How Oregonians once honored their dead
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More than a century ago, Americans kept locks of their deceased loved ones' hair, photographed their bodies and followed strict rules on what to wear while grieving.
The big picture: These customs — which may seem creepy today — were commonplace even for 19th century Oregonians, and were often a way to express love, loss and remembrance of the dead.
Flashback: Death was once a more intimate part of everyday life, according to Matthew Dennis, a professor emeritus at University of Oregon and author of "American Relics and the Politics of Public Memory."
- Before the Civil War, the ideal "good death" was to die at home surrounded by family, who would then prepare the body for a burial at a nearby plot, Dennis said.
- But because so many soldiers died during the war — often hundreds of miles from home — it created a demand for embalming and professional morticians to transport remains back to their families.
Over time, Dennis said, funeral homes and hospitals took over the end-of-life responsibilities once held by families, creating a greater separation between the living and the dead.
- Still, people embraced rituals and relics, "as a way for the past to continue to exist in the present," Dennis said.
Here's a few of those forgotten traditions:
🪦 Pioneer cemeteries: Along the Oregon Trail, pioneers sometimes buried their loved ones in makeshift graves, and later returned to retrieve their remains.
- Families would then visit the grave often, picnicking among the headstones to "commune with nature and with death as one big process," Dennis said.
💍 Mourning jewelry: Popularized by Queen Victoria after the death of Prince Albert, the practice involved weaving a deceased loved one's hair into rings, brooches and lockets to keep their memory close, according to Portland jeweler Erica Weiner.
- Teeth were also commonly used.
👗 Funereal attire: A recent exhibition at the Corvallis Museum showcased the "elaborate" dress codes Oregon women followed while grieving a loved one more than a century ago.
- All-black shawls, floor-length gowns, lace parasols and even veils were worn during a prescribed mourning period, after which women could gradually reintroduce muted colors.
📸 Death photography: Perhaps the most unsettling to modern eyes, some families commissioned photographs of deceased loved ones, oftentimes children, posing with living relatives.
- The prints were sometimes woven into clothing or displayed prominently at home.
The bottom line: The way we mourn may look different today, but the desire to keep our loved ones close hasn't gone anywhere.