Last Rites: The Evolution of the American Funeral

by Todd Harra

The Untold Story of American Funeral and Mourning Traditions

Why do we embalm the deceased? Why are funerals so expensive? Is there a reason coffins are shaped the way they are? When―and why―did we start viewing the deceased? Ceremonies for honoring the departed are crucial parts of our lives, but few people know where our traditional practices come from―and what they reveal about our history, culture, and beliefs about death. In Last Rites , author Todd Harra takes you on a fascinating exploration of American funeral practices―examining where they came from, what they mean, and how they are still evolving.

Our conventions around death, burial, and remembrance have undergone many great transitions―sometimes due to technology, respect for tradition, shifting sensibilities, or even to thwart grave robbers. Here you’ll

• Influences for American rituals―from medieval Europe, the Roman Empire, and even ancient Egypt
• When mourning fell out of fashion―and how George Washington’s passing brought it back
• Abraham Lincoln’s landmark funeral and its widespread impact
• Flowers, liquor, mourning gifts, and caskets―the reasons behind our grieving customs
• Unknown soldiers―how warfare influenced funeral and bereavement practices … and vice versa
• How growing populations, religion, inventions, and media have changed and continue to shape our traditions
• The future of our death rites―mushroom suits, green burial, body donation, flameless cremation, home funerals, and more

The rich story of the American funeral is one of constant evolution. Whether you’re planning a funeral service or are simply intrigued by the meaning behind American burial practices, Last Rites is an informative and compelling exploration of the history―and future―of the ceremonies we use to say farewell to those who have departed this world.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Death, Audiobook, Sociology, American History, Research

288 pages, Hardcover

Published August 2, 2022

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review The book could equally be named, "American battles and politicians and how they changed American funeral practices". I really enjoyed the first two chapters on the Egyptians and Romans and last one on Green burials (review to come) but my eyes glazed over at all the American history. I was the wrong reader. If you are American and interested in political and military history and what happens to dead bodies, you will probably love this book. It's very well written but it didn't do it for me. 3 star seems fair but it might easily be a 5 star for you.
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Reading notes. How the 'resurrectionists', the grave robbers who stole freshly-buried bodies from graves for medical students, were stopped.

A barrel packed with gunpowder and metal balls was secreted in the trimming (i.e., lining) of the casket by the undertaker and a series of wires were attached to the arms and legs, so that any disruption of the remains tripped the trigger and set off the shotgun-like device. Philip Clover went as far as to stipulate the barrel should be secreted in the head area of the casket, the area typically broken open by the resurrectionists, to maximize its effectiveness.

The grave robbers, usually 2 or 3 working together, were paid $50 per corpse, and at least three men were killed by these 'torpedos'. The corpse was also blown up, but their families preferred that to being dissected in a students' anatomy lab.
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Something I never knew: the Egyptian Book of the Dead was a title invented in the 19thC. The ancient Egyptian name for it was the more beautiful and gracious, Book of Going Forth in the Day. It was a set of papyrus scrolls, commissioned in life, and was 'a customised compilation of spells required to navigate the afterlife' and a biography or list of accomplishments of the person in life. They were sometimes wrapped onto the body's hands, in much the same way as some people are buried with bibles in their hands.

I thought this book would be light, just as Over Our Dead Bodies: Undertakers Lift the Lid was, but not a bit of it. I have only read the Egyptian and Roman chapters so far, and the depth of information impressed and enlightened me. A very interesting read.
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I have a morbid interest in all things death. I like medical ones, ones about euthanasia, forensics and morticians and funerals. I read Todd Harra's previous Over Our Dead Bodies: Undertakers Lift the Lid which was only a 3 star, but this book sounds a lot more business and less light stories, so I have high hopes for it. Otherwise it can be cremated.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive, engrossing, and superbly educational walk through history that brings you up to speed on all of the currently-observable customs related to death/funerals, plus many that are no longer as popular (e.g. new technologies were developed, or that particular civilization no longer exists).

It's wild to discover where things like the modern version of embalming took hold, and even more so to realize that things like, say, funeral homes didn't exist until so very recently. Puts a ton into context, especially in the final chapter, which outlines current and presumed-future trends.

Not a rough read--truth be told, it's as friendly of a journey through the subject as you'd hope, considering the dense amount of information coming at you.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sounds True for the advance read.

