Vintage Funeral Procedures

Richard Vyse

Richard Vyse

I had to break this into little vid's due to movie issues with my camera.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9E3AuDn0Dc[/ame]


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu3uB6S95IM[/ame]


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKRJwLoGJQE[/ame]


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIbv-rIs6G4[/ame]
 
Man, Richard, That's the coolest stuff I have ever seen!!!!!! I was born too late. That's the art of Funeral Directing!!!!!! Oh, to be a Funeral Director of that era. Real Integrity......

Thanks,
Mike:wowguy:
 
That Chrysler is a beauty. I had to watch that one 2 or 3 times. Thanks for the eBay link Steve, I just ordered the a copy.

Josh
 
I have said for years that there are funeral directors and then there are those who went to school and got licensed. Being somewhat of an "old school" funeral director I still conduct all my services in a similar manner as in the film clips. I have always believed in and demanded organization for every service. There are times when the crowd doesn't cooperate accordingly with my wishes and that is when I re-assess the situation and change accordingly without creating any hitches in the service. Did anyone notice the casket and the panels stamped into the shell on the sides and ends? That shell design is still used today but without the stamped panels. I had a 1976 Superior side service car but the table was manual and it didn't have the leveling feature. It was one of the handiest hearses I ever owned and I would have one today if they still made them. This was a nice trip down memory lane Richard. Thank you!
 
Gentlemen, that service car is a 1948/1949 Superior-Dodge not a Chrysler. There's two photos of this car, or one like it, on page 176 of McPherson's Superior book. The coach was a 1949 Superior-Cadillac. Did you note the "Superior" nameplates in the rear doors of the coach? Outstanding film.
 
I bought this DVD a few years ago and played it at one of the Northland events. I assure you it was enjoyed by all! We even had to laugh at a few parts, like when they said the flowers are carefully loaded into the flower car, and you see the guy just throw them in and jump in the car and peel away.
The company that makes these has many other vintage films for sale including, JFK films, funny T.V. commercials, sex ed films, stripper films, counterculture films and many many more. Their website is www.qualityinformationpublishers.com (I have not purchased any others so I cannot comment on them)
 
I, too, especially liked the Dodge Service Car.

I have never seen a side loading coach in operation, I had no idea that the table brought the casket so far out of the side of the coach and at such a perpendicular angle.

GREAT stuff to see, wish there was more.

Steve
 
We even had to laugh at a few parts, like when they said the flowers are carefully loaded into the flower car, and you see the guy just throw them in and jump in the car and peel away.


Yeah, you're right and did you notice that guy's white saddle shoes? Snazzy!
 
Now I'm going to throw a monkey wrench into this. We talked about always loading the casket feet first which works for an endloader. Since this is a sideloader the casket would have to be loaded head first. Coming out of the mortuary the casket was feet first. Coming out of the church the casket was feet first. And going to the grave site the casket was feet first. That's the way it should be.
The issue is this; Each time the casket was loaded it was feet first but each time it was unloaded it was feet first. Makes sense...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu3uB6S95IM[/ame]
 
For us OLD Funeral Directors it just comes naturally. Don't worry about the monkey wrench, it gets thrown at us all the time.

Sometimes at the cemetery, when trees, monuments, etc. are in the way, we have to carry to the grave head first, so the feet are to the east. Sometimes the lowering device is set to be loaded on to the end with less obstacles in the way........Right on , Richard!!

Mike
 
Observations

I'm fascinated by the fact that the '49 Superior seems to have both Lev-L-Matic and an electric table. My '54 Eureka has a functioning electric 3-way table, and it's interesting to note how the different coach builders controlled the tables. My '54 has a mechanical lock which both releases the table and determines from which side it will exit. It's electrically interlocked with the switch that controls the drive motor. In the video, it seems that the film doesn't show unlocking the table, and only shows the director initiating the electric motor.

Also interesting to me is that the Superior table pivots past the 90 degree point at the side of the car. My table doesn't go quite that far, not that it makes a difference, as I've used the car on several funerals. Tom
 

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Tom Hoczyk said:
I'm fascinated by the fact that the '49 Superior seems to have both Lev-L-Matic and an electric table. My '54 Eureka has a functioning electric 3-way table, and it's interesting to note how the different coach builders controlled the tables. My '54 has a mechanical lock which both releases the table and determines from which side it will exit. It's electrically interlocked with the switch that controls the drive motor. In the video, it seems that the film doesn't show unlocking the table, and only shows the director initiating the electric motor.

Also interesting to me is that the Superior table pivots past the 90 degree point at the side of the car. My table doesn't go quite that far, not that it makes a difference, as I've used the car on several funerals. Tom
Click to expand...

I like how you have it roped off, I'll have to keep that in mind.
 
In the video, it seems that the film doesn't show unlocking the table, and only shows the director initiating the electric motor.

Also interesting to me is that the Superior table pivots past the 90 degree point at the side of the car. My table doesn't go quite that far, not that it makes a difference, as I've used the car on several funerals. Tom
Click to expand...

I have only fooled with the Superiors ,but they are a clever bit of mechanical and electric. On the 62 first thing to make it work is have either the lt or rt door fully open so the door jam switch circuit is complete. Then the top cable handle on either side is pulled out. This unlocks either the lt or rt latch at the front of the table. On the lt or rite cable is a spool valve that powers the solenoid to turn the acme screw and bring it forward. It comes out which ever side is pulled and the part of the table that is attached to the acme screw hits a limit switch and stops. You push the cable in to either stop it or all the way in reverses the table and as it travels back it hits the knob in the middle of the two latches and forces the the latch back up and a rear limit switch shuts it down as it travels to the rear. On the 68 there is a added switch under the seat back that requires the seat be tilted forward before it comes out either side. The chrome plug in the rear of the table hides the top of the shuttle bolt that holds small amount of oil that needs to be lubed every so often when the top of the bolt has oil in it ,it trickles down on top of the acme screw and lubricates it. There is also a second cable that when pulled unlocks the shuttle bolt from the table and it then can be operated manually if the electrics fail. The 2 solenoids are forward and reverse. I ,am in the process of fixing the table on the 62 and the reason it did not work was a bad limit switch. Next project is to get the Levlizer to work on the 62.
 

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