Dark History - 140: The Funeral Industry is a SCAM! The Dark History of Death

Episode Date: August 7, 2024

Hi friends, happy Wednesday! If you know me, you know I’m obsessed with death. Between Dark History and Murder  Mystery & Makeup, it comes up *all* the time. But recently, I realized when people talk about death, they only talk about the event leading up to death--not what happens after. If you’re in America, dying isn’t necessarily about being remembered. It’s very freaking stressful. And… expensive. The industry makes over 20 billion dollars a year. So it got me thinking… why do we do this? Does it have to be this way? And who the hell is profiting off of all this death?  I appreciate you for coming by, and tune in next week for more Dark History. Want some cool Bailey Merch? Shop Dark History Merch: https://www.baileysarian.com _______ You can find the Dark History podcast on Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcasts, and every Thursday here on my YouTube for the visual side of things. Apple Podcast- https://www.apple.co/darkhistory Dark History Merch-  https://www.baileysarian.com _______ FOLLOW ME AROUND  Tik Tok: https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram: http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Facebook: http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter: http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube: http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian RECOMMEND A STORY HERE: [e-mail]  Business Related Emails: [e-mail] Business Related Mail:  Bailey Sarian  4400 W. Riverside Dr., Ste 110-300  Burbank, CA 91505 ________ You can sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and get your first audiobook free! Just visit https://www.audible.com/DARKHISTORY to get started. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to https://www.LIQUIDIV.COM and use code DARKHISTORY at checkout.  Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to https://www.Zocdoc.com/DARKHISTORY to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.  For a limited time, kids eat FREE! Go to https://www.HelloFresh.com/darkhistorykids to unlock this exclusive offer. That’s one free kids’ meal per box for two months while your subscription is active. 

So there's this idea that every person actually dies twice. Once when you take your last breath, and then a second time when your name is spoken for the last time. And because death is like this great big mystery, people are, I don't know, so scared of being forgotten. And it's not just people today. Experts believe that ancient Egyptians actually built the pyramid so that they'd be remembered by the world. I mean, snaps to them, it worked, it worked. If you're in America, dying isn't necessarily about being remembered. It can be stressful, it could be expensive,

and the industry makes over $20 billion a year. That's because they know eventually everyone dies, and it seems like the only way to do it is to bury someone in an expensive casket. Or maybe cremate them and put them in an expensive piece of like pottery, but called an urn, you know? So it got me thinking, why does dying in this country have to be so complicated? I mean, does it have to be this way?

And like who the hell is profiting off of all of the death? So today, let's talk about the dark history of death. Hi friends. I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Hi. Here we believe history does not have to be boring. I mean, it might be tragic.

Sometimes it's happy, but either way, it's our dark history. So before we get into it, don't forget to like and subscribe because I come out with that hot, juicy history goss every week. Yeah. And let me know what you think, like down below in the comment section.

I love hearing from you. And I read them at the end. Do you stick around? Well, you should. Okay, so today we are celebrating, are we celebrating? Is that the right word, Joan? Do you celebrate?

Well, you some celebrate death, but Paul has passed on to a better life. Some could say he died twice because he was already dead and now he's dead again. So we're having a funeral for him, if you're watching on the podcast. Joan is dressed. I have a hat, but it's really itchy.

I want a hat girl. I wanna be a hat girl. For a funeral, I'll wear a hat. Especially Paul, he was such a nice guy. Barely spoke, had no opinions, thoughts, never said no. Dream man. We're gonna miss you, Paul.

Do you have anything to say, Joan? Okay, great. That was deep. Thank you. Okay, so death, let's talk about it because every culture throughout history has had to come up with like its own way of dealing with death.

And over thousands of years, like we've tried out a lot of different things. If you've listened to our mummy powder episode, you know that Egypt used to preserve their dead through mummification. Slowing down the decay of a body through mummification was thought to help preserve a person's soul. And also it would help it move on to the afterlife.

