Heritage Coach Dealer Blog USA

Do you ever get a chill up your spine when you pass by cemeteries, hearses or funeral cars? If so, you are probably normal. Many people in our culture have a fascination with death and symbols of death. These things tend to scare us or, at the least, make us think about our own mortality. But why do these symbols of death scare us at times? There may be a logical explanation.

As a biological reaction, “fear exists as a response to stimuli that threatens our survival as a species.” Simply stated, our bodies are programmed to fight or run from those things that might cause our death. As a result, we look at the symbols of death in much the same way. We try to distance ourselves from the thoughts of immortality. In fact, we have tried to distance ourselves from it so much that we now hire mortuary professionals to handle our deceased loved ones so we do not have to.

We do not like to think about death. Symbols like cemeteries and funeral cars force us to think about death and the unknown. So if these things tend to scare you, don’t feel bad. It’s a normal biological response for these symbols to elicit fear. Just do not become preoccupied with them so that they become an obsession.

People used to say that the funeral business was recession-proof. Even when people are suffering financially, funerals are something that they will always need. While this is true, many mourners are finding ways to save money when it comes time to say goodbye to a loved one. One of the main things they are cutting back on is funeral cars.

Michael Land, the president of the Texas Funeral Directors Association, said the trends are changing in the funeral business. “What we see a lot of now are your consumers actually calling ahead and actually price-shopping several different funeral homes before they actually make a decision as to which funeral home they might use,” he explained. He and other funeral directors throughout Texas just got finished holding their annual convention in Austin where the tales of recession were discussed and explored as they relate to the business of death.

In addition to cutting back on the funeral cars that follow behind the hearse, Jim Monroe of Tulsa said the “death rate is off nationwide right now.” When asked if that was a bad thing, he had this to say: “Yeah, for this business it is.” He sells hearses for a living and is noticing the lessening demand for his product. Instead, he said, families are realizing that their personal vehicles do the job just as well.

In today’s busy culture, many people find it difficult to stop for just a minute out of respect when we see a line of funeral cars passing by. But this columnist asks the question, “Why can’t I pay my respects?”

The columnist – Valerie Boateng – recounts her experience of seeing a procession of funeral cars and pulling over to show her respect. A few seconds after pulling over, she heard the horn of a car behind her politely telling her to start moving or get out of the way. As a result, she recounts her confusion that many of us share when we see a line of funeral cars. Are we supposed to pull over? Isn’t it a sign of respect? Do we only need to give the right of way at intersections?

According to professionals in the funeral industry, it is perfectly acceptable and respectful to pull over for an approaching funeral procession. But many people these days are in too much of a hurry to do that and they even get annoyed at the people who pull over and get in their way.

Can’t we slow our lifestyles down for one minute when we see a line of funeral cars? What if that procession is for a soldier that has given his life for us? You can make up that extra minute somewhere else in your day if you nee to.

Okay, so maybe the title of this blog was a lame attempt at a joke (funeral cars….drive….get it?), but we would like to bring your attention to one man’s crusade to encourage others to give blood.

John Seitz, the owner of the Adamson Funeral and Cremation facility in Weld County, Colorado is beginning an annual blood drive in honor of one of his longtime employees who set a county record for blood donation. The employee – Robert “Dutch” Feuerstein – has worked for Adamson for more than 25 years. In total, he has donated 27 gallons of his blood.
To encourage people to show up and give their blood, he is also putting on a breakfast and a barbecue to feed the people who attend. If you ask nicely, Seitz may even take you for a ride in one of his funeral cars if you are a big donator. The event takes place on Saturday, July 11 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Adamson Funeral and Cremation facility at 2000 47th Avenue. It is open to the public. However, in order to give blood, you must be at least 17 years old, be in good health and weigh at least 110 pounds. I know I’d have no problem with that last qualification.

We hope you have been enjoying our exploration of hearse stories and legends of funeral cars. Here are some more legends and folklore that has spread around communities and towns across the nation.

Archer Woods Cemetery – Chicago, Illinois
If you plan to visit this old cemetery at night, you may see a ghostly team of horses pulling a phantom hearse through the serene setting. Those who have seen it have become extremely frightened.

Sleepy Hollow Road – Louisville, Kentucky
With a name like Sleepy Hollow Road, you would expect a plethora of strange occurrences. Several modern-day ghost stories happen along this road, including one story of a ghostly black hearse that follows cars that pass by. The hearse not only follows the cars, but it also causes them to run off the road and over a cliff. According to sightings, the hearse begins following as soon as you enter the road. It then increases in speed, causing the driver of the car to lose control until it plunges into the 30-foot ravine that runs alongside Sleepy Hollow Road.

How do you feel about these legends? Are you a firm believer in them or do you just find them an interesting part of American folklore? Leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts.

Does your town have any legends of hearses or funeral cars? You might be surprised how many cities and communities actually have hearse legends. These legends come from somewhere and they may even have a kernel of truth to them. Here are some local hearse stories and legends that you may enjoy.

