000 02999pam a22003254a 4500
001 2002006682
003 DLC
005 20190729102841.0
008 020429s2003 nyua b 001 0 eng
010 _a 2002006682
020 _a019513608X
040 _aDLC
_cDLC
_dDLC
042 _apcc
043 _an-us---
049 _aEY8Z
050 0 0 _aHD9999.U53
_bU543 2003
082 0 0 _a363.7/5/0973
_221
100 1 _aLaderman, Gary,
_d1962-
245 1 0 _aRest in peace :
_ba cultural history of death and the funeral home in twentieth-century America /
_cGary Laderman.
260 _aNew York :
_bOxford University Press,
_c2003.
300 _axlii, 245 p. :
_bill. ;
_c25 cm.
504 _aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 217-236) and index.
520 _aPublisher description: Though it has often been passionately criticized--as fraudulent, exploitative, even pagan--the American funeral home has become nearly as inevitable as death itself, an institution firmly embedded in our culture. But how did the funeral home come to hold such a position? What is its history? And is it guilty of the charges sometimes leveled against it? In Rest in Peace, Gary Laderman traces the origins of American funeral rituals, from the evolution of embalming techniques during and after the Civil War and the shift from home funerals to funeral homes at the turn of the century, to the increasing subordination of priests, ministers, and other religious figures to the funeral director throughout the twentieth century. In doing so he shows that far from manipulating vulnerable mourners, as Jessica Mitford claimed in her best-selling The American Way of Death (1963), funeral directors are highly respected figures whose services reflect the community's deepest needs and wishes. Indeed, Laderman shows that funeral directors generally give the people what they want when it is time to bury our dead. He reveals, for example, that the open casket, often criticized as barbaric, provides a deeply meaningful moment for friends and family who must say goodbye to their loved one. But he also shows how the dead often come back to life in the popular imagination to disturb the peace of the living. Drawing upon interviews with funeral directors, major historical events like the funerals of John F. Kennedy and Rudolf Valentino, films, television, newspaper reports, proposals for funeral reform, and other primary sources, Rest in Peace cuts through the rhetoric to show us the reality--and the real cultural value--of the American funeral. About the Author: Gary Laderman is Associate Professor of American Religious History and Culture at Emory University and the author of The Sacred Remains: American Attitudes Toward Death, 1799-1883. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
650 0 _aUndertakers and undertaking
_zUnited States.
650 0 _aFuneral supplies industry
_zUnited States.
948 _au171347
949 _hEY8Z
_i33039000728526
596 _a1
903 _a8682
999 _c8682
_d8682