So beautiful. Anyway, it was like showing love and respect for their dead. And the funeral itself was more of a symbol of the afterlife. And even though most Egyptians couldn't afford to preserve their mummified relatives in a pyramid, they could throw like a big funeral for them. And they would.

Like hundreds of people would show up to honor the dead and they would come dressed as different Egyptian gods. Everyone, I mean, who doesn't like a theme? I love going to a party with the same. Imagine going to like a funeral and someone shows up dressed as like the same God as you. And you're like, really? Like, oh my God, is she dressed as Ra?

Please tell me she's not dressed as Ra. I said I was coming as Ra. So after Rome took the big plunge and went full Christian, they kind of like created new rules surrounding death. First, they announced that all pagan death rituals were banned. No, you can't do that anymore. Apparently the Greeks and the Romans practiced cremation, which was like really upsetting to the Christians.

So they knew once they banned cremation that they'd have a problem pretty much like when it came to burials. I mean, there was only so much space in the graveyard where where they can put everyone. So the early Christians invented catacombs, which were these underground chambers to store dead people. Some pagans hated like this Christian tradition, so they would burn or like tear down these catacombs. Mm-hmm. So like a lot of the times they were kept secret.

So they wouldn't be burned or destroyed. I know what you're thinking, because I was thinking it too, like having secret death chambers kind of feels way more over the top than cremation, right? But okay, do your thing, Roman Christians. In the mid 1700s, the catacomb tradition made its way to Paris and the city was running out of space

to bury its dead. The only major cemetery where people could be buried was called Holy Innocence Cemetery. It was at capacity. Whoa, so they started burying people in mass graves instead of like individual graves. But still, it wasn't enough. Paul, what are you listening to over there?

I mean, you always have the best recommendations. So tell me, what are you listening to? What's that? You're listening to Courage to Soar by Simone Biles on Audible. Paul is obsessed with Simone Biles. He's a big fan and in Courage to Soar, the official autobiography from our four-time Olympic gold-winning and record-setting American gymnast Simone Biles, Simone shares how her faith, family, passion, and perseverance has made her one of the top athletes and gymnasts in the world. And also goes into how you overcome challenges in your life.

But to be fair, Paul, I think she won more gold medals just recently. So, I mean, great. I'm definitely gonna give it a listen, Paul. Thank you for that great recommendation. Now, whether you love diving into gripping stories, you're seeking motivation or craving expert advice, Audible has something for you.

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There's always more to imagine when you listen with Audible. And guess what? You can sign up for a free 30 day Audible trial and get your first audio book free. Oh yes. Just visit audible.com slash dark history to get started. Thanks Paul. Definitely gonna give that a listen.

Well, in the spring of 1780, people who lived near the Holy Innocence Cemetery, they started experiencing medical problems out of the blue. I don't know what first I was like, ghost, no ghost, medical problems. So I guess a lot of them were experiencing like breathing problems and they were vomiting. So authorities, they investigated like what was going on and they came to a horrifying conclusion, horrifying. The decomposing bodies in the cemetery

were releasing decomposition gases. Like, and it was coming through the dirt. Oh, yep. So these gases would rise through cellars to the ground floor of homes. And people were just like, if I could breathe, I can't really breathe. But if I could breathe, they were like breathing it all in. I got one good nostril.

I know, imagine you're just like minding your own business, watching Full House, and you have this cough that's just like going on forever. And then you find out it's because you've been inhaling dead people gas. I'd be like, hmm, that kind of sucks. Also, how did the authorities not automatically realize it's a cemetery?

I know, ghosts. I think it's the ghosts that are making you guys sick. You're possessed. Case closed. You're welcome. Well, once they figured out what the problem was, I guess the people in charge of the Holy Innocence Cemetery

had to get rid of some of the buried bodies. So workers came out and dug up the bones, the situation. I guess they thought that watching bodies being dug up in the middle of the day would be terrifying. So they decided to do this at night with a torchlight. Yeah, you know, to make the whole thing less creepy. So they decided to do this at night with a torch light. Yeah. You know, to make like the whole thing less creepy.

