Death was a major part of everyday life in the Victorian era, and people developed elaborate ways to mourn, remember, and preserve the dead. In this episode of Lunatics Radio Hour, we explore the history of Victorian funerary traditions and the social and historical circumstances that shaped them in Britain and the United States.
We look at Victorian mourning customs, postmortem photography, mourning jewelry, human hair art, funeral rituals, embalming, funeral biscuits, mourning stationery, death masks, and Victorian cemeteries. We also examine how the American Civil War helped popularize embalming in the United States and how Queen Victoria's mourning for Prince Albert influenced Victorian mourning culture.
Along the way, we separate historical practices from later myths, including the popular story of Victorian "tear catchers."
Finally, we trace these traditions into Gothic literature and horror movies, looking at how Victorian cemeteries, mourning clothes, old photographs, preserved bodies, and memorial objects became part of the visual language of supernatural horror.
Because the Victorians weren't trying to make death scary. They were trying to find ways to live with it.
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Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep.
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Sources
The Gettysburg Compiler: Until We Meet Again: Victorian Mourning Practices by Ziv Camri
The National Museum of Funeral History: 19th Century Mourning
Eat Your Sorrow With These Victorian Funeral Biscuits: Atlas Obscura
Another Atlas Obscura article: Clearing Up Myths About Victorian ‘Postmortem’ Photography
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