Okay, I lied. Before my temporary hiatus last week I promised a Halloween post. Well, that shit didn’t happen. Like it really matters. This isn’t a job where I work on a commission with a boss telling me what to do, so I will post whenever I please. That means THIS BELONGS IN A MUSEUM will no longer have daily posts and only be updated when I’m in the mood. Now on to the good stuff…
Since closed, the Museum of Funeral Customs was a highlight of a day trip to Springfield, Illinois about three years ago. The only visible staff member was the cashier, who resembled a funeral director (no joke). He creepily held his hands together in prayer and told us to have a nice time. Once inside visitors would follow a circuitous route in one giant room, looking at exhibits that displayed the best moments of funeraldom. The collection included a recreated 1920s embalming room, post-mortem photography, various facial reconstruction tools, replicas of Lincoln’s coffin and funeral train as well as some early examples of coffins and caskets (Do you know the difference? It all has to do with shape). For a little museum, I must say it was very well done and it’s a shame the place is no more.
If I knew it was months from closing its casket doors, I would have maxed out my credit card at the gift shop. I bought a postcard of the embalming room, which I sent to a friend overseas (and you can see in one of the pictures). But I could have bought more funeral-related gifts, like coffin-shaped keychains and chocolates. Oh well. You live and learn. That’s better than death, I guess.
