I haven’t seen anything but concept drawings of what the new Cadillac hearses will be like. Here is a cool video that has some of the concepts and goes through all available models by Eagle.

I’m sure that the design will grow on me. But my ultimate hearse is still the Eagle Echelon. The funeral home my dad works at has one and I about peed myself when he let me take if for a spin around the parking lot.

Picture credit for the MKZ goes to Baines Professional Vehicles

I can’t find anywhere that says this was actually on tv, but I do know that the funeral home that made it is legit. Golden Gate Funeral Home has 3 locations and does more than a thousand funerals a year. Everything I have read about them says that they are an outstanding funeral home that provides very high quality services. Check out their website at GoldenGateFuneralHome.com. My favorite part of the website is their fleet page. Its impressive. Makes me think they run a limo service on the side.

I have mixed feelings on the commercial. Part of me thinks that it is a little too obtrusive to have a person looking at their own funeral and paying attention to the fleet. But the other part of me thinks its a winner because that would get people to pay attention to the message and kudos to the funeral home for having the gusto to actually make a commercial like this. What are your thoughts???

If you have ever wondered where your local funeral homes get their caskets, there is a very good chance that they come from one of the three biggest casket manufacturers…Batesville, Aurora, or York. Batesville is by far the biggest company. They command quite a market share of the industry. I remember hearing a while ago that 6 out of 10 burials in the United States were buried in a Batesville casket but I haven’t been able to find anything to substantiate that, so don’t quote me on it.

I have to say that they make a really good casket. Their wood caskets are very solid and the metal units always have a perfect paint and weld job. Why is this important? I never said it was, but I have seen at a lot of caskets and so I notice the differences. There is a new trend with the casket wholesalers to import units from China, but there is no comparison in quality. Lets just say, my family will be buried in a Batesville.

Behold two of my favorite Batesville Caskets. The wood is the Pembroke Cherry. It is solid cherry wood that is polished to a high shine. There is also a decorative gold line around the lid of the casket that gives the unit a lot character. The metal casket is referred to as the Primrose. This casket can actually come in a couple different metals including bronze, copper and steel. This is casket is always one of the most sold caskets at every funeral home I have worked at. Of course, it is a little more popular with ladies…I don’t recall ever burying a man in it.

I could fill pages talking about Batesville. Their manufacturing plant is awesome. Their inventory system is awesome. Their distribution network is awesome. I feel kind of bad that I am on the Batesville “soapbox” right now, but don’t worry, I’ll talk about the other casket companies in due time. In fact, my next featured is going to be an Aurora.

Finally, in case you were wondering why the heck any of this matters, I answer you with a direct quote from the official Batesville.com homepage: “Because every family deserves a Batesville”

I recently picked the Matchbox Hearse up on an ebay auction and I am lucky enough to have two of the white Hot Wheels. These cars are all done on a limited production so they are very hard to come by. Check ebay. There are usually a couple auctions there. Apparently there is some sort of facination with the 1963 Fleetwood Cadillac hearse in the toy world. If it’s not the ’63, its the Adams Family car. Perhaps I should write them a letter about the Eagle Echelon. I guess the moral of this post is that if you looking for some funeral toys, check ebay. They do exist.

On a side note, I am a horrible blogger and I promise to try and get better. I didn’t realize how many people visited this! I can’t even believe it has been over a year since the last post. So….I need ideas. You know you have questions and I have answers. Comment away.

Time for another Casket Spotlight, and boy is this one a beauty.  The Masterpiece by Marsellus Caskets Co is my all-time favorite casket.  The reason I like it is not because it is expensive (around $16,000 retail), or has a really soft velvet interior (oooh, it is nice).  I like this casket because even the underside of the casket looks good.  Nothing is forgotton or hidden in the construction.  The skill and craftsmanship it takes to make the unit is like no other that I know of.  This casket personifies excellence and elegance.  If I have my way, this will be the one that I am buried in.

A little history on the Marsellus Casket Company.  Marsellus was a small manufacturer, but they put out an awesome casket.  They have been regarded as the Rolls Royce of caskets in the funeral industry.  However, their distribution was small and so one thing led to another (its a long story, believe me), and their intangible assets were acquired by Batesville Casket Co (the big guys) in 2003.  I read that it would have cost more to overhaul the factory than to just move the operation because a lot of their machines were from the 1930′s.  So now Batesville manufactures the caskets at their plant in Mississippi.

The Masterpiece casket has some impressive specs.  It is contructed of with solid Mahogany planks that are 2 inches thick (known as 8/4 or “eight quarter” in the woodworking world).  When completed, it weighs 400 pounds.  The casket takes 6 months to build and is done completely by hand.  The finish on the wood is hand rubbed to a brilliant shine and takes 16 hours to complete.  The casket is quite impressive to see in person.

