The ultimate vanity plate.
memorial stones
The Softer Side of Sears
For Funeral Directors that worry about competition from Costco, internet retailers, and maybe even Wal-Mart. Remember, it’s all been done before.
Vintage Sears Catalog:
At the turn of the 19th century, budding retailers Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck breathed new life into a stagnant funeral industry by introducing mail order funeral products. Before this time, extravagant monuments, gravestones and similar goods were only afforded to the affluent and wealthy.
But they had a plan. Since their regular merchandise catalog was growing in popularity, they wanted to expand into a market that everyday working people would need. Sears, Roebuck & Co started selling marble tombstones, monuments, tablets and markers at half the cost of traditional funeral parlors and monument makers.
At its inception, Sears’ “Monuments & Tombstones” catalog offered markers starting at $4.88 and tombstones at $7.40, making them extremely affordable. The products were manufactured and shipped from Vermont in about four to six weeks.
What’s amazing about these funeral products is the craftsmanship. Though these were obviously designed by hand, the graphics are so meticulous. Customers had several varieties from which to choose including hearts, shamrocks, religious symbols and even Heaven’s gates. The block lettering was simple and elegant.
Speaking of craftsmanship they appealed to the Woodmen of the World members to honor the brotherhood with a Sears Monument. You may have seen the tree trunk style stones at the cemetery.
Unfortunately, just as the regular Sears catalog went defunct, so did the “Monuments & Tombstones” publication. By the early 1900s, Montgomery Ward also started selling funeral products via mail order too, but with a better payment plan than Sears.
Within a few years, as the United States entered World War I and subsequently World War II, mail order sales dropped significantly. In 1952, the catalog ceased publication.
Nonetheless, the advent of the Internet gave rebirth to mail order funeral products. Today, there are an endless number of websites that have urns for sale, headstones, caskets, funeral keepsakes, and memorial jewelry at a fraction of the cost at local funeral suppliers.
Ghost Bike Memorials
Supposedly, this is the first Ghost Bike, memorializing an accident on Holly Hills Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri in 2003. It was created by Patrick Van Der Tuin who saw a cyclist hit by a car. A few days later, he and his friends locked up several bikes at locations where he knew cars had collided with cyclists.
A Ghostbike is a junker bike that has been painted stark white and affixed to the site where a cyclist has been hit or killed by a car driver. Ghostbikes are intended to be memorials for the fallen and reminders to everyone to SHARE THE ROAD with one another. Since that first memorial in St. Louis, the meme has spread nationwide.
I’ve never seen one here in the Ozarks, and I hope I never do. But in densely populated areas like St. Louis, Portland, and New York City there seems to be more Ghost Bike sightings.
Check out this wild ride!
Today’s Tip: Ride Safe and Share the Road!
Inspiration
No time for diversions, but projects that have caught our eye of late:
This baby garden for small spaces. The artist used a cast-off wooden tray and does not recommend wood containers for YOUR fairy garden. It WILL ruin the furniture if you want a table top version. Note to self: Water plants.
In a desperate quest for something alive and green I bought two cat palms on clearance from you know where. They need a drink and some lovin.
Decorating the stump: My Stump, my stump, my ugly lovely rotten tree stump. It’s a Spring Ritual, the decorating of the stump. I’m ready to have it bored out. Dirtsister has been able to create some beauty there, but it will have to be reworked.
Add a stone song bird obliesk. Hate that word btw. Obliesk. Can’t spell or say it.
And maybe some garden gnomes. And turtles. Love turtles and gnomes.
Here’s another idea we like: Custom Tassles for personalization on glass and metal urns. Is it too foo-foo? Will have to think on.
And then while we are on foo-foo textiles, I love this look as a shroud.
And finally: Life Lesson #22 From Rosie the Chihuahua DAWG
“Bless you, my child.”
DIY Memorial Garden
Even if you don’t have a million dollars to re-landscape your outdoor living space, you can still create a memorial garden or outdoor sanctuary in a small space on a shoestring.
Depending on how elaborate you want to get, a bench and a few low maintenance plants will do. Expand on the idea with an arbor, pergola or trellis. Outdoor lighting? You can do it in phases, or as your finances allow. Next season, add a fountain or water feature.
Feel like you need to get your hands dirty and work the earth? What about this intriguing garden design? It can be done on a small scale and filled with easy care plants.
Want to dedicate a tree or sacred spot in the garden? Customize a garden memorial stone or marker. Personalized stones will take 2-4 weeks to create, but worth the wait and you can use the time to plan your space and buy the plants needed.
It’s never too late to start creating your healing garden, in fact this is a great time to find outdoor furniture, plants and accessories on clearance.
Today’s tip: Create a sanctuary for yourself.