That Final Ride: Hearses

Written by Joy Neighbors

Hearses have been used to carry bodies for centuries, but not necessarily the type of hearse you may be thinking of. Our first hearses were hand-carried wooden or metal frames that the coffin was placed in and carried to the grave.Then came rolling carts for easier transportation over a distance.

In the 19^th century came horse-drawn hearses, which were used until the early 20^th century. Horse-drawn carriages are still used today for pomp and circumstance when royalty or famous people die.

With the invention of the automobile came the motorized hearse – a vehicle that could transport the deceased to the cemetery in style. But there are several other modes of transportation used to transport the body of the deceased.

When someone dies, a “first call vehicle” is sent out to collect the body and deliver it to a funeral home. Many times, the funeral home has a basic van for this purpose. In larger cities, there are companies that operate first call vehicles for delivery to funeral homes thereby saving the hearse for the actual trip to the cemetery.

There was also a combination car, which operated as an ambulance and a hearse. (Think Ghostbusters.) These combos were popular mid-century but fell out of favor by the end of the 1970s when vehicles were downsized to compact cars.

Motorcycle hearses may be equipped with a specialized sidecar to carry the casket, or in a tricycle formation so the casket rides behind the bike.

Rail cars have been used for transporting the deceased across the country to their final resting places. (Remember Lincoln’s funeral train?) During the 19^th century, the City of Chicago had three trolley car that carried the dead on the elevated trains to cemeteries outside of town.

Modern hearses have an elegant look with padded interiors and a sleek design. In the U.S, we use luxury cars for the base of the hearse: mainly Cadillac, Lincoln and Mercedes.

Major hearse builders in America include S&S/Superior Coach Company of Lima, Ohio, and Specialty Hearse with locations in Alvarado, Texas and East Farmingdale, New York.

Hearses are also popular as collector cars and numerous hearse clubs throughout the U.S. hold shows and rallies each year. (Not sure what the plans are for this year with Covid. Check with the festival or rally before you head out.)

The National Museum of Funeral History in Houston Texas has a collection of rare historical funeral vehicles. Check out the video on their website showing a small part of their collection.

Regardless of how you feel about hearses, it will most likely be your ride to that final destination.

~ Joy

Going Out in Style: Hearses Through History

Herse

Funeral Coach

In the funeral industry, a hearse is known as a funeral coach. The term hearse (herse) is actually from the 13^th century and referred to a type of plow. The word was also used for the triangular form that held candles during religious ceremonies. These “candelabras” were also placed on the top of the coffin as the body was taken to its burial place.

Early History

Bier

A bier was the first type of carrying device used to move remains. Made up of a flat wooden form, the body, wrapped in a shroud, or the coffin box was placed upon this framework and carried by hand to the burial place. This framework became known as a hearse: a way to transport the body or coffin.

Bier with Pope John Paul

Biers are still used today but are made of aluminum and have wheels for ease of movement. Also known as a church truck, it is used to move the casket to and from the church or funeral home.  Dignitaries and heads of state are also placed on biers to lie in state before funeral services are held. These hand-carried hearses evolved into horse-drawn wagons during the 17^th century.

 19^th Century

By the 19^th century, wooden hearses were becoming more elaborate with intricately carved flowers, doves and scrolls, and heavy velvet draperies hung on both sides of the carriage.

Crane & Breed Hearse Carriage

Hearses were usually crafted from mahogany wood. In 1850, Crane, Breed & Company of Cincinnati began producing metal caskets. Four years later the company was also building horse-drawn hearses.

Electric Trolleys

In the 1880s, the cities of Baltimore and Chicago each designed trolley funeral cars, which ran on the electric trolley railways. These special trolleys were used to transport a casket, and the mourners out to the cemeteries located at the edge of town.

