Fueled by a childhood fascination with death, journalist Hayley Campbell searches for answers in the people who make a living by working with the dead. Along the way, she encounters mass fatality investigators, embalmers, and a former executioner who is responsible for ending sixty-two lives. She meets gravediggers who have already dug their own graves, visits a cryonics facility in Michigan, goes for late-night Chinese with a homicide detective, and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear.”
https://bookshop.org/shop/hisandhearsepress
#HisAndHearsePress #BookRecommendations #BookRecs #Bookstodon #Bookwyrm #Nonfiction #DeathPositive #Funeral #Mortician #DeathCare #DeathProfessional #HayleyCampbell
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#AmReading: All the Living and the Dead:
From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work
By Hayley Campbell
Real talk: I was hesitant when I first saw this book because I knew it had the potential to sensationalize or demonize the funeral profession. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Hayley interviewed exceptional people and portrayed them accurately. Phew!
She didn’t shy away from the graphic nature of each person’s occupation, but she also kept it within a professional context. I appreciate her efforts to shine a light on the workers people prefer to ignore and prove that we’re compassionate and empathetic rather than a flock of vultures (fun fact: it’s actually called a “wake” of vultures).
As a funeral director and embalmer, I highly recommend this book. Everyone ought to know a bit about what happens behind closed doors before passing a broad judgement based on stereotypes.
FYI, this book covers the duties of workers in the USA and UK. Practices and laws vary by location. Here’s the book’s blurb:
“A deeply compelling exploration of the death industry and the people―morticians, detectives, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, executioners―who work in it and what led them there.
We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what we’re so afraid of, when we are never given the chance to look?
Fueled by a childhood fascination with death, journalist Hayley Campbell searches for answers in the people who make a living by working with the dead. Along the way, she encounters mass fatality investigators, embalmers, and a former executioner who is responsible for ending sixty-two lives. She meets gravediggers who have already dug their own graves, visits a cryonics facility in Michigan, goes for late-night Chinese with a homicide detective, and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear.”
https://bookshop.org/shop/hisandhearsepress
#HisAndHearsePress #BookRecommendations #BookRecs #Bookstodon #Bookwyrm #Nonfiction #DeathPositive #Funeral #Mortician #DeathCare #DeathProfessional #HayleyCampbell
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#AmReading: All the Living and the Dead:
From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work
By Hayley Campbell
Real talk: I was hesitant when I first saw this book because I knew it had the potential to sensationalize or demonize the funeral profession. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Hayley interviewed exceptional people and portrayed them accurately. Phew!
She didn’t shy away from the graphic nature of each person’s occupation, but she also kept it within a professional context. I appreciate her efforts to shine a light on the workers people prefer to ignore and prove that we’re compassionate and empathetic rather than a flock of vultures (fun fact: it’s actually called a “wake” of vultures).
As a funeral director and embalmer, I highly recommend this book. Everyone ought to know a bit about what happens behind closed doors before passing a broad judgement based on stereotypes.
FYI, this book covers the duties of workers in the USA and UK. Practices and laws vary by location. Here’s the book’s blurb:
“A deeply compelling exploration of the death industry and the people―morticians, detectives, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, executioners―who work in it and what led them there.
We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what we’re so afraid of, when we are never given the chance to look?
Fueled by a childhood fascination with death, journalist Hayley Campbell searches for answers in the people who make a living by working with the dead. Along the way, she encounters mass fatality investigators, embalmers, and a former executioner who is responsible for ending sixty-two lives. She meets gravediggers who have already dug their own graves, visits a cryonics facility in Michigan, goes for late-night Chinese with a homicide detective, and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear.”
https://bookshop.org/shop/hisandhearsepress
#HisAndHearsePress #BookRecommendations #BookRecs #Bookstodon #Bookwyrm #Nonfiction #DeathPositive #Funeral #Mortician #DeathCare #DeathProfessional #HayleyCampbell
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#AmReading: All the Living and the Dead:
From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work
By Hayley Campbell
Real talk: I was hesitant when I first saw this book because I knew it had the potential to sensationalize or demonize the funeral profession. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Hayley interviewed exceptional people and portrayed them accurately. Phew!
She didn’t shy away from the graphic nature of each person’s occupation, but she also kept it within a professional context. I appreciate her efforts to shine a light on the workers people prefer to ignore and prove that we’re compassionate and empathetic rather than a flock of vultures (fun fact: it’s actually called a “wake” of vultures).
As a funeral director and embalmer, I highly recommend this book. Everyone ought to know a bit about what happens behind closed doors before passing a broad judgement based on stereotypes.
FYI, this book covers the duties of workers in the USA and UK. Practices and laws vary by location. Here’s the book’s blurb:
“A deeply compelling exploration of the death industry and the people―morticians, detectives, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, executioners―who work in it and what led them there.
We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what we’re so afraid of, when we are never given the chance to look?
Fueled by a childhood fascination with death, journalist Hayley Campbell searches for answers in the people who make a living by working with the dead. Along the way, she encounters mass fatality investigators, embalmers, and a former executioner who is responsible for ending sixty-two lives. She meets gravediggers who have already dug their own graves, visits a cryonics facility in Michigan, goes for late-night Chinese with a homicide detective, and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear.”
https://bookshop.org/shop/hisandhearsepress
#HisAndHearsePress #BookRecommendations #BookRecs #Bookstodon #Bookwyrm #Nonfiction #DeathPositive #Funeral #Mortician #DeathCare #DeathProfessional #HayleyCampbell
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#AmReading: All the Living and the Dead:
From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work
By Hayley Campbell
Real talk: I was hesitant when I first saw this book because I knew it had the potential to sensationalize or demonize the funeral profession. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Hayley interviewed exceptional people and portrayed them accurately. Phew!
