Mourning Traditions during the Victorian Era

The Victorian Era was known for its traditions surrounding death and dying.
  Some of these included:

• Curtains were drawn 
• Clocks stopped at the time of death
• Mirrors were covered with crape or veiling to prevent spirit from getting trapped in the looking glass
• Wreath laurel, yew or boxwood tied with crape or black ribbons were hung on the front door to alert the passerby that a death occurred. 

• "Wake" -- the body was watched at all times until burial
• Keepsakes such as funeral cards, invitations and memorial cards were produced and distributed

•  Relatives would surround the bed of the dying
• Valued the last words of the dying
• Photographs and death masks were produced of the dead
• Houses were filled with mementos

Victorian Cemeteries and Headstones

It may sound odd to say but I've always been a fan of cemeteries.  I could spend hours strolling through them and looking at the headstones.  They are fascinating to say the least.  Each headstone tells a story, although brief, about the person who it pays tribute to.  There are endless images, quotes, and thought provoking messages to be found on headstones/tombstones.  Features found on them, just as with fashion, goes along with the time period that it was created.  The Victorian period is no exception to this rule.  Actually, the headstones from this time period are usually very distinctive.  Symbolism was used in many different ways on them. 

These are some typical types of symbols found on tombstones from the Victorian Era.

Tree stumps were common.  They typically were symbolic of a life cut short.

Weeping Willows were symbolic of mourning.

Angels of all shapes and sizes were also popular.

Hands pointing to heaven were another symbol of the Victorian Era.












Here is the link to a rather lengthy video of a presentation done by Janice Quick, historian to the Maplewood Historical Society in Minnesota.  The presentation is named Buttons and Victorian Headstones.  At first I found it an odd combination but after I started listening to it I realized that it all went together really well.  I remembered after watching it a superstition that was shared by a friend of mine who was from the south that made more sense to me after watching this.  "Rub a button as you pass by a cemetery for a good luck so as not to be the next one entered there."

The fascination with Victorian mourning traditions

While doing my research I have been amazed at the multitude of individuals out there that are fascinated with the various Victorian mourning traditions.  There are blogs and websites galore on every topic you could think pertaining to Victorian mourning.  Even a quick search on Pinterest will produce an abundance of pins dealing with the subject.  For a time period when camera's weren't owned by every individual like today the number of photographs available has been surprising.  However, many of these sites are produced by individuals without credible or posted sources.  It has made the research part of the project a bit more tedious than I expected. 

Post Mortem Photography

During the Victorian Era when daguerreotype photographs became popular and a cheaper option to the painted portrait post mortem photography became popular.  I'm sure that most of you have seen the portraits taken of the someone's loved one after they had passed away either in a coffin or laying down.  But prior to researching this I did not realize that they took photographs of the dead that made them actually appear to be alive.  As you can see in the following photo they actually held the person up with a pole.

This photo came from an article related to this practice in the Huffington Post.  You can view the article along with other photos they have posted with it here.

This practice was especially used to create images of dead children.  This was a period of high infant mortality.  So high was the demand for post- mortem photographs that many photographers were able to make a living from them alone. (Cadwallader, 16).  Sometimes these photos were the only one that was ever taken of the individual.  Families were proud of these photos and would even display them in their homes.

Spirit Photography

During the Victorian Era a new movement began in Hydesville, NY...the Spiritualist Movement.  With the onset of this movement the new concept of Spirit Photography was created.  Jen Cadwallader discusses this concept at length in her article "Spirit Photography Victorian Culture of Mourning".  
Photography already held a very important role in the mourning artifacts with the popularity of images of the deceased. (I will discuss this tradition more in later blog post.)
William Mumler produced the first photograph with "extras" in Boston in 1861.  He was both extending the tradition of the post mortem photograph and cashing in on the growing popularity of the Spiritualist Movement, which was concerned with producing physical evidence of life after death.  His "extras" were rightly named - appearing in addition to the person actually being photographed and costing quite a bit extra compared to a normal portrait. 
Cadwallader finds that spirit photography is a reflection on the act and value of mourning itself.  It shows the feelings of the mourner.  In a society where mourning was highly visible in dress, but where grief was all but taboo, the spirit photograph provided a space to gain conceptual control over one's feelings. (pg. 16).

Figure 1. William H. Mumler "Mrs. French of Boston with her son's spirit." ca. 1870 Wm. B. Becker Collection, American Museum of Photography

Figure 2. Frederick Hudson "Lady Helena Newenham and the Spirit of her Daughter," ca. 1872 Wm. B. Becker Collection, American Museum of Photography

What are the traditions of mourning in the Victorian Era?

After jumping straight into the subject area in my first two posts I realized I should have did an overview of my project and what I will be researching. My main focus will be the traditions of mourning in the Victorian Era especially in the United States.  Because there are so many questions that I could pose about these traditions I decided to be very broad with my question so I could delve into a multitude of areas surrounding these which would in turn allow me and in turn you, my readers to learn more about it.  
Mourning was so completely different during the Victorian Era than it is today.  There were so many different traditions and specific rules that they had at that time that seem so odd to us now.  Ironically, there are still somethings that have carried over.  For example it is still pretty traditional to wear black or something dark to a funeral. 
I'm a very visual learner so I will try and use a lot of photos in my blog. 

Photo: c. 1860-1870

Source:  A Time to Mourn, by Armstrong & Pike