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llustration of Jay’s London Mourning Warehouse interior
from Illustrated London and Its Representatives of Commerce.
The London Printing and Engraving Co., 1893
illustrated tome documenting mourning
At left: Jay’s London At right: Dress fabric sample with
General Mourning Peter Robinson’s Card from rituals from ancient Egypt to the
Warehouse advertisement Victoria and Albert Museum “present” day. Davey explored not only
clothing but funeral rites and the
mourning performances of the
and easy access to the prescribed items as aristocracy throughout time. If the Victorian
they navigated the ever-changing fashion and reader was unsure as to mourning policy and
protocols of Victorian mourning. guidelines, Davey helpfully included a series of
Jay’s Mourning Warehouse was conceived notices toward the back of the book which
as a one-stop bereavement department store. offered detailed information as to what to
It sold fabric and ready-made garments of wear, depending on your stage of grief.
every type and size for all stages of mourning As Jay’s business grew, so did the quality
but could also dispatch skilled dressmakers to and unique nature of its attributes, as the firm
one’s home for personal outfitting, advertising: wrote in an 1860s advertisement: “Of late
“Ladies living at a distance may be supplied at years the business and enterprise of this firm
their own Residence” with an army of has enormously increased, and it includes not
“experienced dressmakers and milliners, ready only all that is necessary for mourning, but
to travel to any part of the kingdom, free of also departments devoted to dresses of a more
expense to purchasers, when the emergencies general description, although the colors are
of sudden or unexpected Mourning require confined to such as could be worn for either
the immediate execution of mourning orders.” full or half mourning.”
These traveling salesmen of sorts would Although known for mourning dress and
be armed with fabric swatches and an array accessories, one of the most important
of ready-made dresses and hats. For other Jay’s General Mourning Warehouse Advertisement departments of the business was “funeral
circumstances, there was a catalog service furnishing.” Jay’s provided its customers with
available with several illustrated plates of dresses and accessories; the complete furnishing of funerals, “supplying everything essential to
Victorians loved catalogs, and Jay’s catalogs were very much the arbiter propriety and decorum,” including an efficient staff dispatched to the
of grief. mourner’s home to take complete charge and “conduct all the
Jay also commissioned writer Richard Davey to publish the definitive arrangements from first to last, without the slightest trouble to the
etiquette handbook on mourning to assist their customers in mourning bereaved.” Their ads touted that “reasonable estimates are also given for
appropriately. A History of Mourning was a large and elaborately Household Mourning, at a great savings to large and small families.”
Jay’s flourished well into the 20th century with upwards of six
hundred hands in their service, including showroom and counter
assistants, clerks, and workpeople engaged in the “making-up”
departments. At its height, it took up an enormous chunk of Regent
Street, spanning several large units, and was doing a brisk export
business to both France and the United States. Jay’s famously dressed
Queen Victoria for mourning after the death of her husband and
for the following 40 years of her life, during which she remained in
mourning dress and set a national trend.
The Marketing of Mourning

Advertising in the late 19th century, both in Europe and in
America, consisted primarily of advertorials, which provided space for
the business owner to talk directly and in detail about their offerings to
their patrons. This form of marketing was particularly effective for
mourning warehouses. As death was a more common and sudden
occurrence at the time of pre-20th century modern medicine, sudden
Cover and title page of A History of Mourning by Richard Davey, mourning was a shared experience across all classes. Yet, many had the
commissioned by Jay’s London Mourning Warehouse to offer rules of desire but did not have the background or understanding of how to
etiquette for mourning during the Victorian Age. mourn in Victorian fashion, especially in the United States.

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