How Have Funerals Changed Over the Last 100 Years?

A funeral a century ago looked quite different from one today. Where families once handled almost everything, many now hire professionals, and increasingly choose cremation. This article traces the main changes.

Where did funerals take place before funeral homes?

At home. Encyclopedia.com explains that in the mid- to late 1800s most people died at home, and the funeral and burial were handled by the immediate family and neighbors. A funeral home’s history notes that in 1882 the National Funeral Directors Association was created, and that states began to regulate embalming. See Embalming and the American Civil War for how embalming spread.

How did cremation rise?

Slowly at first, then fast. The Cremation Association of North America says U.S. cremation began in 1876, and after nearly 100 years the rate reached only 5 percent in 1973. HowStuffWorks, citing Emory University scholar Gary Laderman, puts it at about 3 percent in the 1960s. The National Funeral Directors Association projects 63.4 percent for 2025, with burial at 31.6 percent, and expects cremation to reach 82.3 percent by 2045. For the history, see How Cremation Became Accepted in America and the West.

What was The American Way of Death?

A 1963 bestseller that changed how people thought about funerals. Jessica Mitford’s book exposed what she saw as abuses in the funeral industry. Laderman says it prompted many people to look at alternatives such as cremation. Encyclopedia.com says it helped expand the grassroots Funeral and Memorial Society movement, now called the Funeral Consumers Alliance. Others credit it with helping prompt the federal investigation that led to the Funeral Rule.

What is the Funeral Rule?

A federal rule on prices. The Cremation Association says the Federal Trade Commission introduced the first federal oversight of the funeral industry in 1984. The rule defined the term “direct cremation.” Encyclopedia.com explains that it requires funeral homes to give accurate, itemized written prices to anyone who asks. It covers both advance and at-need purchases. It does not cover cemeteries, crematories, grave markers, or third-party casket sellers.

What else changed?

Churches, and families’ wishes. The Cremation Association reports that in 1963 the Catholic Church lifted its ban on cremation, and that the Vatican wrote the permission into its Code of Canon Law in 1983. The Conversation describes growing interest in home funerals, where family or friends prepare the body at home, and in green burial. The NFDA’s 2025 consumer survey found that 61.4 percent of people were interested in green funeral options, up from 55.7 percent in 2021.

Where can I learn more?

See The Death Care Industry in America for the business today, and What Is the Most Common Age to Die in America? for how death itself has shifted.