Totally makes sense. Once they had the bones dug up, they were moved to the catacombs. And the whole smelly situation became like, it was, you know, out of sight, out of mind type of situation. Experts believe that around 6 million people are now buried down in the catacombs

and the public is now allowed to go down into the catacombs and see those remains. Yeah. Is it, I guess like over 550,000 people visit the catacombs every year. Let me know if you've been. I was gonna go one, I went many, many years ago and I was gonna go, but then I was like,

wait, I think I'm claustrophobic. So I was like, I don't think I'm gonna do that. So that's my review. Thank you. But let me know if you went. A little earlier in the 1600s, over in the Americas, indigenous people had their own death rights and traditions that often

differed from tribe to tribe. The Apache and the Navajo tribes were quick to bury their dead, and this is because they feared that the dead would resent the living and I guess start messing with their lives. The Apache would also burn the house and possessions of the person who died, and then they would pack up and move to a new home. I guess the reason they did all of this was for purification reasons. So the dead person's spirit had no reason to return.

Even if they did return, they moved. So the spirit like couldn't find them. They're like, oh shit, not here. But different tribes had more positive relationships with their dead, like the Sioux tribes for example. So they thought of the spirits of the deceased as being able to help the living so they would reach out to them when needed.

In 1600s colonial America, death was everywhere. Hi. Death is here. Especially when it came to young people, which sucks. Like 33% of children died before reaching adulthood. Life expectancy was not great. The average male lived to 29 years old and the average female lived to about 20.

So, you know, people were kind of like dropping like flies. And funerals were pretty simple because they had to be. I mean, one was happening almost every single day. So the night before burial, the family's nearest and nearest would gather to like make sure the dead person didn't wake up, you know, just in case. So I guess they couldn't bury a person until everyone had gotten like a good look, gotten a good look at the a good look, gotten a good look at the deceased and all agreed this person's dead. Buried him. Then there would be like a feast with lots of food

and drink and like, you know, to celebrate the deceased and everyone would get sloshed. Families would go all out and like buy expensive rum and it was said to be part of like the grieving ritual for the pilgrims. It makes sense. Numb the painter away, you know? But things couldn't stay that simple forever.

Funerals started getting a lot more expensive, not just like the burial process, but during this time it became popular to give out favors at a funeral. I was like, what? Favors? Like what? I was like, what? Favors? Like what? I was thinking, oh, it must be something cute and small,

like a lollipop or like a card with like the person's face on it. And you're like, aw, that's so nice. No, listen, back then, people were giving out solid gold rings. Huh? I was like, okay, I'd go to that funeral. The colony started going off on these gifts. It was like what they did. I don't know. I guess some people were going bankrupt, okay, because of

the expensive gifts. And it apparently had gotten so out of hand that the government had to step in and I guess put some like limits on these lavish funerals. Yeah. In 1761, Massachusetts passed an act to retrench the extraordinary expense at funerals. I was like, what's that? Well, it basically said that if you gave out expensive scarves, gloves, wine, rum, or rings at a funeral,

you would be charged 50 pounds. I guess they did this because they wanted to stop making funerals so expensive. So, you know, the average citizen could actually afford to bury their dead and not have to like give them everyone expensive ass shit. I mean, you would think like, it's funny to say this now, but like burying people shouldn't bankrupt anyone,

but look at us today. Anyone who's had to like deal with burying someone in modern day knows that Massachusetts law like didn't put an end to funeral lavishness. Really? Are people giving out gold rings still at funerals? Let me know down below. Invite me to your funeral.

I'll come. What the Puritans did was kind of like a sneak preview to what we have going on now. Hey, summer is here, haven't you noticed? And there's nothing better than enjoying some of my favorite cold treats to beat the heat. I'm talking ice cream, popsicles, and a big glass. I love lemonade. But did you know that

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It's kind of weird. But embalming, if you don't know, is a process where a body's blood is replaced with chemicals, like formaldehyde, and this helps prevent decay. And essentially it helps a dead person stay looking alive for as long as possible. That way a funeral doesn't need to happen immediately. You know, like a body can even be transported

a few days later, and when you get it, it still arrives like, oh, hey, that's Bob. Like you recognize who that is. The need for like a creative way to preserve bodies really took off during the American Civil War. Like many soldiers were fighting and dying far away from home and they didn't want to be buried in enemy territory.

