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What Happens When We Die?

(As published in The Dead Beat, 2013, issue 4)What happens when we die? There probably is no other question that has perplexed the human race as this one has. We know death happens – and those of us in...

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CANA Centennial Feature: Simplification: The Cremation Movement Since the 1960s

(As published in the Cremationist of North America, Volume 49, Issue 4) As we trace the history of cremation in America for this series of articles, it becomes clear that cremation now is not what...

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America's First Modern Cremation

The LeMoyne CrematoryWashington, Pennsylvania(Engler Cremation Collection)It is appropriate to note that 137 years ago today America's first modern cremation took place in the LeMoyne Crematory in...

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Purely Personal

"What urn would a 'loyal cremationist' choose for his own remains?" I don't know that I have ever been asked that question. In all the years I have studied cremation and its history, the vast styles of...

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The Indianapolis Crematory

One of the earliest funeral directing companies in the US to support cremation and to build the necessary facilities to offer its service was the firm of Flanner & Buchanan in Indianapolis,...

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Do you Tweet?

Follow Mr. Cremation on Twitter! @MrCremation

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The Cincinnati Cremation Company

One of the earliest cities in America to adopt cremation was Cincinnati. This was largely due to the support of some prominent citizens of the city, one of which was Benn Pittman, noted stenographer...

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Throwback Thursday: Gorham Bronze Urns

A 1991 ad for Gorham Bronze Urns: "The Reassuring Choice." #tbt  #throwbackthursday

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The 3rd Operating Crematory in Texas: Brookside Chapel of Chimes

Nestled in the beautiful native trees of Brookside Memorial Park in Houston, Texas, sits a beautiful native stone structure which is known as the Brookside Chapel of Chimes. It is reported that the...

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The Cremationist's Perspective

"In place of the grave is the open niche, with its beautiful urn, the sacred and permanent abiding place of the pure cremated remains of those who have gone before. Those who have disposed of their...

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Throwback Thursday: The Second Meeting of the Cremation Association of America

Attendees of the second annual meeting of the Cremation Association of America, held in Indianapolis, Indiana, September 3-4, 1914. Dr. Hugo Erichsen, founder of the Cremation Association, is just...

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The Cremationist's Perspective: Clifford F. Zell, Sr.

From "My Heart Grew Rich That Day"by the Missouri Crematory & Columbarium(Author's Collection)

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Gorham Bronze Founder's Mark

1975 Advertisement by theGorham Bronze Company

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Antique & Unique Cremation Urns

I am beginning a new series of posts showing Antique and Unique Cremation Urns as seen in my personal collection and as encountered on my visits to historic crematories and columbaria across the US....

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The Louisville Crematorium

In 1937, the Eastern Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky, constructed the first cremation chamber in their state in the basement of their office building facing Baxter Avenue. In 1957 the crematory was...

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Throwback Thursday: Meierjohan-Wengler-200-Plus

In 1985, the Cremation Association of North America conducted an urn-capacity study, the results of which suggested that the average volume of cremated remains for an adult was 200 cubic inches. In...

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Did you know? The CAA Badge

When the Cremation Association of America was founded in 1913, members received a unique badge with a medallion depicting a torch encircled by the Association's name. Above was a banner with the city...

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The Cremationist's Perspective: Dr. Hugo Erichsen

"Best of all - in my opinion - is the entombment of the urn in a modern columbarium where it is safe from the erosive effect of the weather and the relentless tooth of time cannot mar its contour or...

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Urns & Outs: Solidarity & Support

(As published for the Summer 2014 edition of "Urns & Outs" in The Dead Beat Magazine)  It has been my experience that opponents of cremation have often been the initiators of any number of...

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Antique and Unique Cremation Urns

A beautiful turn of the century urn, this one dated 1903, and found at the Missouri Crematory in St. Louis.

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