While helping my Mother go through "stuff" we have run onto some interesting bits of information.
Funeral Costs for my Grandfather's parents.
The 1946 bill for funeral services for My Great Grandfather Christian Drewes total $364.50
The 1968 bill for my Great Grandmother Hatwig (Hattie) total was $787.00
My thoughts were : Great Grandpa got flowers , Great Grandma got a vault and underwear ...must have been some fancy underwear too for $3. The sexton of the cemetery also got a dollar.
Interesting the things that were kept. Great Grandpa did not have a funeral book...just a bill.
My Mother asked "What do we do with the funeral books? Throw them out? " So I brought three of them home with me...my Great Grandmothers, my Maternal Grandfathers and my Maternal Grandmothers. I will have a look through them and pass them down to my baby brother. My Grandmothers funeral book needs to be updated...so I shall do that.
I was hoping to find a proper obituary for my Great Grandparents. I found a newspaper death notice for my Great Grandmother.
Far Side
That is interesting for sure! I found an old book from the business my hubby had purchased from an old fella in the 1970's. It was a welding and repair shop. It was his accounting book that dated back to 1938!
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting reading!
Neat find.
That is really an interesting find. Can't believe how inexpensive the funeral cost back then. But I suppose back then that was a lot of money for them.
ReplyDeleteWow, times have changed most things including the cost of underwear!!
ReplyDeleteYou have always been a keeper of the flame of history in your family, it seems. :-)
ReplyDeleteWOW!! But you know, that price was probably huge in comparison to income prices at that time. The same for today...so I'm guessing the ratio of funeral costs to income is probably the same both back then & now. My mom's funeral in 2008 was $10K...and she already had her plot & headstone. And believe me, it was nothing fancy. Hubby and I are going to be pre-paying our funeral pretty soon, so the kids won't have to worry about it. ~Andrea xoxo
ReplyDeleteWe just did the same thing with some papers a neighbor found that belonged to my parents. The c-section my Mom had for my brother in 1946 was $24.47! I find old documents like that fascinating. I have Mom & Dad's wedding album and birth certificates, etc., along with Dad's WWII ribbons. What to do with them? None of the kids in the family seem to want the care of them when our generation is gone.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
Oh I love stuff like this.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a journalist, working in a small town, I used to interview the curator of the local museum quite often for events and such. One day, he was showing me a bunch of old ledger books, and I was so excited. He loved the fact that I was just as excited as he was, because most people don't care about things like that. But he looked at me and said "This... this is REAL history." I've never forgotten that. It's the little pieces of people's lives like these notes that tell their story.
And I really want to know more about that underwear now!!! Lol.
I am the family "keeper". The one who still lives in the same town that we came to in the 1850's. I have prayer cards galore, all the financial paperwork (because it is so darn interesting, I can't part with it!). I leave near a presidential library that has all the local papers back to the 1800's and even an obituary index. It is still a hunt with creative spelling and most women listed with the first name "Mrs".
ReplyDeleteSuch interesting little pieces of family history! I'm glad you kept them. My brother-in-law found an old farm record book from the late 40s that his dad and granddad had recorded lots of interesting things like feed prices, etc. Treasures - in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteFinding old documents can be very surprising. Keep them.
ReplyDeleteI love family research. This was very interesting!!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting bits of your family history. In 2004 we buried my mom. It was close to $11K. We also buried my dad, but didn't have embalmment, and no viewing. Cost $3K. Hmmmmmm.... We didn't really bury either of them, we spread their ashes at the lake.
ReplyDeleteI am always torn about what to do with things like that where they mean something to me but probably less and less to succeeding generations. For now, I scan them to my computer and then stick them in a box in the basement until I figure out what to do next.
ReplyDeleteEvery family has a historian, and it appears your Mother was one, as are you. When I downsized to move, my niece took the funeral books and assorted family history. I passed the job on to her.
ReplyDeleteShe needed a dress, too. Couldn't have her go with an old housedress, I suppose. At least that is what both my grandmothers seemed to wear the most--housedresses.
ReplyDeleteI find it all fascinating, too. Imagine comparing her funeral today with costs!
Very interesting. BTW, which vacuum food sealer did you buy? Are you satisfied with it?
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if it was a lot cheaper to be buried in those days but I wonder if we compared incomes between the two times if the difference would be less dramatic. I found the maternity hospital bill for my dad’s birth which included a two-week stay for my grandma and baby and the total was a little over $200. Grandpa was a farmer and his cash income for the year was $900. On the first glance, it seems cheap, but $200 would have been a huge expense if you look it that way.
ReplyDeleteFuneral costs like everything else just get higher and higher. I find it fascinating to see old copies of things like that and compare costs as you did. Connie do you have a subscription to newspapers.com? I have thought about getting one because some of the old articles can tell a lot about people and how they lived. I do have one to Ancestry which is good for many things but not the best for newspaper articles.
ReplyDeleteThat looks interesting!
ReplyDeleteI don't want to be that kind of old fart who complains about prices, though! :-)
Hopefully every family has someone who is the keeper of family history. In my family it's my youngest sister.
ReplyDelete(I'm curious about that $3 underwear too).
We find family history interesting too, but some people don't care at all. Good for you for keeping the records that some day someone down the line will also treasure and want to know about.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting! Wow, what a difference in costs between yesterday and today.
ReplyDeleteI have my Grandfather’s funeral book. Reason—no one wanted it. Have several Bibles for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting.💖
ReplyDeleteMy downstairs bedroom dresser is my funeral chess. Being the only brother living still in Iowa I got it all and moved it all to the new place. When dealing with my brother's funeral I tried to cut costs as I figured I was going to get stuck with the bill. It ended up being expensive anyway. The other two did help out a little. My mom had a funeral shot of her dad, 1937, in the casket which somehow got lost in all of her moves. I never found it when we closed down the house and maybe I am glad I didn't.
ReplyDeleteWow, fascinating! Old cursive writing is so interesting and artistic like.
ReplyDeleteThose were the days! I spent thousands on my parents funerals and that was in 1999 and 2000.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of funeral books. I love finding old papers and photos and such. Doesn't seem to be much of that around for my family. My sister Shelby has some things, since mama lived with them for a while and my cousin Patty has the old family Bible. You are amazing at keeping up with such things.
ReplyDeletevery interesting post.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started the research of my family tree I went through the boxes of my parents and aunt. I was grateful they had kept the funeral books, and in the case of my aunt, various newspaper clippings.
ReplyDeleteI say hold onto the items you brought home. At some time in the future I'm sure there will be a grandchild who develops an interest.