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read about contemporary American funerary practices and where they come from. Starting with the ancient Egyptians, experts in the afterlife, and ending with possible future techniques, the author explains the origin of many customs. Why do we wear black? When did we start using flowers? Where did embalming come from? All these questions are answered in detail. And that was my problem with this book: too much detail, too many dates, names and locations. I was very interested in Lincoln’s funeral, but not as much in every city in which he had a showing. Maybe a little less data would have made it more readable. It was still very informative.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Sounds True!

[Sandra "Jeanz" · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I can say the cover is quite distinctive as it is soil and a shape of a coffin on the front of the book and the title is Last Rites.

First of this book is talking about American burial rituals, some of which were adopted from other places and races of people. The one thing the majority of funerals all have in common are the death, being embalmed, there’s a public notification of some sort and there is a wake.

The book begins way back in the history of burial rituals, when everything was done at home by the family of the deceased. The body would be washed by the family and dressed, wrapped, and usually buried on family land somewhere. The book explains the superstitions and nightmares people had, about being buried alive and actually cover a couple of instances were this was very narrowly avoided! Hence the creation of some pretty weird contraptions to enable a person buried alive to signal to those above ground that they were alive!

I did learn some interesting facts whilst reading the book, for example Colonel John Jacob Aster & his wife refusing life preservers whilst on the Titanic, so sure it would never sink. Fortunately, Mrs Aster was put on a lifeboat. Mr Aster, however ended up in the freezing water when the Titanic sank. It was days later his body was found by a boat that had been “pressed into service” as a funeral boat. They retrieved Mr Aster from the sea and actually embalmed his body whilst on the journey to Halifax.

Another revelation in the book was about funeral flowers, obviously years ago they were placed around the deceased to help with the smell of the body. These days they are more of a gift or a token of love to the deceased. A favourite floral tribute is the “Gates Ajar” or as I know it to be called in more modern terms the “Gates Of Heaven”. I thought the whole reasoning about this floral arrangement being to represent the deceased passing through the gates to heaven. I hadn’t known the reason why the “gates” were always left slightly open, so the deceased could slip out of heaven and visit their loved ones. This floral tribute is a very popular in my family.

Another section of the book went over the traditions of mourning dress which became popular in the Victorian era. Nowadays of course people wear dark clothes, a colour the deceased loved or perhaps the football or rugby colours the deceased love one supported.
I vaguely remember hearing about the covering of mirrors and my family always observe the keeping the curtains closed until after the funeral.

The book explained how attitudes have changed from burial being the only option to cremation becoming more popular. I know in my own family it is a combined thing, as in, the deceased is cremated and then we bury their ashes. It seems there are so many options these days that almost any goes.

I found the book an interesting read, though at times it felt a little overly repetitive and very serious. I know it is dealing with a very serious subject, but I don’t know how else to explain it. In parts it felt very much like a reference or study book. I was expecting more on the traditions and customs as opposed to the deaths of famous people, and the military etc. I wanted more about the floral tributes and how different races/religions dealt with funerals. What happened if you could afford to pay an undertaker/funeral director. I guess I am trying to say I wanted the book to be even more than it was. I also expected more about the different roles from with in the funeral industry. For example, why six pallbearers are used, when did morticians become popular and how did a person become one. The book was very much historical reference of funerals and how things came to be that way rather than it being more on the role of the Funeral Home workers and the history of what they do and why.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing the book were that it had for the most part been an interesting read. I found it fascinating who certain rituals have been popular, changed, then sort of come back around again.

Summing up I really liked the different facts though sometimes the reference links etc made it feel like a textbook.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Last Rights We learned about how embalming benefited President Lincoln when his son Willy passed away. We also learn about the presidents own embalming and details about his funeral that I had never read anywhere before. We also find out about funeral photography coffin making ET see in the best thing I found about last rites by Todd Hera is that almost every topic he touched on he gave the name of a book and an author in case she wanted to read more. I love historical nonfiction so I have to say I appreciated that. This book is a tad bit morbid, but oh so interesting. Please forgive any errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own. This book was given to me by net Galli and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kirbie Sondreal · Rating 3 out of 5]

So dry, but in a soothing way? Poor organization and a little redundancy within its pages but still enjoyable.

[Heather Daughrity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of books detailing funerary practices over the last few years, and somehow they never get old. Some are humorous, some are philosophical; this one manages to be both informative and entertaining while still being respectful.

Detailing the history of all things funeral from the Ancient Egyptians through the present day, in Last Rites Todd Hara covers famous funerals, mourning wear, hearses, coffins, cremations, gravedigging, graverobbing, things legal and less so, and more, all with a good sense for storytelling and a sort of familial sense of awe and appreciation, having been born into a mortuary family that has been doing this particular work for a very long time.

