Okay. I am seriously creeped out now!

[Are_grits_groceries]

@Google_Photos:
It used to be common in areas to take photos 'Post Death' The girl standing in this photo is dead.

I know people would take pictures of the dead, but I never heard of or saw this.

[KittyWampus]

1. I am a Victoriana geek and especially their mourning customs. Death wasn't as remote

people most often died at home and way more often with a shorter life span.

But I don't think I've seen a pix of any standing up while dead.

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. A lot of people today are really removed from some of the aspects of dealing with death.

I have sat up by the casket of a relative who was brought home before the funeral. That was a custom.

I also find cemeteries fascinating.* My Mama would bring us along to spruce up the area. We would wander around and check out the tombstones. There were a few that dated from the 1880's. Many had small pictures of the deceased embedded in them.

We learned a lot about our relatives who who were buried there.

*I do not find them fascinating at night.

[JoePhilly]

12. I worked in a cemetery while in High school and college.

It was a big cemetery in Philadelphia. We averaged about 15-20 funerals a week.

I probably attended more than 1000 funerals (set them up, stand off to the side, break it all down after).

And I probably set up around 1000 tombstones too.

One fascinating element was the variation between ethnic and religious groups. Each group had its own set of customs.

And I have lots of great stories from back then, including night time stories.

[JHB]

2. Suddenly Wednesday Addams' look makes more creepy sense

[Are_grits_groceries]

6. I think she had one of the best lines ever.

Someone was in a deep grave and her brother asked if he was dead.
Wednesday said, "Does it matter?"

[FSogol]

22. "Would you like to buy some girl scout cookies? "That depends, are they made from real girl scouts?

[myrna minx]

3. There were mechanisms that were invented specifically for the memento mori standing poses.

It was a fascinating practice.

[nevergiveup]

5. I would have guessed the one on the right was dead

because of her hands.......other than that I would not have had a clue and yes, I find it a touch creepy.

[treestar]

7. We had one of those photos in the family

They would superimpose the head on a standing body. Photography was fare more expensive and that was their last chance, I suppose. Also portrait painting would have been expensive. So it was their only way of saving a memento of the person's face. Weird how, for that time, it was a big advance in technology, with poorer people than could have portraits painted have a way of preserving an image of a loved one.

[Fla Dem]

8. Very unsettling given our current culture re: death. Amazed at the eyes. They don't appear dead.

Amazing work to get the face and especially the eyes not to have that "death mask" look.

[LuvNewcastle]

10. Look at the hands compared to the living girl.

The dead girl's hands must have been purplish from all the blood pooling down there.

[Fla Dem]

11. Yes I noticed that, but still the face is what I was drawn to. nt

[GreenPartyVoter]

27. Many times they touched up the photos and painted on the eyes. I have seen a few pics

where it took time to get the photographer there, and no amount of retouching could restore a lifelike appearance.

[LuvNewcastle]

9. When my great-grandfather died, they propped up his coffin on end so it

looked like he was standing. My grandma had a picture of him. It wasn't that long ago either, during the 1960's.

[BlueJazz]

13. At first I thought the dead girl was Miley Cyrus

[Skidmore]

21. Now she's creepy.

[HappyMe]

14. There was mourning jewelry.

Some of it was made from the hair of the deceased.


http://www.historicnewengland.org/collections-archives-exhibitions/online-exhibitions/JewelryHistory/themes/Mourning.htm

[GreenPartyVoter]

28. I have broach with a plait of hair in it. Not sure which relative it came from.

[laundry_queen]

15. Creepy is right. I had never heard of it either.

However, I'm guessing in an era where photos were rare, relatives might want something to remember what their loved one looked like when they died -especially children who change so fast that they probably have no recent photos. So I can understand WHY but it's still so weird. She doesn't look dead which makes it creepier.

[malaise]

16. They still do this crap in Puerto Rico

but now the morticians have the dead on motor bikes or standing in their homes.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

17. people mourn differently. it's not my custom so i would not be comforted by it

but i dont judge it

[Are_grits_groceries]

19. I'm not saying it's a negative practice.

It does comfort people.

I am just saying that this particular move gives me the willies. I am sure some of my beliefs would give others agita.

[malaise]

18. Here's a link

http://www.inquisitr.com/71414/puerto-rican-funeral-home-poses-dead-man-on-motorcycle/

[TeeYiYi]

24. Wow, that seemed a little weird....

...at first, but really not much stranger than a corpse laying in a casket. I think they did a good job. Personally, I prefer cremation; but if you're going to paint up a corpse and put it on display, this idea seems as good as any.

TYY

[malaise]

25. It's really weird

I'll be cremated as well.

[Skidmore]

20. I came across Victorian post-mortem photograps a few years ago

as a part of some research I was doing at the time. I found it fascinating. Death masks are also fascinating to me and that practice has been about throughout history. There is something almost mystical about gazing a the face of someone from so long ago whose words or deeds still resonate today.

[TBF]

23. Kind of fascinating and creepy at the same time -

but I can understand how in the old days there weren't as many chances for photography during the short life spans. And of course prohibitively expensive for most.

[xfundy]

26. It's a very old photo. I'm sure they're both dead by now.

I kid, I kid.

Agreed, it's creepy. But people weren't so insulated from nature and natural events back then. She does look amazing. Wonder how they got her to "look at the camera." Glass eyes?

[Th1onein]

29. They often painted the eyes on the eyelids.

Sometimes, they even drew them on the photograph, itself.

People took these portraits because the photography was very expensive and often the only remembrance they could have of their loved one had to be taken either right before they died or after they died.