1. |
The Long Mournful Night
07:07
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2. |
Absence of Light
02:36
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The association of black with mourning in the West most likely originates with a Roman concept that cloaking oneself in black could prevent the haunting of the living by the deceased. The color black also best represented the Victorian act of mourning because for them it symbolized the absence of light and in turn, life. It was an immediately recognizable sign that a loved one had departed this life.
Victorian mourning dress became known as "widow's weeds" because the material used for the veil would tatter and begin smelling like rotting weeds.
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3. |
Sin-Eater
02:32
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From the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, souls of the recently deceased were often helped on their way to the afterlife by a sin eater. Unaffiliated with any church, the sin eater would visit the body of the deceased and eat a piece of bread that had been placed upon the corpse’s chest, symbolically absorbing all of their unconfessed sins and speeding them on their way to Heaven. Once only employed in cases where death was sudden and a last confession wasn’t given, the sin eater was later called to even natural deaths and thought to help prevent the person from needing to wander the land as a ghost.
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4. |
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The Victorians had elaborate customs for any life event encountered; but this is one tradition that could take different shapes and forms. Hair jewelry allowed Victorians to carry a part of their loved ones with them in the form of bracelets, rings, brooches, watch fobs, even buttons: It was similar to putting a piece of hair in a locket. Hair from a deceased family member was usually made into a mourning wreath for remembrance.
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5. |
Graveyard Doll
02:16
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While there were many practices in lieu of remembrance of a loved one after death, such as Post-Mortem photography and Mourning Hair Art, grave dolls became a way for parents to create an effigy of a deceased child for remembrance. When a child died, it was traditional for families who could afford it to have a life-sized wax effigy of the child made for the funeral. The doll would often be dressed in the deceased infant or child's own clothing, and most of the deceased child's own hair would be used to make the doll even more realistic. These wax dolls usually show the deceased lying in a coffin-like setting with their eyes closed, to mimic a peaceful sleep. The backsides of the heads were made flat so that the doll would lay nicely when laid out to rest. The effigy doll would be put on display at the wake, and would then be left at the grave site. But it is known, from the effigy dolls which still exist today, that in some cases these wax effigy dolls were kept. Wax effigies of infants would be placed in a crib, their clothes would be changed, and otherwise treated like a real baby. The bodies of these wax dolls would be cloth, weighted with sand to give it a more realistic feel when being held. Other times, the effigy itself would be framed. For older children, just the head and shoulders were created in wax effigy, also with the flat backsides, so that they could be placed in a picture frame
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6. |
Resurrectionist
02:40
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Resurrectionists were commonly employed by anatomists in the United Kingdom during the 18th and 19th centuries to exhume the bodies of the recently dead. Between 1506 and 1752 only a very few cadavers were available each year for anatomical research. The supply was increased when, in an attempt to intensify the deterrent effect of the death penalty, Parliament passed the Murder Act 1752. By allowing judges to substitute the public display of executed criminals with dissection (a fate generally viewed with horror), the new law significantly increased the number of bodies anatomists could legally access. This proved insufficient to meet the needs of the hospitals and teaching centres that opened during the 18th century. Corpses and their component parts became a commodity, but although the practice of disinterment was hated by the general public, bodies were not legally anyone's property. The resurrectionists therefore operated in a legal grey area.
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7. |
Tear Catcher
03:14
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Tear catchers, also called “lachrymatory bottles,” During the 19th century, and especially in America during and after the Civil War, supposedly, tear catchers were used as a measure of grieving time. Once the tears cried into them had evaporated, the mourning period was over.
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The Horror Of It All Productions Binghamton, New York
Marquis DeBlood is the host of 'What's Goin' On Binghamton's" October Web Series, "The Horror Of It All". The Horror Of It All showcases all of the spooktacular events and the people behind them that go on in the the Binghamton NY area and the Southern Tier. ... more
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