This will definitely go up there among my favorite books on this particular topic.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of interesting stories and fun facts, I found it very accessible and friendly.

[Carin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy this book was interesting! Mostly history, some very light science, and yes, it’s all about death, and specifically about embalming and the funeral process in the United States. It pretty much starts at the Civil War. Before that, funerals happened at home and people were buried in the local churchyard. But in the Civil War, deaths were innumerable and while of course people had been dying in wars for millennia, the way we thought about that was changing. This wasn’t a far-away war; this was in our backyards. And the science was changing–Lincoln son had been embalmed which was big news, and promised a different ending for soldiers killed away from home. Dogtags hadn’t been invented yet, so identifying the dead was iffy at best (it’s believed that one third of the dead soldiers in the Civil War were identified which was a huge improvement over previous wars.) And getting them home, well that was a messy, smelly endeavor. But embalming! Well, it was still super experimental at that time, and also there were a lot of shysters involved who were taking advantage of the situation with little knowledge or skill.

Then came Lincoln’s assassination and funeral train and funeral itself. That was a game changer. And the technology and science kept changing. I googled so many things while reading this book (and my search history must look rather twisted.) I particularly was enjoying looking up the various types of hearses over the years as those only really came into vogue around the mid-1800s. For big funerals like Lincoln’s, they were super elaborate, and yet often were built in a matter of just 3-5 days. Tons of fun facts here too. For example, the very first ever motorized hearse was appropriately used for the funeral of the first taxicab driver in Chicago. And I enjoyed the brief mention of how in the 1960s and 1970s, hearses in big cities like New York, were developed to be side-loading (parallel parking a hearse is bad enough, but trying to find–and keep–a big-enough spot with an empty spot behind it for loading would be impossible, of course.) Had to google that of course.

The book also takes us up through now, and you’ll learn about how Luke Perry was buried in a mushroom suit! So cool! What is a mushroom suit, you ask? Well it would better be called a mushroom shroud and in it you’re buried only four feet underground, so you can much more quickly be consumed by the environment and go back to being part of the earth. So yes, this book covers everything you could ever want to know about recently historical and modern funeral practices, and then some! Enjoy!

[Schizanthus Nerd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who knew reading about death could be so much fun?!

I absolutely loved this book. I learned so many fascinating things about the dismal arts. How Lincoln’s death changed traditions relating to flower tributes and embalming. What preceded the shift from inhumation to cremation. How mourning has changed over time. The privatisation of funerals. Mourning gloves. Mourning gifts. Mourning jewellery. How war brought about “practical” mourning. Hearse design. Post-mortem photographs. The “coffin-torpedo”. Taphephobia. This book covers so much and explores everything in a way that made me want to keep delving deeper.

I discovered that all of the books I read about Ancient Egyptians as a child omitted some things. Like the mythology of the five children of Nut (the goddess of night). It’s the decidedly messed up story of the first mummy. Or how, according to Herodotus, when a “beautiful woman or the wife of a wealthy man” died, their body was left to decompose for three of four days before summoning the kher-heb (high priest) … to prevent necrophilia.

I decided that while I could see myself as a thanatologist, I won’t be applying for any dissector or beadle positions any time soon. The job of a dissector in Ancient Egypt was to make the incision for evisceration but as soon as they were done they’d be chased by their coworkers and stoned because they’d defiled the body. Beadles were routinely beaten by family members of the deceased as they went about their job of retrieving the bodies of hanged criminals so barber surgeons could dissect them.

I had to look up the Last Things website, where designer Chuck Lakin provides free blueprints for six coffins you can build yourself. Two of the six can be used as furniture while your heart is still beating. One is a bookcase coffin!!!

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started this book. Learning about death rituals and how they’ve changed over time sounded really interesting but I wondered if the delivery would be dry and boring. It was anything but.

This book took me a lot longer to read than I’d anticipated because I kept stopping when I found something I couldn’t keep to myself so I could read it to whoever was nearby.

I never expected to be in a position to say ‘I read the most wonderful book about death’, but here we are. I read the most wonderful book about death!

Memento mori

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sounds True for the opportunity to read this book.

Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

How have we come so far from where we started? Early American colonies practiced care of the dying and care of the dead within their homes. The same women who attended the births and the birthing mother also attended the deaths and the dying person. Just as the new mother was cared for with the loving hands (hopefully) and herbal knowledge of the midwife, so too were the newly deceased. Today, dying is largely viewed as a failure of the medical complex. The deceased in wheeled, zipped in a body bag, on a metal gurney out the back basement door of the hospital, to be cared for by professionals in a mock home we deem appropriate for this event. We exploit our wages attempting to honor the dead in a way we never did culturally when they were alive: with elaborate burial practices often including embalming, reconstruction, open casket viewings, expensive caskets, all while heaping tons of fresh flowers upon the whole scene. But how did this modern practice emerge from our humble and home-based roots? In his new book, “Last Rites: the Evolution of the American Funeral”, funeral director and embalmer, Todd Harra explores precisely this.

The first few chapters of this book are my favorite: they are fascinating, compelling and often shocking. In fact, I have pages of scribbled journal entries that are highly disturbing facts about historical practices of care of the dead. I was particularly sucked in by the stories of the early Egyptian, Greek and Roman funerary rites and was reading with rapt attention until about Chapter 5 when Harra got lost in the weeds of American history. While I finished the book, I did so with a skimming eye and perusal back to the topics that caught it. But for those of us interested in the evolution of care of the dead, this book is an in-depth primer that is rich in history, full of shocking stories and details the slow unravelling of our own American funeral traditions.

IG: @the.farewell.library

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never gave much thought to funerals or how they had changed in America before reading Last rites. I suppose I thought that funerals have always been the same as today and never changed over the years.

Chapter 1 talks about Lincon's funeral. I had heard how he died but, did not know that his funeral was a big production with train stops in different cities and public viewing of his body in those cities.

I knew that people were embalmed however I never thought about when the practice started or what chemicals were used. So it was interesting learning about that.

Chapter 5 was one of my favorite chapters because it talked about Early American funerals. I never knew that people gave often gave glove or rings and they liked to drink a lot at funerals. And they spent so much on funerals because of the food and drink. That surprised me.

I also liked chapter 8 resurrectionists which talks about people stealing bodies from graves for medical purposes. And it also talks about ways people tried to stop grave robbing.

I never knew there was a difference between caskets and coffins. I thought the words were interchangeable.

It was also interesting learning about cremation. I never considered when it started and never knew that it was so popular today.

And to finish off the book the last chapter is about new or maybe greener burial options.

After reading last rites now I know a lot more about funerals. Now I know more about how funerals have changed over time. I thought last rites was an interesting read with some interesting stories.

One thing I did not like is the size of the font of the footnotes at the bottom of the pages. I could read them but, I would have preferred the font be larger so the notes would be easier to read.

[Jen Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you want some new go-to fun facts? Look no further, this book is perfect.

Ever since reading 'All That Remains', Sue Black’s thoughts and knowledge on death as a forensic anthropologist, I have been fascinated by, well, the dead. Of course I love true crime, but I'm talking about the science of death and the practices surrounding it - which is why I was so excited when I received this ARC!

Harra’s book excels at making connections between ideas separated by centuries, presenting people living in ancient times as the same as us, and weaving in a huge number of unique stories into lifeless facts. Not only did I learn a lot about funerals and death in general, but this book changed my opinion on my own postmortem desires (which no other book has done haha). I had no idea such a rich history existed, let alone surrounding even the most common place practices like sending flowers to a funeral. The stories Harra weaved in between facts were shocking and just weird - I loved them.

The only thing I wish Harra included was more history about the burial history of POCs. The history presented here primarily involved white people with black people only being mentioned 2-3 times in total, and never in detail. There is a whole side of history that we are missing out on and I am desperate to learn more!

Thank you to NetGalley, Todd Harra, and Sounds True Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honesty review!

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is exhaustive explanation of the funeral process from the time of the Egyptians to present day. It explains how funerals we know have evolved over time, with the advent of embalming, coffins to caskets to the reasons behind the changes.
If you ever wondered why we have vaults, or cemeteries, or funerals in a funeral home, this is the book for you.
It does not delve to deeply in the process of embalming other than to explain the results thru the years as new methods developed, so it is not a gruesome read, although one might find some historic practices to be appalling in this day and age…
There is also a bunch of information on famous funerals, President Lincoln for one. I found it quite remarkable.
Tastefully done and I highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this ARC.

[Susanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the author, Sounds True Publishing and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fascinating look at the history of funerary customs, with an emphasis on the way of doing things in the United States. To get there however, the author's account ranges from ancient Egyptian mummification to Roman rites, Indian cremation, Victorian England, and Civil War battlefields. This is definitely not a book for the squeamish, as there are very frank accounts of sometimes brutal practices, customs and traditions throughout history. At times the author got a bit too enamored by details, and the book read more like a reference text or thesis for an audience of insiders rather than a non-fiction book which presumably was intended for a wider audience.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's got a lot in there from high profile burials like Abraham Lincoln to how the Civil War soldiers were taken care of to Egyptian funeral rites to the need for flowers to mask the decomposition. Harra does cover it all but it doesn't read as organized and put together as it could have been. He returned to topics a few times but it wasn't always clear why so I was puzzled a few times thinking I had hit the back button on the audiobook only to realize he had circled back.

I knew a lot but as always I learned new information too about the evolution of an American funeral including the always-curious deterrents to grave robbing and the worry that someone would be buried alive including plenty of misinformed tales of happenings that never happened.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning and end of this book were so good!!!!!! I was rapid texting my friends cool facts I learned and fighting tears on the train learning about Lincoln's funeral. And the ending about green burials and the future of funerals was super super interesting and something we all need to put more thought into.

Unfortunately, the middle of the book was a drag. I get that this is a history book, but it just went on and on. If you're super into names and dates, maybe you would like it. But I think it would've been much better had it been significantly condensed.

Overall I would certainly recommend this book. But I'd recommend an audio version to help get through the boring parts.

[Laura Tibbett · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent review of the history of the American funeral. Harra covers a vast number of funereal topics in a concise but well-written manner. Much of Harra's research comes from textbooks that are currently used in mortuary schools across the country, and his writing allows the history of the American funeral to be better accessible to laypeople not in the industry. As someone currently in this industry, I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone wanting to understand the "why" behind the profession.

[Josie Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last chapter was my favorite! Overall, this book was pretty informative. It covers American funerary history from "the beginning" to now. My only complaint is that there wasn't really any information on indigenous practices or the cultural significance in the funerary practices of American POC, It generalizes and mostly speaks on white Americans (in my opinion). I did learn a lot about why things are done the way they are and the author does a great job of citing sources.

[SandersonLover · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprising book, written by a funeral director and embalmer, as well as a reconstructionist and cremationist. (I used it for my Master's Thesis) The book goes into detail about the rituals people, religious groups and funeral facilities have in the process of managing and handling human remains. Definitely a good read to learn about the death rituals of Americans.

There is an audiobook version of this as well.

[Bryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great read about the evolution of the American Funeral and how Americans deal with death on the side of funeral directors. Found this extremely interesting as I grew up with funeral directors in my family. This is a great way to understand the process of the funeral, options, and the history. Memento mori - what a great way to end the narrative.

[Jenn Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Really interesting topic handled in a thorough and accessible manner. Blends history, science, cultural beliefs about the afterlife and more. The author is the perfect person for this topic - he is part of his family mortuary business but also a fiction writer, so he knows how to keep you hooked.

[Tom Bloom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having spent considerable time recently in preparation for my death, this book's release was timed perfectly. Harra's storytelling skills are wonderful, and I will read other books by him. The final chapter is very current and covers recently developed decomposition methods. Fun book. Educational book.

[Lizz (Beer, Books and Boos)]

This was the perfect book for me, and I will definitely reread this book. If you love history and fascination with the macabre, this is for you. Todd Harra made it fun to read, unlike reading a history textbook. I can't wait to read more from Todd Harra.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and give my honest review

[Sara Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a funeral director and embalmer I was worried this might be dry and boring and read like a text book. It was not. It was very interesting and I loved learning more in depth history of my profession. Quite fascinating. And I do love reading books written before Covid that talk about the Great Influenza epidemic because it’s the exact same story.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like a "dark tourism" experience of reading. Who knew a book about American funerals could be so intriguing and entertaining. I found myself interested in a topic I hadn't much thought about before and wanting to know more. Steeped with cultural history and interesting facts, this novel enlightens the reader on the ceremonial practices and traditions of funerals.

[Eric McCully · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating but hard to read. Reads much like a history book and the author uses words I’ve never seen before, so many j had to look up, which was frustrating. But he did cover the origins of our funeral rituals in much detail.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting information about past, present and projected funeral/burial trends and/or customs. I never knew why people originally sent flowers to mourning families. I learned there is a Civil War Medicine Museum. Sometimes I got lost in the dates and details but overall, I enjoyed the book.

[Izzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars no logical ordering and more like a history book on US presidents deaths

[Claire McGohan · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was informative but also very very dry and dense. a lot of names, a lot of information that goes into politics and law making.