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— Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - Caitlin Doughty
==Death in America began as an entirely homegrown operation.
A person would die in their own bed, surrounded by their family and friends.
The corpse would be washed and shrouded by the man or woman’s closest living relations and laid out for several days in the home for a wake—a ritual named for the Old English word for “keeping watch,” not, as it is often believed, the fear that the corpse might suddenly wake up.
To prevent decomposition while the body remained at home, innovations like vinegar-soaked cloths and tubs of ice beneath the corpse were developed in the nineteenth century.== During the wake there was food to be consumed, alcohol to be imbibed, and a sense of releasing the dead person from their place in the community.
As Gary Laderman, scholar of American death traditions, put it, “Although the body had lost the spark that animated it, deeply rooted social conventions demanded that it be given proper respect and care from the living.” ==During the wake, a wooden coffin was constructed either by the family or perhaps a local cabinetmaker.
The hexagonal coffin was tapered at the bottom, indicating this was indeed a container for a dead human, unlike today’s rebrand of both the shape (a plain rectangle) and the name (casket).
After several days had passed, the corpse was placed in the coffin and carried on the shoulders of family members to a nearby grave.==