Will Baby Boomers Significantly Impact the Funeral Industry?

    The baby boomers are considered somewhat of a prized commodity by many within the funeral industry. Essentially the theory is that over the next few years there will be a growth of deaths as the boby boomers die. Hence current marketing is attempting to tap into this desirable market.

    Yet I question this notion, maybe the baby boomer generation will push death rates up, but will it really be a notable rise?  In this post I explore the rising deaths of baby boomers and whether this might be as significant for the funeral industry as assumed.

The Process - On the funeral

    Recently I came across an old post which I never published, simply forgot about it. It might not be completely accurate, or even up to date. This was written just over a year ago and forgotten about.

    Not long ago I wrote about how the body makes it from the site of death to the hearse for the funeral.  This is my follow up post on what happens once the coffin in loaded into the hearse.  Once again I focus on the coffin and its immediate preparations.  There is a lot of paperwork and other things going on at the same time which I do not cover.  Yet this time I talk more about the staff and how they go about the job.  This is so you can understand the feel of it better.

    Anyway, here's what happens after the coffin is loaded into the hearse.

Interview with an Undertaker

    Here's the first interview with someone from the funeral industry.  I feel it went well and the topics discussed were quite interesting, it was good to hear such a frank and open opinion on certain things.

Guest Post - Is Death Taboo?

    Recently I received a guest post from someone who has submitted a guest post in the past on their experiences with the hearse.

    This time they submitted a rather interesting post about the taboo of death, aggressively questioning the way and reason  society perceives death as taboo.  This post got me thinking, especially as the 'taboo' of death is directly relevant to my thesis.  So you can read their post and my reply below where we discuss whether or not death is really taboo.

Guest Post - What Funerals Mean to Me

    Below is an interesting little description from an undertaker of what funerals mean on a personal level.  Specifically how being un undertaker has influenced their views of the funeral service and of death in general.  It was a fun little read and as such I am sharing it (with permission) on my blog, it's great to get other perspectives like this one.

Death & Funerals: Children

    In these series of posts I will be looking informally at the taboo nature of death and funerals.  This post looks at the relationship of children to death and funerals.

Death & Funerals: Shit

    In these series of posts I will be looking informally at the taboo nature of death and funerals.  This post focuses on how we avoid the topic.  Specifically how death is handled (and possibly thought of) in the same way as excrement.

Death & Funerals: Sex

    In these series of posts I will be looking informally at the taboo nature of death and funerals.  This post explores how death and funerals are like sex in our avoidance of them.

Death & Funerals: Life

    I have put together four articles looking at specific aspects of the taboo nature of death.  They are only short and rather basic, written more for fun and to brainstorm than to actually put something 'proper' together.  Basically I have been trying to read through some 'heavy' stuff.  Like Merleau-Ponty's "Phenomenology of Perception", which is an incredibly dense book.  So I felt like something a bit fun and light for a change of pace.  After all, it's the time of year when we should be relaxing a little and having fun!

    This post focuses on the separation of life and death, how this appears simple and clean.  But is actually blurry and loaded with controversy.

What to call the industry?

    I have heard a few different names for the funeral industry.  The two most common being the "death-care" industry and the "grief" industry.  Unfortunately neither of these are accurate, and are in fact quite misleading.

    Here is why these two names are inaccurate and why I call it the "funeral industry".  After all, it's important to qualify and explain terms.

Children, Funerals & Death

    Children and funerals are a touchy and controversial topic.  Many are hesitant, reluctant even, to combine the two.  Choosing to keep children as far from funerals and death as possible.

    However some companies like Macquarie Park Crematorium and Eastern Suburbs funeral home are making a deliberate and conscious space for children.

The Process - From death to funeral

    This is the process of how a body gets from the place of death to the funeral.  Not many people think about this, and even fewer know about it.  Here it is, step by step in a simple guide from when the person dies to when the coffin is sent on the funeral.

A Personal Death - Another funeral

Front of the order of service.

    With my grandmothers funeral only a few months after my grandfathers we simply stuck with the same funeral home.  It was familiar and convenient and everyone was happy enough with the job they did last time.  The last funeral was not perfect, but not that bad really and the staff were nice.

    This is my experience and opinions of my grandmothers funeral.  It was an 'interesting' event.

A Personal Death - The music

    In the last series of posts about my grandfathers funeral I came to a few interesting realisations.  The importance of the Order of Service.  How emotionally significant it is and how it is a piece of the funeral in many ways.  The other was the roles we play.  How being an undertaker has changed my view of funerals and how different it is from the perspective of a mourner.

    With my grandmothers funeral this was no different.  I realised a new thing and explored another in more detail.  This time my realisation was the music, how much is put into it and how trivial it actually is.

A Personal Death - Again

    A while ago my grandfather died.  At the time I wrote about my experiences with it, arranging the funeral, the funeral itself and some interesting things I had never noticed or thought of before.  Now, just a few weeks ago my grandmother has also died.  So, now I am finally back in Sydney it's time I wrote about this funeral.

    Having the experience of the other funeral so recently this one was fairly different.  The circumstances behind her death were also different.  Overall it was a pleasant experience, but there are some observations and thoughts about it.

Acceptance of Funeral Advertisements

    Advertising is something every company or organisation needs to actively do to survive.  To promote itself, to be known and to grow.  This is no different for the funeral industry, funeral homes must advertise themselves to grow their business.  Funeral homes who do not promote are destined to fade away.

    While this is usually rather easy it becomes tricky for the funeral industry.  The funeral home has to find the thin balance between appropriate promotion and inappropriate promotion.  A funeral home has to think long and hard about how, where, why and what it is promotion.

The Naked Dead: How we engage with the dead through their nakedness

    I have written a short essay on how we engage and entangle with the world around us.  Specifically I look at nakedness and the dead body.  Through this I explore the idea that we connect with the dead body before us and bring it into our being.  We feel its nakedness and exposure, so we cover it up.


    This is the first 'formal' essay I have written on the funeral industry and for this blog.  It was rather interesting and fun to write, so I hope it's fun to read.  The essay itself is not too long but I have provided a short summary anyway.  

Obituaries: The funeral industry sports pages

    Obituaries are something most overlook.  Many avoid them or never think of them until the death of someone they know.  However this is not the case for those in the funeral industry.  To them the obituaries are like the gossip page or the sports page.  It is a good example on how simply looking at something differently can completely change the meaning and use.

Between Death & the Funeral: The last trip

    I recently got a question about how bodies are processed in Sydney.  As in what happens to the dead between death and the funeral.  It is a rather interesting question many of us never think of.

    So far I have found nobody has an issue with knowing the details (so long as they are not too graphic) about what happens.  In fact most people are rather interested in it.  However many think of this as a 'taboo' subject.  Well, actually that is not quite true, people think others think death is taboo.  They themselves do not see it as taboo or something to avoid but think most other people do.  As such they avoid this topic to avoid offending or upsetting people.

    We do not avoid this topic because it is taboo.  We avoid it to avoid upsetting others.  And we also know so little about it.  How does your water make it into your tap?  Something most cannot answer, not because it is taboo or upsetting but because they simply do not know.

Death & Sex Difference

    I always find the sex difference with death to be quite interesting.  That women live longer and men are more likely to die young.  Thus I thought it was time for a little bit of social sciences and statistics.  In this post I look briefly at differences in deaths related to sex.  I do not look at race or location, although there are some interesting numbers there.