Early 20^th Century

Crane & Breed Auto Hearse

It was not until the beginning of the 20^th century and the invention of the motorized vehicle that hearses received a tremendous updating. On May 1, 1908 the General Vehicle Company of New York rolled out the first electric hearse. But by 1909, Crane and Breed had introduced the first motorized mass produced funeral coach called the Auto Hearse.

A Ludlow Hearse

This was also the first year that a totally motorized funeral was held. When Chicago resident Wilfrid A. Pruyn died, H.D. Ludlow, a local ambulance and funeral service, agreed to furnish a motorized hearse. Since Ludlow did not have one, he had one built by the C.A. Coey Auto Livery Company. Coey adapted a horse drawn hearse by placing the framework on the chassis of an opera bus.

1920 Hearse

The 1920’s brought about several changes and adaptions to the motorized hearse. In 1920, hearses were beginning to resemble the passenger limousine that was popular with the well to do.

Side Loading Cadillac

Three-way coaches were introduced near the end of the Roaring 20s. This allowed the casket table to move in order to be loaded and unloaded from either side of the hearse, or through the back door. Since streets were still unpaved, people liked the convenience of being able to load and unload the casket out of the mud.

The 1930’s

Art Carved Hearse

During the Art Deco Movement of the 1930s, art-carved hearses became popular. These hearses featured hand-carved wooden panels that resembled heavily draped curtains and were placed on the side windows for privacy. This style of hearse was made until the late 1940’s.

Landau Style Hearse

In 1938, Sayers and Scovill introduced the landau style of hearse. Landau is a term from the Victorian era, which meant carriage bars that could fold and unfold, opening up part of the carriage to the elements. It was adapted to the motorized vehicle creating a semi-convertible where the rear quarter of the car could be opened up by folding the cover at the landau joints.

Landau S Bar

The funeral industry embraced the look and the leather-backed hearse with its faux landau bar became popular.  Today, the S-shaped landau bars are still visible on many hearses.

World War II

Converted Factory

Funeral coach production was on the increase when WWII broke out and factories were converted for wartime production. By the end of the war, many funeral coach companies had experienced financial losses and were forced to close.

Mid-Twentieth Century

1975 Hearse

After the war, landau and limousine style hearses were both popular. Draperies lost some of their intricate draping and became sleeker and straighter based on the look of airline drapes. During the 1970’S, hearses were downsized due to the gasoline crisis.

Rear Compartment

Until the end of the ‘70s, it was typical for a hearse to be built on combination a chassis, (usually Cadillac) meaning that the professional framework was constructed for use as a hearse or an ambulance. The rear compartment was then fitted to carry either a gurney or casket.  

Today

Van Hearse

Funeral coaches were downsized again at the end of the 1990’s and today some modern fleets, especially in Europe include medium sized vans that have been converted into funeral hearses.

Open Windows

In Europe, the limousine style is preferred with lots of glass and few draperies allowing the windows to be unobscured.

Interior with Features

Landau Style

In the U.S, the landau style is still popular, bearing the trademark leather or vinyl roof with the faux S-shaped bars, and curtains at the windows. The windows may also be frosted or opaque without curtains. Some hearses have skylights, sidewall decorations and track lighting. Current versions are boxy in the rear, resembling a car and van in the styling. The current cost of a hearse is around $100,000.

For more information on hearses, visit Coach Built at www.coachbuilt.com and Hearse Works at www.hearse.com/pa.

So, if you're choosing, what style of hearse would you prefer to take you on for your final ride?

~ Joy

Funeral Transports through History

Funeral Procession on Foot

Over the centuries, numerous systems have been used to transport the dead to their final resting places. In ancient times, a procession of mourners would bear the wrapped body to the burial grounds.   Transportation of the body has continued to changed throughout time to accommodate whatever modes of transportation we have available. 

Wooden Bier

With horses and the invention of the wheel, a bier would be used.  This flat wooden frame could be used to carry the shrouded corpse to the burial location and then used to display the body.  A bier is still used today, but is now made from aluminum and is on wheels.  Known as a ‘church truck,’ it is draped with cloth to create a more dignified display, but is still easy to move.

