Nick Boschetto

Nick Boschetto

Memorial Flowers: The Oldest Form of Tribute

by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor   The arrangement and placement of flowers around the dead are considered the oldest act of mourning. During the 1951 excavation of the Shandiar Cave in Northern Iraq, Dr. Ralph Solecki discovered several burial sites.…

Mourning Jewelry

Below: Glass/gold/hair mourning brooch, mid-1800s, American, Gift of Miriam W. Coletti, 1993. Public domain, www.metmuseum.org

By Melody Amsel-Arieli   During the Middle Ages, Europeans grieved the passing of loved ones by following a variety of traditional social and religious rituals. Since lives then were marked by disease and high childhood mortality, scores of mourners wore…

The Evolution of Mourning Wear

Mourning Dress, 1850 – 1855, wool mousseline Amsterdam Museum

by Maxine Carter-Lome Mourning attire has evolved throughout the centuries but one thing that has remained constant, at least in western civilizations, is the wearing of the color black. Originally reserved for royalty and aristocracy who were experiencing grief, black…