(#9) Widowers' New Wives Had To Go Straight Into Mourning
Unlike widows, a widower (that is, a man who lost his wife) could remarry at any time during the mourning process. If he had young children and no adult women in the family, someone had to take care of the children, so he would choose a new wife. On his wedding day, the widower/groom did not have to wear his mourning outfit of a black suit and hat. However, he had to put them on the very next day - and his new wife had to go into mourning as well, until the customary period ended.
(#13) A Dead Body Couldn't Be Left Alone In The House
Victorian customs dictated that someone had to sit alongside the body of the deceased the entire time that he or she was laid out in the home. There are many reasons for this, including the idea that it comforted the dead and helped them better transition to the afterlife. More practical ideas for this constant vigil involved the need to keep rodents away from the body, to be near just in case the deceased wasn't truly dead, and to greet anyone who traveled a long way to pay their respects, arriving at an odd hour.
(#4) The Living Posed For Pictures With The Dead
Photography was developed during the mid-1800s, so it was still relatively expensive during the Victorian period. In many cases, people could not afford happy family portraits like they can today. So, when the opportunity for a photograph arose, you had to make the most of it by creating a lasting image of something truly significant in your life. One method of maximizing a photo op was to save it to take a picture with a deceased loved one to commemorate them forever. When a loved one died, family members would come up with the money have a picture taken with the deceased. This would often be the only photo that existed of their now fractured family.
(#7) Mourners Cried Into Tear Vials At Funerals
Tear vials (or "lachrymatories," from the word lachrymose) are one of the more over-the-top practices from Victorian mourning traditions. As their name states, they are literally small glass vials with rubber or cork stoppers used for catching the tears of mourners during services for the deceased. During the wake and the funeral, mourners would hold the vials up to their faces in order to catch their tears. After the service, these vials would be presented to the family of the deceased, as a way to prove how much that person would be missed. Tear vials were also really handy in helping a mourning family decide how long an appropriate morning period should be - once the tears in the vials were all dried up, mourning could cease.
(#10) The Deceased Could Not Be Transported Head First
Whether the deceased was on his way to the funeral home for embalming, or off to the church for the funeral ceremony, he could not be removed from the home head first. Instead, it was essential that he go out feet first. The Victorians believed that if the dead were removed head first, they would use the opportunity to beckon to family members, insisting one of their relatives follow them in death.
(#8) Mourning Instruction Manuals Were A Must Have
Luckily for those fastidious and respectable Victorian mourners, a person didn't have to commit all of the rules of mourning to memory - there were specially published mourning manuals that would outline all the rules for you! One of the many effects of the Industrial Revolution on Victorian society was the advent of industries specifically created around mourning customs. As part of this, books were published and distributed that contained details about how to properly mourn. These books contained sections on clothing, manners, foods, and behavior, among others.
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In 1861, the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's dear husband, shocked the entire world. His death caused Queen Victoria to fall into great grief and even changed social traditions. England and many other places adopted unusual funeral customs that lasted throughout most of the 19th century, all of which were influenced by Queen Victoria. She began to wear black clothes and announced that she was no longer married. For the British, this mourning way is tragic and romantic, they began to appreciate it.
The mourning for death has become ingrained, the objects used for mourning come in various forms, which is also part of the culture. People in the Victorian era surrounded the deceased with luxurious objects. The random tool introduced 14 details about bizarre ways of mourning death in Victorian England.
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