[custom_adv]
Before 1861, burying the dead was a family affair. When someone died — usually at home — it was their family that washed and prepared them. The body would be laid out in the nicest room in the house and people would come and pay their respects. That simple practice existed for generations, until the Civil War and the beginnings of the modern American funeral industry. The almighty dollar has dictated our burial customs ever since.