An English Lych Way

When the population began moving into and out of the countryside, a means of transporting a body to or from the city became necessary.  Corpse roads were created and provided a sensible means by which to relocate the body from a rural community to a parish cemetery or chapel.  In Britain, these roads were also known as bier roads, coffin roads or lych ways.

Cemetery Maze

Superstitions and legends abound about these roads regarding ghosts, spirits and wraiths tormenting travelers or following mourners home.  There are old cemeteries created around mazes.  This was done as a way to confuse the dead and keep them from returning as a spirit.  In the 19^th century, the deceased was to be carried out of a house feet first to keep the spirit from looking back and beckoning others to follow.  Even today, some still consider it prudent for the funeral procession to return from the gravesite by a different route than the one taken with the deceased.

Trains were also a way to transport the deceased.  A funeral train is one that has been contracted to carry a coffin or coffins to the final location.

Necropolis Railway Train

In London, the first funeral train left the Necropolis Railway Station on November 7, 1854.  The train carried the dead and their mourners to Brookwood Cemetery.  Even the deceased’s final ride was based on their station in life.  If the deceased was traveling on a first class ticket, more attention was paid to their transport and more care taken with the body.  The train ran seven days a week from 1854 until 1900.  Trains were then scheduled on an “as needed basis.”  They continued to run until 1941 when the station was bombed during the Blitz.

Lincoln's Train

When President Abraham Lincoln was shot in Washington, D.C., in 1865, his body was carried back to Springfield, Illinois by train.  The train took almost 2 weeks to make the 1,654 mile journey, due to numerous stops to allow the public a final goodbye.  Lincoln’s train was the first time a president’s body had been borne across the country by rail.

19th Century Hearse

Hearses are what we think of when the subject of moving

a dead body comes up.  Hearses have always come in many shapes and styles.  Hearses drawn by horses were ornate, stately, and many times glass enclosed. 

1926 Buick Hearse
Photo by Nelson Brothers

When the automobile took over in the early 1900’s, hearses took on a variety of shapes that suited the vehicle’s body.

A Combo Car

Ecto 1 "Ghostbusters"
Photo by Chad Davis

Some hearses were known as combination cars – a combination of an ambulance and hearse, equipped to carry gurney or a coffin.  These were popular from the 1950’s through the 1970’s.  They were discontinued in 1980.  The Caddy used in the movie ‘Ghostbusters’ was a combo 1959 Miller Meteor coach.

Modern U.S. Hearse

In the U.S., a hearse is usually crafted from a luxury brand of auto like Cadillac or Lincoln.  The body is more of a landau style with heavy vinyl padding on the roof.  The windows are curtained.

Modern English Hearse

In England, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Rolls-Royce luxury cars are used as hearses.  The limousine style is more popular, and the windows are left uncovered.

Japanese Hearse -
Photo by Jim Epler

In Japan, a hearse may be a small ornate Buddhist temple covering the rear of the vehicle.  Nissan and Toyota are two companies that build these types of hearses.

Motorcycle Sidecar Hearse

There are also the unique hearses and burial vehicles, such as a motorcycle with a side hearse.

Space Burial

A space burial in which the ashes of the deceased are enclosed in a capsule about the size of a lipstick tube, and launched into space using a rocket.

President Kennedy's
Riderless Horse Black Jack

Then there is symbolic transport, such as the rider-less horse, usually found following the hearse, or caisson, carrying the casket.  In the U.S. this is part of military honors given to an officer with the rank of Colonel or above.  U.S. Presidents and the Secretary of Defense are also honored in this manner.  Abraham Lincoln was the first U.S. President to receive such an honor. 

The Final Goodbye

You’ll notice a pair of black riding boots reversed in the stirrups.  This represents the fallen leader looking back upon his troops for a final time on that final trip to the grave.

~ Joy