7 February 2013 – The Good Funeral Guide

Only in…

7 February 2013

Charles

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Categories: Hearses

Continuing today’s hearse theme:

Parked opposite the biggest state hospital in the region are a few odd-looking, modified vehicles with a prominent stage and a decorative dome above. They are equipped with steps, stretchers and chairs and are marked with philosophical quotes like “towards the creator bidding adieu to creation”.

A player in the funerary business said the idea struck him during one of the funeral services when saw the carriers of a catafalque dropping the dead body over a trivial issue and fought in the street. “The dead should be venerated and the incident pained me a lot. So I designed one of the mortuary vans as a chariot,” he said.

“There is a huge demand for these vehicles, especially in the city outskirts and in the neighbouring villages where people want to make the funerals a grand event.”

“We ensure that the dead body reaches the funeral grounds and don’t bother about the petty quarrels or fights en route. A motorised vehicle is a much better choice than a makeshift catafalque since we don’t abandon the vehicle over petty quarrels which are common during funerals. We are after all involved in the noble service of ferrying the departed,” says the driver of one such chariot.

Answer and full story here. Sorry, no pic available.

Introducing the self-drive hearse

7 February 2013

Charles

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Categories: Uncategorised

There’s a small but growing number of funeral shoppers who are becoming increasingly determined to find funeral directors who will assist them, or partner with them, in arranging a funeral. Some simply want to roll their sleeves up and do their bit for the person who’s died; others want to keep the costs down.

It’s good to know that they don’t have too far to look. Funeral directors are pretty good at accommodating a DIY element — at the cost of some angst. DIY-ers cost hours of free advice and may be unreliable about getting to the crem on time. Funeral directors aren’t control freaks for fun.

Until now, it has been very hard for DIY-ers to find anyone who’ll rent them a self-drive hearse. It’s easy to see the enormous emotional satisfaction to be gained from driving the person who’s died on their last journey on Earth. It’s just as easy to see that there could be insuperable insurance difficulties in the way of this.

No carriage master that we know of has ever leased cars + drivers direct to bereaved people, let alone a self-drive hearse. While understandable, it’s also a pity. We know that a lot of funeral shoppers like to order and pay for their coffin direct from the maker. They’d probably like to source other goods and services, too. But funeral directors feel they must protect their commercial viability by being one-stop shops for everything, so they strongly encourage manufacturers and suppliers to deal with the trade only.

There’s plenty of good news for funeral shoppers who want to buy their own coffin. The shelves are now healthily stocked.

And now there’s good news for those who’d like to order a self-drive hearse. James Hardcastle at The Carriage Master can supply handsome hearses and limousines nationwide direct to bereaved people, with drivers or without.

They give you a little tutorial before you get behind the wheel, of course.

We can see a lot of forward-looking funeral directors offering their clients this option.

Find The Carriage Master here.

Great myths of Funeralworld

7 February 2013

Charles

15 Comments

Categories: Re-use of graves

Posted by Richard Rawlinson

No. 1: If politicians stopped shirking the critical issue of grave space running out in urban churchyards and cemeteries, and instead hastened legislation to reuse graves after a period of 75 years, they would be hounded out of office by an outraged public, and tabloid headlines such as, ‘Government to dig up Grandma’.

When reuse has been piloted in London, far from a loud outcry, there’s been praise that traditional graveyards are no longer, er, dead space: lovely old headstones are engraved on both sides—recycling at its most creative. By digging deeper, old and new bodies can also cohabit.

The Victorians had no qualms about this. And in Greece today, and some other Orthodox countries, a body is buried only for about six years, at which time the grave is reused. There’s no scandal when, in a religious ceremony, bodily remains are dug up, the bones cleaned and stored elsewhere.

When Cardinal Newman’s grave was opened nearly 120 years after his death nothing of his body or skeleton remained. How many prime sites are, in fact, vacant?