Last Rites: The Work of the Modern Funeral Director

233 Pages·1996·12.072 MB·English

by  Glennys Howarth

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First published 1996 by Haywood Publishing Company, Inc.
Published 2017 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX 14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledgc is ;w imprillt of tllC T'aylor & Fr.UJcis Group, ;w illforma busitlcss
Copyright © 1996 by Taylor & Francis
All rights reserved. No part. of this hook may be reprinted or reprodm;cd or
utilised in any form or by any eleClronic, mechanical, or otJlcr mcans, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from tJle
publishers.
Noticc:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation witJlOul intent to infringe.
Ubrary of Congress CataJog Number: 95-35982
ISHN 13: 978-0-89503-345-1 (phk)
Library ofCongresa Catalo.pn,-in.Publication Data
Howarth, Glennya.
Last ritea : the work of the modem funeral director I Glennys
Howarth.
p. em. -- (Death, value and meaning series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-89503-134-5 (cloth)
1. Undertakers and undertaking. 2. Undertakers and undertaking
-Social aspects. 3. Funeral rites and ceremonies. 4. Death- -Social
aspects. I. Title. II. Series.
HD9999.U52H69 1996
363.7'5--dc20 95-35982
CIP
To my father,
for showing me the mountains
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Acknowledgments
A number of people ha"e assisted me during the course of this
project. First, I wish to thank Paul Rock for his encouragement, sup
port, and guidance and for helpful criticisms on an earlier draft of this
book. Steven Gallery gave assistance and made many suggestions for
improvement of the manuscript. I am also grateful to two anonymous
readers whose comments and suggestions have undoubtedly improved
the quality of the text. My thanks also go to colleagues in the field
of death and dying for their animated discussions of death, and espe
cially to Peter Jupp for commenting on various chapters, and to Allan
Kellehear for his enthusiasm for seeing the book in print.
I would also like to thank all the bereaved people who allowed me to
observe their funeral rituals. The time devoted by deathworkers in
demonstrating their work and in answering my questions is greatly
appreciated.
Finally, lowe a debt of gratitude to the director and stafT of
"G. R. Stone" who gave so generously of their time in trying to help me
to see funeral work through their eyes.
Cover photograph: Special thanks to Cribb & Sons for kind permis
sion to use the photograph of their funeral premises in the 1920s for the
cover of this book.
v
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Contents
Introduction 1
CHAPTER 1 11
Modern Death Rituals and the Undertaker
CHAPTER2 ............ . 27
The Business of Funeral Directing
CHAPTER3 ......... . 37
Funeral Directing in Easton
CHAPTER4 ....... . 65
Becoming an Undertaker
CHAPTER5 ....... . 95
The Contaminated Corpse
CHAPTER6 ...... . . .................. 111
Making Arrangements
CHAPTER7 ...... . .................... 147
Humanizing the Body
CHAPTER 8 ...... . .................... 171
The Funeral Ceremony
CONCLUSION: .......... 201
The Undertaker: Past, Present, and Future
Bibliography 209
Index .... 219
vii
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Introduction
This study began as an interest in the relationship between ritual
and attitudes toward death. Having experienced bereavement I was
disturbed and puzzled by the apparent lack of coordination between
funeral rites and the "needs" of mourners. Equally, being at the griev
ing end of death, I could not understand why friends and neighbors
found it so difficult to express the sympathy they undoubtedly felt
toward me. Born of parents who retained the cultural traditions of
their Victorian parents, death was a familiar talking point in my
childhood in England during the late 1950s and early 1960s. When
neighbors and distant relatives died, my siblings and I were not
excluded from the discussion. Walks through the local cemetery were
as much a part of the Sunday routine as Sunday School and a roast
dinner. I recall when my mother assisted in the terminal care of an
elderly neighbor she kept us informed of her condition and we regularly
visited the woman as she gradually slipped into death. We shared the
shocking news that Mr. Brown had "dropped dead" in the street and
Mr. Evans in his armchair after a days work-all in the space of one
unfortunate month. We drew our curtains as a mark of respect when
ever a hearse arrived in the street and always stood in silence if we
witnessed a cortege in the area.
Having accepted my family's behavior as the norm during child
hood, my first experience of bereavement came early in adult life. By
then, although I had been unaware of the transition, I could no longer
accept the Victorian legacy which viewed death as a fact of living, as
inevitable, and as something we should expect at any age. Bereave
ment can be painful and bewildering. This is not simply because of the
trauma of grief but is also due to the way in which bereaved people are
frequently treated by others. Avoidance is the usual strategy, but if
chance meeting or protocol demand, a few mumbled words of sympathy
and long embarrassed silences are commonly the norm. The solution,
adopted by many of those who sorrow, is to keep their own company
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