I was just wondering (again) if there is a meaning to the colour on which a hearse is painted ? What I mean is I know back in the day, White hearses were for Childern and young women. but what about other colours ....or was it just the owners preference ?
Colour of Hearses
- Thread starter Mike Boyer
- Start date
colour of hearses
I would say in this day of age it is the owner preference
I would say in this day of age it is the owner preference
Funeral homes sometimes have their own "colors" to set them apart. Unusual colors really stand out and you can identify the funeral home by the colors of their fleet
Bill Carlin
PCS Life Member
I decided to change our fleet color from white to black in order to identify our funeral home from another local funeral home that uses a white fleet. We are now the only funeral home in the area to use black.
One thing that comes to mind for the reason a funeral home has a certain color is...how easy it the color to maintain and keep clean. A competitor told me he has silver because it doesn't show dirt (which is true). Another said he has blue because it is easier to keep clean than black (which I found isn't true). I can tell you that black only looks clean when it is just waxed in the and still in the garage, it gets dirty as soon as you pull it out into the parking lot. When we had white, no one ever said much to me. Now that we have black, several people comment on how nice the cars look.
One thing that comes to mind for the reason a funeral home has a certain color is...how easy it the color to maintain and keep clean. A competitor told me he has silver because it doesn't show dirt (which is true). Another said he has blue because it is easier to keep clean than black (which I found isn't true). I can tell you that black only looks clean when it is just waxed in the and still in the garage, it gets dirty as soon as you pull it out into the parking lot. When we had white, no one ever said much to me. Now that we have black, several people comment on how nice the cars look.
Bill , I agreee with you about how beautiful black paint appears just after a car wash. Black is still my favorite inspite of the added challenge of doing a wash and drying it in time to avoid the water spots. Since we bought the white coach is is remarkable how many comments of approval from people on how much they like the white with white top. The coach is always a hit at the gas station, so one of these days I am anticpating some award people jumping out of a panel van running at me with a best of, "Seen At Gas Station" award.
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My 87 Eureka is Gray with a gray top and a lot of people ask me why its not black and if I resprayed it ?
John Royark JR
PCS Member
It is very rare to see anything other than white over white in Iowa. Everyone is getting so plain. Since everyone hides their coaches anymore I guess it reallydosent matter.
Here is another post that goes with the color subject. http://www.professionalcarsociety.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6753&highlight=hearses+color
Here is another post that goes with the color subject. http://www.professionalcarsociety.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6753&highlight=hearses+color
In my opinion, when it comes to Funeral cars, black is the way to go. To me black is the classiest and most dignified looking color on a Funeral coach. However, we have a 02 Eagle that is silver, and its pretty classy looking too. The FH down the road has a white Superior, and they don't keep it very clean, and it looks terrible. White can be just as bad as black. While it is a little easier to keep clean, it looks just as bad as black when it gets dirty. Some FH's have ben runing the same color for years, some its just what they like, and for some its just to stand out from the others. If I ever owne my owne Funeral Home, i will have a all black fleet.
Josh
Josh
John Royark JR
PCS Member
I love black too and see nothing wrong with it, black and chrome are beautiful together. Other people dissagree though, I have heard many many times people say "Im glad they are not black anymore, that is so morbid". A color being morbid, people are so stupid.
I have a friend that runs an all black fleet and it is very classy. Really stands out too since everyone else has white.
I have a friend that runs an all black fleet and it is very classy. Really stands out too since everyone else has white.
Tony Karsnia - Deceased - 1971-2020
September 12, 1971 - November 2, 2020
All Black Fleet
Just as Bill Carlin mentioned that he has the only black fleet in the St. Cloud area, we have the only black fleet in the city of St. Paul. Three of the other major firms in the city use silver (and with the exception of one car that is a Superior Premier with smooth top and rear lift-gate door, all of those silver hearses are post 2006 Cadillacs and all look the same!) Two other firms use white cars from the livery service.
When we bought our new hearse in 2007, I wanted the oval windows because of the number of black hearses people tend to see. Our firm has run black for 4 generations and we're not about to change, so I wanted a black hearse that stood out as unique. It worked because we continue to receive frequent comments about (a) the oval windows, (b) the fact our hearse is a Lincoln, and (c) the electric extend table (pallbearers reallly appreciate that feature.)
As the photo illustrates, black cars need to be washed...a lot. We hand-wash our fleet, which is an almost daily part of our routine. The accompanying photo is noteworthy mostly because I took it last Tuesday, January 31, 2012. I have never before (and may never again) washed a car OUTSIDE in the middle of a Minnesota winter. The temps were very comfortable at 50-degrees, which is like a heat-wave to us this time of year!
Just as Bill Carlin mentioned that he has the only black fleet in the St. Cloud area, we have the only black fleet in the city of St. Paul. Three of the other major firms in the city use silver (and with the exception of one car that is a Superior Premier with smooth top and rear lift-gate door, all of those silver hearses are post 2006 Cadillacs and all look the same!) Two other firms use white cars from the livery service.
When we bought our new hearse in 2007, I wanted the oval windows because of the number of black hearses people tend to see. Our firm has run black for 4 generations and we're not about to change, so I wanted a black hearse that stood out as unique. It worked because we continue to receive frequent comments about (a) the oval windows, (b) the fact our hearse is a Lincoln, and (c) the electric extend table (pallbearers reallly appreciate that feature.)
As the photo illustrates, black cars need to be washed...a lot. We hand-wash our fleet, which is an almost daily part of our routine. The accompanying photo is noteworthy mostly because I took it last Tuesday, January 31, 2012. I have never before (and may never again) washed a car OUTSIDE in the middle of a Minnesota winter. The temps were very comfortable at 50-degrees, which is like a heat-wave to us this time of year!
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John Royark JR
PCS Member
Is that the same garage you let me wash my Black hearse in? Im sure you remember how anal I am about getting it spotless...LOL
I really like that pic, the Lincoln getting a bath. 
Around here, the 3 main funeral homes all have 3 different colors for their hearses. 2 out of the three firms have 2 hearses apiece. Masters Funeral Home has a 2007 Cadillac Eagle Kingsley midnight blue and their other hearse is a 1994 S&S Cadillac Medalist of the same color. Johnson-Overturf Funeral Home has a 2000-2005 body style Cadillac Superior Statesman black, and Flagg-Serenity Memorial Chapel has 2 Lincoln hearses. One is a 1998-2002 body style Federal Stratford blue over white w/fabric top and the other is a 2003 to current body style Stratford w/an inset oval window with an etched dove in it, unlike the one in the pic above that is a surface mounted window.
Around here, the 3 main funeral homes all have 3 different colors for their hearses. 2 out of the three firms have 2 hearses apiece. Masters Funeral Home has a 2007 Cadillac Eagle Kingsley midnight blue and their other hearse is a 1994 S&S Cadillac Medalist of the same color. Johnson-Overturf Funeral Home has a 2000-2005 body style Cadillac Superior Statesman black, and Flagg-Serenity Memorial Chapel has 2 Lincoln hearses. One is a 1998-2002 body style Federal Stratford blue over white w/fabric top and the other is a 2003 to current body style Stratford w/an inset oval window with an etched dove in it, unlike the one in the pic above that is a surface mounted window.