Well, like their loved ones didn't want them. You know, we don't know if they wanted to. They were dead. Well, transporting bodies back to their homes was difficult. It was the 19th century and like there was no refrigeration. Okay, that wasn't available. Days or even weeks long train rides in the summer basically guaranteed that, you know, the body was going to rot in the caboose.

Honestly, I never really thought that would leave my mouth in my lifetime, rot in the caboose, but here I am. Life sure is funny, huh? So then a man named Dr. Thomas Holmes, he shows up and he's like, hey guys, I have a solution. He created something that would keep dead troops from decaying, you know,

so that they could be shipped home to their loved ones. He invented embalming. So he began offering his embalming technique to Union troops who died in battle. It was better than the options they had. So many people were like, do it, you know? They took them up on it. And embalming started to grow in popularity.

So at this time, you know, it's new. So there wasn't any like formal training to become certified in embalming. So anyone could be like, hey, yeah, I'm an expert in this. And then they would do it. Yeah. Well, because of this, a bunch of surgeons saw the opportunity to make some wartime cash.

I guess if you're already trained to do stuff with a body, you know, they're like, well, what's a few extra chemicals? I can do it. So some of these surgeons even started going onto the battlefield and they'd be like snatching up unknown soldiers and embalming them to advertise their business. Wild, right?

What, huh? Yes. So these dead embalmed soldiers were displayed standing at attention in like offices to show off like how great this new embalming thing was. Look at how great he looks. He's just standing there not doing anything and he still looks like a person.

Here's my card. So you know things started to get a little out of hand and also super illegal. So the government was like, hey, no. So the ward department had to issue an order requiring embalmers to get a special type of license, which thank God, I mean, could you imagine if people still had like dead people just propped up everywhere to advertise?

Yeah, prices were also regulated so that these random surgeons could stop up charging the family and the friends of these dead soldiers. So that's nice, right? So at this point, embalming had become a thriving industry. If you could afford it,

it made sense to embalm someone if it meant like the difference between recognizing your loved one's body or never seeing them again. But it was still seen as a wartime thing. That is, oh yes, until a man named John Wilkes Booth snuck up on President Lincoln in 1865 and shot him dead. So when Lincoln was assassinated, his body was embalmed.

Because Lincoln was so popular with the American people, it was decided that his body would go on an extended funeral procession so people could pay their respects and say goodbye. It was like a goodbye tour, you know? But it was like extended, very extended. It lasted two weeks from Washington, D.C. to Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, Illinois.

He was transported on a train, but stopped at multiple towns to showcase his body to the waiting crowds. He was on a cross-country tour. Well, his body was. That's pretty wild. I wonder if they made shirts. I saw Lincoln's body and then they had the cities listed

and you're like, yeah, I went to that one. Has Lincoln on the back? Yeah. So legend has it, Lincoln was actually embalmed, then re-embalmed again after each stop to try and keep him looking fresh. Weird. Okay, but sure.

Not judging, but you know. Alright. Some say, no that didn't happen. Stop saying that. They just cleaned him up after each stop. Shut up. But either way, by the time Lincoln arrived at his final resting place, he was so preserved. He was more of like a mummy than a body.

But that didn't matter, you know? For a lot of people, it was actually the first time they saw an embalmed body. I think that's probably why a lot of people went to his funeral. They were like, I wanna see this shit, this is wild. And I guess when people saw Lincoln's body, you know, they were impressed.