Summit County, Ohio
Residents in this area of the Buckeye State claim that a ghost-driven hearse will chase you down if you get too close to a certain house on one of the area’s dead-end streets (how fitting, eh?) People who have been “chased” say a ghostly figure of an old man is in the driver’s seat as the hearse chases down unsuspecting passersby.

According to local historians, there was once a family that lived in the area that owned a hearse. However, they do not believe a hearse chases people down this road because it is too crowded with trees and cars are not able to go through.

Similarly, in Summit County’s Old Boston Township, visitors have reported being chased away by a “phantom hearse” as they entered the town. Other stories in this area include a road called “The End of the World” because it has a sudden stop after a steep and winding drive. There is also a legend of a bus in which all the children were mass-murdered many years ago.

Hearses and funeral cars are probably the most storied vehicles in the history of our culture. Even before the modern-day hearses, the mystique of death and the horse-drawn carriage has always grabbed peoples’ attention. That’s why there are so many legends about hearses and funeral cars in our society. We would like to explore some of those legends of funerals cars in a multi-part blog series. We hope you will enjoy this and learn something new at the same time.

The Haunted Mansion Hearse
One of the most common legends concerning a hearse takes us to Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride. Before entering the ride, an old-fashioned horse-drawn hearse provides an ominous feeling to those wanting a thrill. According to legend and rumors, this is the same carriage that transported the body of Brigham Young, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. His funeral took place in 1877, making this hearse more than a century old.

Although this is one of the most prominent hearse legends, it is not true. We know this because there was no hearse at Brigham Young’s funeral. Instead, pall bearer’s carried his casket to its final resting place.

The hearse at Disneyland could be an authentic hearse from the 19th century, but it’s also possible that it was recreated for effect to add a little extra thrill to the Haunted Mansion ride.

Does the sight of hearses and funeral cars send a chill up your spine? Have you ever thrown spilled salt over your shoulder to prevent your death? If so, you may be holding on to some death superstitions. Here are some more of those that you may enjoy.

• If you take pictures of a person in their casket, you bring death to someone in your family immediately.
• Leaving the house in a door different than the one you used for entering will bring a horrific death upon you.
• If a mirror breaks and one of the pieces lands on your home’s threshold, the next person to enter over that threshold will soon die.
• If a group of people are standing near a fireplace on New Year’s Eve and one person’s shadow is headless, that person will die that year.
• If you leave your shoes on a table for a long period of time, you will experience sickness or death.
• It is very bad luck for a pregnant woman to attend a funeral.
• If you see a white chicken while on your way to a funeral, you will experience bad luck.
• When you hear thunder immediately after a funeral, the deceased’s soul has reached heaven.

Do you know of any other superstitions related to death and dying? If so, leave us a comment. We’d love to hear more of these!

Have you ever grabbed a button on your clothing when passing funeral cars or held your breath when driving by a cemetery? If so, you have participated in age-old superstitions about death. Here are several more superstitions that you may recognize.

• Many people believe that touching or kissing a corpse will prevent them from dreaming or obsessing about that person. It may be because this helps the grieving loved ones realize the person is actually gone.
• Some people stop the clocks in their home when a family member dies. This symbolically indicates the passing of the loved one. When the funeral is over, they restart the clocks as an indication of a new phase in the life of the family and loved ones.
• Ringing bells and shooting guns at a cemetery were once believed to scare away the spirits. Today, however, they are a sign of respect.
• If a lightning bug (firefly) makes its way into your home, someone is going to die soon.
• Another superstition about holding your breath while passing a cemetery states that if you do not do so, you will not be buried when you die.
• Seeing yourself in one of your own dreams mean you will soon die.

Have you heard some of these? Are some of them new to you? On Friday, we’ll have one more installment of these fun and sometimes odd superstitions.

wiPeople and cultures probably have more superstitions about death than any other experience in life. We could probably write for weeks about the superstitions various people hold about death and dying. That might be too much, but we would like to begin a weeklong series about superstitions regarding death. Here are the first few that you may find interesting.

• It is believed that grabbing a button on your clothing when passing hearses or funeral cars will help you stay “connected” to life and the living rather than death.
• At one time, pallbearers wore gloves when carrying caskets because they believed the deceased’s spirit could enter their body through their bare-skinned hands.
• The custom of wearing black to a funeral began long ago when people believed it would make this less noticeable to surrounding spirits. However, burying a person in black will cause them to haunt the family.
• People once believed that birds contained human spirits.
• During wakes and grieving times, people would cover the mirrors in a home because they believed the spirit of the deceased person could live inside the mirror and then inhabit the body of the next person to look in the mirror.

These are just a few superstitions and beliefs about death. As you can see, we still hold on to many of them today whether it is through habit, tradition or beliefs of our own. Come back on Wednesday for more!