Gone to the Grave
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A RICH SURVEY OF FOLK PRACTICES PRIOR TO MORTUARIES AND THE FUNERAL INDUSTRY Before there was a death care industry where professional funeral directors offered embalming and other services, residents of the Arkansas Ozarks--and, for that matter, people throughout the South--buried their own dead. Every part of the complicated, labor-intensive process was handled within the deceased's community. This process included preparation of the body for burial, making a wooden coffin, digging the grave, and overseeing the burial ceremony, as well as observing a wide variety of customs and superstitions. These traditions, especially in rural communities, remained the norm up through the end of World War II, after which a variety of factors, primarily the loss of manpower and the rise of the funeral industry, brought about the end of most customs. Gone to the Grave, a meticulous autopsy of this now vanished way of life and death, documents mourning and practical rituals through interviews, diaries and reminiscences, obituaries, and a wide variety of other sources. Abby Burnett covers attempts to stave off death; passings that, for various reasons, could not be mourned according to tradition; factors contributing to high maternal and infant mortality; and the ways in which loss was expressed through obituaries and epitaphs. A concluding chapter examines early undertaking practices and the many angles funeral industry professionals worked to convince the public of the need for their services. Abby Burnett, Kingston, Arkansas, is a former freelance newspaper reporter. She is the author of When the Presbyterians Came to Kingston: Kingston Community Church, 1917-1951.
Gone to the Grave
$30.00
Sale price
$30.00
Regular price
Unit price
$30.00 each
Book Details
- ISBN
- 9781496804600
- Binding
- Paperback
- Authors
- Abby Burnett
- Publisher
- University Press of Mississippi
- Published Date
- March 13, 2015
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 352
- Physical Info
- 0.77 in H x 9 in L x 6 in W (1.11 lb)