Funeral History - Transportation

Origin of hearse

Originated from french word 'herse', which came from latin word 'hirpex', meaning a rake or harrow. The first hearse was a stationary framework of wood to hold lighted tapers and decorations

Early methods of transporting the body

Bier, bearers, horse drawn carriage

Pall bearers

Carried the pall

Colonial hearses

By hand or wagon. Designs and styles constantly changed

James Cunningham, son and co

Carriage and hearse manufacturer of Rochester, NY. 1884 - exhibited a funeral car at the New Orleans cotton expo. Rectangular hearse, had 5 earns and gilded columns

Hudson Samson

1889. Special 8 post, oval decked funeral car. Became the new style. Had panels that looked like drapery but were made of wood. The panels hid the inside of the car

Crane and breed

Made the most elaborate and outstanding funeral car of the 19th century. Church like design, massive carvings, gildings, golden angels and crosses. Drawn by 8 horses. Shown at the 1893 Chicago world fair.

Changing designs

From 1853 to the 1900's, designs changed every 10-15 years

Funeral trolley car

1889. Street railway co of Atchison, Kansas began operating a funeral trolley car to mount Vernon cemetery. Used in large cities. The public did not like them for their high rate of speed and loud squeaking

Fred Hulberg

From NYC, designed a new and improved combined hearse and passenger vehicle. 16ft long, replacing 3 carriages, cost between $4k and $6k

Crane and breed

1909 - introduced their first auto hearse

Ambulance

Produced in 1909 by the Cunningham Factory. Interior had 1 cot, 2 seats and electric lighting. Known as the Cunningham Motor Ambulance

Undertaker's buggy

Vehicle used by the undertaker to transport funeral paraphernalia to the location of the funeral

Hearse sizes and colors

Black until the civil war. Light grey for carved hearses. Children's hearses almost always were white. Most popular color was black with lines of silver or gold

First motorized hearses

Built in truck chassis and had an open cab. Later hearses were built on heavy duty 7 passenger car chassis with a lengthened wheel base

Flower car

A separate car was needed to transport flowers. Used mostly in larger cities

Bier

forerunner of today's hearse; a hand stretcher on which the uncoffined body was carried to the grave

funeral trolley car

a specially designed train car run on a city's trolley line to transport casket and mourners to cemeteries on the outskirts of the city