death. Barrels of wine piled up in New York City streets as police raided speakeasies and other businesses. The parlor may have been the most elegantly furnished and formal room in the house, but the presence of the sewing machine ballooned the value of the sitting room's content/s. The casket, that rectangle we think of today, was late to show up on the scene. Boxing promoter Tex Rickard had the idea that the venue could sell tickets to diving and swimming performances. In 1888 a lady dressmaker informed readers that widows need not wear a mourning cap and veil after the first six months but a large muslin collar should be worn for a year. [Dixon, 1989: 145 giving extracts from the Girls Own Paper ]. In the 1880s the average downtown parlor held 200 funerals a year; by 1920 a neighborhood funeral home held only 50 or 60 a year. That decline became even steeper after 1920. As ethnic groups moved out of their original neighborhoods, their funeral homes moved with them as "branches." Strange Victorian Foods For The Poor , The Victorian craze that sparked a mini-sexual revolution, Spinach Ice Cream And 5 Other Weird Victorian Recipes, Unwritten Laws of the Past and the Freedom to Kill, The Strange Victorian Fashion Of Self-Electrification, Female Soldiers of the American Civil War, Jesse Pomeroy: Americas Youngest Serial Killer, THE LONDON GARROTTING PANIC OF THE MID-19TH CENTURY, Forensic Ballistics: Who Did The Shooting?, For 10 years, Jolly Jane poured her poison, The Roman empress who used forensic science to identify her rivals head, Why Brain Scientists Are Still Obsessed With The Curious Case Of Phineas Gage, Edinburghs Mysterious Miniature Coffins. The arms would have stiff wires running at the back to hold them in place. For a parent: 6 months to a year Six months in crepe trimmings, three in plain black, and three in half-mourning. Additionally, society activities would be given up for at least three months, although it was more likely they would be given up for nine months. Although caring for the dead became a task carried out primarily by men in the nineteenth century, women significantly contributed to the history of funerals and burial practices in Philadelphia. to carry the dear departed's body one last time down her street, past her The use of a sewing machine during these evening gatherings would probably have been seen as disruptive in more traditional households. The house was kept quiet, clocks were stopped at the time of death in the room where the deceased was laid out for visiting. The casket designated the deceased as a unique being, and its extravagance signified the deads real or desired class status. 1920s clothing reflected on the era of prosperity and social change of the roaring 20s. For children over 10 yrs old: 6 months to a year.