“Can you tell me what they call the window/door that was used to move the dead body from the home? I have heard it called “death’s door” hence the expression of one being at death’s door. There is some superstition about moving the dead through the front door.”

REPLY

I am aware of some superstitions surrounding the removal of a body from the home. The deceased was always taken out feet first in the coffin so that the dead could not look back at its home and the spirit remain inside the house.  Many houses of the mid-to-late Victorian period have a special niche called a “coffin corner” cut into the stairwell so that the coffin could make the turn in the flight of stairs by fitting the head of the coffin into this little niche shelf.  Some old homes also have a showcase window in the front of the house, a sort of bay window where the deceased could lie in state for people to pass by on the street and pay their respects.

The expression “at death’s door” is applied to someone so ill as to be at the very brink of death. In funeral statuary in cemeteries, a door is often used as the symbol for passing through the portal from Life to another state.  Arches, windows, and portals carry the same meaning.  Sometimes in remote rural homes, a door was used to lay the body upon when carrying it downstairs (as most died in upstairs bedrooms).  Boards made of wide planks of wood or caned surfaces were used as “cooling boards” to lay out the body during autopsy or embalming before placing the deceased in a casket or coffin. Please write and tell us if you have more information on this expression!

Need more excitement in your life?  Nothing good on T.V.?

Tune in tonight,( September 15th) at 10 p.m. for the first ever (but not the last) So you think you know Oak Grove Cemetery? Jeopardy-style online quiz.

Questions and photo identifications will be posted in rapid fire, each going up after the previous one has been correctly answered.  There will be one winner, with difficult brainbusters in case of a tie. Join us at Friends of Oak Grove Fall River tonight. A prize will be awarded to the winner- and the competition will be fierce! How well do YOU know Oak Grove?

Update!

Just in time for the anniversary of the crime:  the user-friendly guide to Borden-related graves in Oak Grove Cemetery.  The booklet contains maps, biographies of people connected with the case who are buried at Oak Grove, three walking tours with maps of how to locate both minor and major personalities in the Borden story, a history of the cemetery, fun facts and trivia, who is NOT buried at Oak Grove connected to the Borden case, and articles on the Victorian celebration of death, symbolism on funerary statuary and much more!  Designed in a black and white “Edward Goreyesque” style, the publication will go on sale August 6th.

This particularly beautiful tall arch is to be found in the central west end of Oak Grove and is a familiar symbol of passing through from one state to another- from earthly to celestial, from life to the hereafter.

There are smaller arches, gateways and doors to be found in Oak Grove, some found carved onto tabular monuments and others carved completely as the symbol itself. This one has an Egyptian inspiration- complete with canopic jar.

As you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, so you must be.

Prepare for death and follow me.”

The Young Widow 1877, exchanging the wedding gown for mourning

The Victorian preoccupation with death is reflected in the art of the period.  Photographs, paintings, death portraits, steel engravings, lithographs, etchings, and other art forms embraced the most sentimental and heartrending portrayals of loss and bereavement.

These works by both amateurs and the great artists such as Landseer and the Pre-Raphaelites were displayed in the parlor or sometimes in the bedchamber as a perpetual reminder that death is always with us.

The Old Shepherd’s Chief Mourner by Landseer

Animals and children were especially popular as subjects to portray pathos and grieving.

The 1894 sketch above is called For Such is the Kingdom by Frank Bramley and illustrates the custom of little children dressed in white walking in procession in front of a small white coffin containing a young person.  Often four young maidens, also dressed in white attire served as pall bearers for the departed child.  The custom of children wearing white to funerals continued well into the twentieth century.

http://www.si.edu/mci/english/research/conservation/zinc_sculptures.html

http://www.tngenweb.org/darkside/white.html

 

Victorians liked keepsakes of all kinds.  The idea of some sort of printed memorial which could be tucked into family Bibles, placed on mantels in the parlor, and kept for the future generations found great favor in the nineteenth century. The custom of funeral cards is still observed today although the size and intricacy of the funeral card has changed.  Today we often find the 23rd Psalm, the Lord’s Prayer, or a contemporary poem along with the deceased’s dates, name and age.  The Victorian and early twentieth century cards were on very heavy stock and featured the symbolism Victorians understood, such as the opening gate, cross and crown, dove of the spirit, laurel wreath etc.  Suitable mourning poetry was nearly always included below the name and dates of the departed Loved One. Early cards were generally in either black or white with gold or silver lettering.  (Examples from the blogger’s collection).

Another symbol which was particularly popular on headstones of men who had lived a long span of 70 or more years was the sheaf of wheat.  There are several excellent examples carved in very high relief to be found at Oak Grove. The symbolism of gathering in the harvest of years parallels the familiar figure of Death, with his scythe, preparing to reap the harvest at Life’s end. 

  Gustave Dore’s Grim Reaper

 Occasionally one sees a single blade of wheat, millet, oats, or another cereal grain.

 Oak Grove may well be one of the best places in the state to find examples of Victorian funeral symbolism, which was a language understood by all who passed through the cemetery in the nineteenth century. The Language of Flowers had long been a part of Victorian sentiment, and this transfered to the grave as well. Ladies often received floral tributes in stone of roses, ivy, fern and lilies signfying hope for the resurrection of the body on the Day of Judgement, love, humility and sincerity (fern) and the clinging ivy (undying affection). Other symbols shown in the black and white slide presentation below are:
Olive branch- peace , Oak leaves- strength, fidelity, endurance, Palm- victory, triumph over death, Laurel wreath- victory, eternity, immortality, Anchor- hope or a career on the sea, Scroll or Book- Book of Life, scroll of St. Peter, Roll of the Saved, Doorway or Arch- portal between heaven and earth, Urn- harking back to Egyptian canopic jars, containers of the Spirit, Curtain- the end of the worldly life, Wreaths, Swags and Garlands- victory over death, immortal circle, honor, Lamb- grave of an infant or child.

All of the black and white photographs were taken with an inexpensive disposable camera using Kodac black and white film. Although it is pleasant to walk in cemeteries on sunny days, some of the best photographs are obtained on overcast days when shadows and bright sun do not interfer with capturing the sculptural detail in dark bas-relief. Keep a disposable camera camera handy in the glove compartment, for you never know when you may wish to capture an image of a particularly remarkable monument.

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