It was great PR, actually. So embalming became like the new way to deal with America's dead. Wow, Lincoln, he really changed it, huh? So by 1882, professional undertakers had created the National Funeral Directors Association. The death industry was modernizing and there like needed to be one central place to train people

because at this point, everyone wanted to embalm their dead. Now, as a result, bodies were no longer prepared or cared for by their loved ones at home. Instead, businesses began to pop up and take care of those preparations for the family. While bodies used to be like laid out pretty quickly after death, now there was enough time to like put together larger celebrations for the deceased, take your time a little bit more. So funerals or wakes became so big that the celebrations wouldn't fit in a person's living room anymore. So funeral homes with like larger celebration spaces became a thing.

It started to pop up. Now because of this, the funeral industry was blowing up. And it seemed like it couldn't be stopped until something happened that changed America forever. In 1918, a pandemic hit. Oh yes, the Spanish flu. It hit many parts of the world. And it was deadly.

It was killing thousands quickly. So suddenly the government outlawed large gatherings of people with the goal to stop the spread. Because of the high death rates, there was no time for embalming. Instead, bodies were expected to be buried as quickly as possible to avoid spreading the illness. At the same time, caskets were already in high demand because of the huge death toll of World War I, so the whole country had like a coffin shortage.

It was so bad, the war industries board had to stop the production of fancy coffins. Yeah, fancy ones. The ones that had like silk lining inside, nice wood. Stuff like that. They now just need to be simple wooden coffins for the bodies and they needed to make them quick. So everyone thought after the Spanish flu,

the funeral industry was going to flop, right? Like, how are they ever gonna recover? But shockingly, it actually did the opposite. During the flu pandemic, people were not able to gather and like mourn the way they wanted to. And as soon as it was over, people were like desperate to get back to public grieving. They wanted things to feel normal again, you know? So when the option for the modern funeral with like all the trimmings came back, people were, I don't know, more

than happy to pay for it. So embalming was still all the rage. It wasn't the only solution for disposing the dead. Cremation was having a comeback. So America and its Christian origins hadn't really gotten to experience the benefits of cremation. Many believed it was wrong and the only way to go was burial. But then all these reports about the dangers of embalming started to pop up. Oh yeah. Dr. Francis Julius Lemoine of Pennsylvania, he was ready to call funeral homes out. Dr. Lemoine thought that embalming was bad for people's health. He was like, yep, and I got proof. Somewhere. He believed people were inhaling embalming fluids and like, because of this it was making them sick.

And then he was like, oh, but also not only is embalming making us sick, but the coffins are making us sick too. He believed the standard wooden coffins that funeral homes sold weren't enough to contain the remains of the dead. In other words, gases and like other things were seeping out of the coffins into the ground and into the water everyone was drinking. He's like, you should be scared.

Yeshe described burial as quote barbarous and disgusting and to fix all the problems he had with funerals he was like, I'm going to build my own crematory. So he first wanted to build it on a cemetery property but was turned down. People were horrified by the whole like burning of the body thing. So Dr. LeMoyne went ahead and like built it on his own, on his own property. He's like, whatever, I was doing it myself. So in 1876, he designed an oven to burn the bodies

in a way that he believed was respectful. He was like, look, look what I can do. He was able to like cremate a body without the flame ever touching it, because that's too far. Now, because cremation was still seen as barbaric for a lot of people, he basically only used this oven to cremate dead animals like sheep.

Yeah. So nobody really saw the cremation thing as something legit, and definitely it was not for humans. But all that changed when someone came knocking on his door begging him to use his service. Sure, being an adult has its perks. You can eat ice cream for dinner anytime you want. You can have a glass of wine, I mean, technically anytime you want. And you get to enjoy the freedom of making your own choices, like taking my pants off

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Who's there? It's Colonel Alcott. No? Okay. Well, the man that was knocking on Dr. Lemoine's door, his name was Colonel Alcock. His good friend Baron de Palm died and I guess was recently embalmed.