Marsellus Caskets have also been known as the caskets of the presidents.  It makes sense since John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan were all buried in caskets by Marsellus.

To find out the requirements for another state, just google “idaho board of morticians” replacing idaho with whatever state you want.  That should bring up your states board and requirements should be listed there.  In Idaho, becoming licensed is basically a two step process.  First, you must become an apprentice or Mortician Resident Trainee, as the law likes to call it.  To qualify for and fulfill the apprenticship you must:

1. Be at least 18 years old
2. Be of good moral character (I’m not making that up…its written in the statute)
3. Have graduated from an accredited high school
4. Must work full-time for one year, defined as at least 36 hours a week and 50 weeks for the year.  This time is to be under the direct supervision of a supervising licensed mortician.

After the apprenticeship has been completed, then once a person has met the rest of the requirements they may become licensed.  They are:

1. Be at least 21 years of age.
2. Be of good moral character.
3. Competed and received credit for at least 60 semester hours from an accredited university with at least a C average.
4. Must complete and receive credit from an accredited mortuary science program in addition to previous education requirement.
5. Must pass the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Board’s National Board Examination, we well as the State Based Funeral Service Examination with at least a 75%.

As you can see, it takes a little more than filling out an application to become a mortician.  By the time you add 1 year for an apprenticeship, 2 years to complete 60 college credits, and at least 1 year to complete mortuary college, it takes at least 3 years to meet the requirements just so you can take the tests.  And if you are like me, then you stop part way through only start back again a couple years later.  Which explains why you are going to be 29 when you are finally licensed.

Before I tell you the results I also want to point out that California gets blamed for a lot by people in the funeral industry.  Basically, if someone tells a story and has no actual proof of it the outlandish tale, they say it happened in California.  I don’t know what California funeral directors did to tork off everyone else in the country, but it hardly seems fair.

Back to the drive-thru…..it was interesting to find out that the drive-thru funeral homes were not actually in California (that I was able to find).  There are stories about them in Florida and Illinois.  The earliest evidence of drive-thru was at Gatling’s Chapel Inc.  There is nothing on thier website that say that they still offer the service.  If you want to read the New York Times article about it go here.  I also want to point out, that for them claiming to do over 2000 funerals a year (which is a pretty high volume), their website has a lot to be desired.

The only picture of a drive thru funeral home I was able to find was that of Junior Funeral Home in Pensacola, Florida.  The funeral home is now closed and no longer in operation.  Apparently the deceased was set next to a big window and that was that.

I am a big supporter of innovations in the funeral industry.  I think that Webcasts of funerals are a great idea.  Arranging funerals online may even take off.  But a drive-thru viewing window is just a little too much! Please don’t support this if it happens in your area.  Lets leave drive-thru to fast food.

With that in mind I present to you my second favorite casket of all-time….The Promethean Bronze by Batesville.  You will probably hear me refer to Batesville often as they are the biggest (and best) manufacturer of caskets in the nation.  The Promethean is the epitome of excellence in a metal casket.  The casket it built of 48oz Bronze.  As a semi-precious metal, bronze is rust-resistant and the most expensive of the casket metals.  The bronze is then plated with 24k gold.  Awesome.  The finish is hand polished and very very shiny.  The interior of the casket will come just about any way that you order it.  As I recall, this is one of the few caskets that is made totally by hand and by order at the Batesville plant.  Expect to pay at least $20,000 for this unit of excellence.  Now you ask, does anyone really need a gold-plated bronze casket?  Of course not, but it sure is pretty.

The pictures are a couple of stock photos I was able to find.  The most recent notable I know of that was buried in the Promethean Bronze was James Brown.  The photo I chose doesn’t show the “Godfather of Soul” in it, but for those interested, just google “James Brown Casket” and look at the images (by the by, the mortician did an excellent job).

The word that comes to my mind when thinking about this hearse is AWESOME!!!!  The design is very modern but doesn’t forget about traditional styling.  The back window reminds me of the new Mercedes-Benz designs.  There is an urn enclave for use when transporting an urn instead of a casket.  My personal favorite of the new design in the sun roof in the bay of the hearse.  This allows for a natural light to show upon the casket while travelling to the cemetery or church (please read that with slight sarcasm). 

I am not 100% sure of the price tag yet, but from what I have heard, all of this, and more, can be yours for around $85,000.  Definitely one of the more expensive hearses I know of but there is nothing else like this on the market.  Enjoy the pictures below.  A special thanks to my friend Brock for sending them to me.