Have you attended a Victorian Funeral Tea yet? If you have any interest at all in history you would enjoy this look back in time. At today's event a mourning culture historian from Crocker House Museum spoke about funeral wakes and the various foods that might be served. The wake itself or "watch" was held to make sure the deceased was really deceased and to pray in the presence of the body.
A Dutch tradition was to use a funeral cake to invite guests to a wake. This caraway and molasses biscuit (Doed Koek) was inscribed with the initials of the deceased. The Amish serve a raisin pie called "funeral pie". Prune cakes were on the menu for English wakes. Jewish funerals discouraged pomp so only hard boiled eggs with salt were offered to guests.
Our speaker also talked about embalming, mourning clothing, mourning periods, and many other traditions surrounding funerals.
After the tea we were transported to a local cemetery where several early city dignitaries are buried. Local townspeople portrayed six of these early residents as they told stories or highlighted significant events in their lives.
A Dutch tradition was to use a funeral cake to invite guests to a wake. This caraway and molasses biscuit (Doed Koek) was inscribed with the initials of the deceased. The Amish serve a raisin pie called "funeral pie". Prune cakes were on the menu for English wakes. Jewish funerals discouraged pomp so only hard boiled eggs with salt were offered to guests.
Our speaker also talked about embalming, mourning clothing, mourning periods, and many other traditions surrounding funerals.
After the tea we were transported to a local cemetery where several early city dignitaries are buried. Local townspeople portrayed six of these early residents as they told stories or highlighted significant events in their lives.