And when he died, the Baron had, I guess like no money to his name. So the Baron's friend begged Dr. Lemoine to cremate the Baron. I guess the oven was only for the doctor's personal use. Oh my God, he was probably a murderer. Duh, hello, probably. Anyhow, I mean, if someone has their own like

personal like cremation oven, I'd be like, murderer. That's not what I'm getting at. So the doctor had, you know, it was for personal use. So it took like some convincing this guy, but eventually the doctor had, you know, it was for personal use. So it took like some convincing this guy, but eventually the doctor gave in. He's like, fine, I'll burn his body. So the doctor was like, if people can see this cremation being successful, right?

They might be open to trying it. So the baron's body was sent on a train from New York to Pennsylvania and went straight to the crematory. And then on December 6th, 1876, I don't know, I guess they like promoted this or something because crowds formed to watch the cremation. They're probably handing out balloons,

here you go, t-shirts again, like I saw Lincoln and now a cremation with all the like you know but it was clear like this wasn't just going to be a quiet experiment it was a show people were waiting to see like how Dr. Lemoine was going to pull it off even newspapers showed up to report on it and they did just after 11 15 a.m the remains of Baron de Palm were cremated. The cremation was a success and because of this people started to warm up. Oh that's funny warm up to the idea. You get it? Burn warm. Okay also in the 1800, cremations were very affordable.

Yeah, they are. I mean, they were all like $25. That's it? Yeah. Burials at this time, they could cost like five times that amount. So like a hundred dollars. That's a lot.

So it was easy for people to be like, dude, cremate me, right? $25, I'm out. By the 1920s, cremation just wasn't a cost efficient thing anymore. It was becoming embraced by the rich. And they saw cremation as something modern and also hygienic.

And you know, everyone was all for it until more conflicting studies came out about embalming and burials. Well, these new studies showed that Dr. Lemoine was totally wrong about like the dead body juice infecting like the water supply you know. So people are reading this and they're just like I don't know what to do anymore. They're just like confused as like what's the best option here and a lot of the public went back to burying

their dead again. You know? I don't know. But for some, like bearing wasn't even an option anymore. The funeral industry was hiking up the prices all across the board, and things were about to get very, very suspish. So by the 1980s,

even if people wanted to bury their loved ones, they probably couldn't. It was like really expensive. And by the end of the decade, the cost of a funeral with like a burial was in the thousands. Plus it was seen as something that wasn't good for the planet. So when you cremate someone, you know, they go in and earn and they sit on your mantle. And you're like, look, here's granddad. Let's wave, you know, let's take a picture with them. And when you bury someone, taking up a whole plot of land, you know, it's just, it's a lot. But now it's not about what's moral and what's not. It's just literally about like what people can afford.

In 2023, the average cost for cremation and earn was $6,280. I know. Can we go back to the $25? What happened to that? Like, what if you bring your own pot? Do you get a discount? You're like, I'll go to potty class really quick, it's really cheap, make my own little, and just put me in that. How much does that knock off?

I should have done the math, but it's a lot. And the average for going the embalming and like burial route is around 8,300. That's a lot. I know, so how did they go from $20 to $100 to now in the thousands? How did it become so unbelievably expensive? Like why?

Well, the reality is people are often faced with having to go into debt in order to afford even the minimum costs of the death of like a loved one. Even more depressing, if someone can't afford it, the body will just kind of get left. And then once it's left, like they'll be unclaimed. And then I don't know what happens after that. They're just unclaimed.

I think they get cremated. That's sad. Apparently like 3% of bodies go unclaimed. And when this happens, they will eventually be buried or cremated by a coroner. And their remains often end up in an indigent cemetery, which is a cemetery that like is specifically for people who can't afford, you know, another cemetery.