She didn’t shy away from the graphic nature of each person’s occupation, but she also kept it within a professional context. I appreciate her efforts to shine a light on the workers people prefer to ignore and prove that we’re compassionate and empathetic rather than a flock of vultures (fun fact: it’s actually called a “wake” of vultures).
As a funeral director and embalmer, I highly recommend this book. Everyone ought to know a bit about what happens behind closed doors before passing a broad judgement based on stereotypes.
FYI, this book covers the duties of workers in the USA and UK. Practices and laws vary by location. Here’s the book’s blurb:
“A deeply compelling exploration of the death industry and the people―morticians, detectives, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, executioners―who work in it and what led them there.
We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what we’re so afraid of, when we are never given the chance to look?
Fueled by a childhood fascination with death, journalist Hayley Campbell searches for answers in the people who make a living by working with the dead. Along the way, she encounters mass fatality investigators, embalmers, and a former executioner who is responsible for ending sixty-two lives. She meets gravediggers who have already dug their own graves, visits a cryonics facility in Michigan, goes for late-night Chinese with a homicide detective, and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear.”
https://bookshop.org/shop/hisandhearsepress
#HisAndHearsePress #BookRecommendations #BookRecs #Bookstodon #Bookwyrm #Nonfiction #DeathPositive #Funeral #Mortician #DeathCare #DeathProfessional #HayleyCampbell
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#WordyWednesday: Shrouding Women
When you think of morticians, you might conjure images of creepy old men in black suits. But did you know that they've only been "in charge" of the dead for the last century or so? Before that, men were typically responsible for building coffins and digging graves. Body preparation fell to the women!
Women were already tasked with nursing the sick, distributing herbs, and aiding in childbirth, so bathing and dressing the dead was a natural progression. Since it was a duty that demanded care, gentleness, and propriety, men were simply unsuited to the task. Enter the shrouding women.
Many neighborhood women became skilled and knowledgeable in the art of preparing the dead. They understood the weather's effect on decomposition and how to tend to bodies suffering from various conditions. They lent their expertise to those in need, not for monetary compensation but as an act of community.
Duties included preparing a cooling board (sometimes an ironing board or barn door placed over chairs), washing and dressing the corpse, closing the eyes and mouth (coins on eyes and jaws secured shut with tied rags or forked sticks propped against the breast bone), and otherwise arranging the body into a restful pose.
Commercialization of death care after the Civil War led cabinetmakers to evolve from coffin builders to embalmers. They wrested control of bodies away from women, claiming women were weak, delicate, and unable to tolerate the sight of blood. As the men rose into the ranks of professionals, women were relegated to the sidelines of death care. They became decorations. Trade journal advertisements portrayed men doing funeral work and women as objects of beauty. The foundation was laid for men to dominate the industry for the next 100 years.
Fortunately, we've come full circle and women are entering funeral service in droves. Over 70% of graduating mortuary science classes are women. Turns out we *can* handle some blood after all.
#HisAndHearsePress #InternationalWomensDay #WomensDay #WomenInSTEM #WomenSupportingWomen #DeathCare #FuneralService #MortuaryScience #MortuarySchool #DeathPositive #FuneralDirector #Embalmer #Mortician #Undertaker
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#WordyWednesday: Shrouding Women
When you think of morticians, you might conjure images of creepy old men in black suits. But did you know that they've only been "in charge" of the dead for the last century or so? Before that, men were typically responsible for building coffins and digging graves. Body preparation fell to the women!
Women were already tasked with nursing the sick, distributing herbs, and aiding in childbirth, so bathing and dressing the dead was a natural progression. Since it was a duty that demanded care, gentleness, and propriety, men were simply unsuited to the task. Enter the shrouding women.
Many neighborhood women became skilled and knowledgeable in the art of preparing the dead. They understood the weather's effect on decomposition and how to tend to bodies suffering from various conditions. They lent their expertise to those in need, not for monetary compensation but as an act of community.
Duties included preparing a cooling board (sometimes an ironing board or barn door placed over chairs), washing and dressing the corpse, closing the eyes and mouth (coins on eyes and jaws secured shut with tied rags or forked sticks propped against the breast bone), and otherwise arranging the body into a restful pose.
Commercialization of death care after the Civil War led cabinetmakers to evolve from coffin builders to embalmers. They wrested control of bodies away from women, claiming women were weak, delicate, and unable to tolerate the sight of blood. As the men rose into the ranks of professionals, women were relegated to the sidelines of death care. They became decorations. Trade journal advertisements portrayed men doing funeral work and women as objects of beauty. The foundation was laid for men to dominate the industry for the next 100 years.
Fortunately, we've come full circle and women are entering funeral service in droves. Over 70% of graduating mortuary science classes are women. Turns out we *can* handle some blood after all.
#HisAndHearsePress #InternationalWomensDay #WomensDay #WomenInSTEM #WomenSupportingWomen #DeathCare #FuneralService #MortuaryScience #MortuarySchool #DeathPositive #FuneralDirector #Embalmer #Mortician #Undertaker