Matters of Life and Death
Since urn shopping isn’t something families do everyday, there’s the education process. What size do I need?
Usually, the average cremation displacement for an adult ranges 130-180 cubic inches. Most ashes for an adult will fit in a 200 cubic inch capacity urn.
Families that are shopping for an adult urn, might be enticed by website pricing of $39.99. Check the size! Is it a keepsake? Is that the size you need?
More questions? We’re here.
We’ve added several new styles of metal funeral urns. Why metal? It’s usually one of the most secure ways to contain ashes and can be used for burial, but is also attractive enough to keep in the home. Years ago, metal was the only choice and you were limited to silver or gold. Now, there’s so many colors to choose from.
My favorite is the black and white cloisonne “Laurel” urn. If you believe in the language of flowers, the Laurel flower symbolizes passion, ambition, and glory. The contrast of white flowers against the ebony background really make this urn out. Cloisonne looks like porcelain but is actually metal, making it very durable and a secure method of storage for your loved one’s ashes. This style can be personalized with names and dates and is available in other sizes for families that prefer a double size companion urn, or matching keepsake urns.
We’ve created a cast metal urn to honor St. Francis and bless the sweet creatures he protects, and has become one of our most requested pet urns. This urn can serve as a pet urn or keepsake urn for animal lovers, holds pets weighing up to 55 pounds.
Saint Francis of Assisi is known as the patron saint of animals, the environment, and Italy. It’s customary for Catholic churches to hold ceremonies honoring animals around his feast day of October 4.
St. Francis statue urns are available in a satin bronze finish, as well as pewter and copper finish. Lined bottom to protect furniture. Urn can be personalized with a brass nameplate on the base.
For Funeral Directors that worry about competition from Costco, internet retailers, and maybe even Wal-Mart. Remember, it’s all been done before.
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.
