Home Embalming And Funeral Exhibit

I took a little time out for myself today. I know a lot of Moms do the mani/pedi/latte thing but that's just not me...

So I went to a my local historical museum to check out their Halloween display.

They had the entire home in Mourning. The curtains were drawn, clocks stopped and all the mirrors were covered in black drapery.




Early embalming was done in the deceased's home - usually in the kitchen or bathroom. Or outside if there was no indoor plumbing.

Shown in this photo are a cooling table (c. 1915), gravity embalming device (c. 1860-1900) and an embalming machine (c. 1915).



The cooling table was used to cool the body rapidly to help slow the effects of decay. The body would be placed on the table and drained of fluids and suffused with embalming fluid.

The gravity embalming device worked a little something like this... the embalming fluid was put in the glass receptacle and gravity would force it into the body. Every foot above the body equaled about one pound of fluid pressure. Often someone would assist the embalmer by holding the receptacle up. If no one was available to assist, the embalmer would sometimes need to make handy a coat tree, as in the photograph.

The embalming machine in the display was manufactured here in Detroit by Pre-Vac Instrument Co. It's called the Mortez Hydrostatic Pulsator. Embalming machines allowed the bereaved more time to mourn in the presence of their deceased loved one, since the body could be preserved a bit longer.

This mock home funeral was for a small child.