We, you think with all the taxes we pay, first of all, that pothole outside my house would be covered up by now, it's been years. But also that the government would find a way to help people who are in need of like financial assistance. Right? Well, the pothole is still there. And if you are like the spouse of the deceased,

you can apply for something called Social Security's lump sum death payment. Gotta Google that first of all, you know? But this is like where the government will offer money for those who can't afford to cover the costs. And you're like, okay, great, like this will help. Great, I'm in. So if you're approved, the government will kindly offer you

a grand total of $255. So, you know, you don't want to be ungrateful, but at the same time, like the average cost of a funeral is like eight grand. So, that's like gonna cover gas, you know? So I think we can all agree here that $255 will, it won't do anything. It'll barely make a dent. So with numbers like that, it makes sense that the United States funeral market brings

in around $20 billion per year. That's a lot. And surprise surprise, sometimes the way they do that are not always ethical. Who would have thought? I don't know. I was like what? That's crazy. As anyone who has planned a funeral can tell you, many people have been pressured into

buying more expensive products and this happens when people, you know, are at their most vulnerable. So there are times when like people agree to getting like their Grandma Linda a gold ultra luxe coffin because you're like Grandma Linda deserves that. Okay. But then you're not even realizing how expensive it's going to be. So in the past, funeral homes have said that every body has to be embalmed for health and safety reasons, which actually isn't technically true.

Like embalming, a body helps to preserve it, you know, like honest Abe on his train death tour. But there's no state law that requires routine embalming for every death. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, unnecessary embalming adds an average of $695 to the funeral bill. So back in the 1980s,

the government created the funeral rule. Now this was supposed to create some regulations on the 1980s, the government created the funeral rule. Now this was supposed to create some regulations on the funeral industry, so they wouldn't be ripping people off left and right. Now they did this by requiring funeral homes to give their customers an itemized list with the prices for each service they offered. They were also no longer allowed to lie

about things like embalming. So if you wanna skip the embalming and just get the burial, funeral homes have to not only let you, but also give you an accurate price breakdown for that. You get it. If funeral homes fail to do this, then they have to pay a fine. So cut to 2023. The government conducted a massive investigation into funeral home practices. Ooh, what'd they find?

Well, I guess they went like all undercover with it and they called up over 250 different funeral homes and they were pretending to be like a grieving family in need of services. Turns out after all these calls, 38 funeral homes were not transparent about the proper embalming process. And that might not seem like a big number,

but each of those funeral homes represents tens of thousands of burials each year. Also during this investigation, the spotlight was turned on one company known as Service Corporation International, AKA SCI. Dun-da-dun-da-dun-da-dun. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.

Just kidding. And turns out SCI over here, they turned death into big business. Hi, the other day I was in charge of family dinner. Oh yes, now Paul was asking for sloppy Joes and Joan was asking for potato pancakes with smoked salmon, caviar, and dill cream. She was fancy.

She's a little fancy bird and I was wanting like I don't know sweet soy honey chicken. You can say this was a bit of a dilemma. I mean family dinners can become a bit of a juggling act between planning, shopping, prepping and then actually getting everyone to enjoy what you made. Ah it can be stressful they're never happy these two never happy but don't worry HelloFresh has got your back with farm fresh pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. HelloFresh makes home cooking easy fun and affordable. That's why it's America's number one meal kit. HelloFresh has been a game changer. I love their new build a plate meals. Oh, listen, they let every member of your household

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and the pre-portioned ingredients meant no waste and no last minute grocery store runs. So skip the meal planning and grocery store runs with nutritious and delicious meals from HelloFresh. Here's something special just for our listeners. For a limited time, kids eat free. What? I know, who wants to lie about their age? You? We could say you're like five. That's fine. Go to HelloFresh.com slash dark history kids to unlock this exclusive offer.

That's one free kids meal per box for two months while your subscription is active. Just go to hellofresh.com slash dark history kids. Trust me, you won't want to miss out on this. HelloFresh really makes cooking enjoyable and it's so nice to see my family. Excited for dinner? Aren't you guys excited? Okay, it's America's number one meal kit for a reason. Try HelloFresh today and make family dinners stress-free and delicious. So this company SCI currently has a monopoly on the death industry meaning that they own like most of the funeral homes and businesses across the country. Oh yes, so because like it's a monopoly SCI can control the prices across the board. It's like McDonald's, but with funeral.

You know what I'm saying? Kinda. If you squint, it's kind of similar, but not really. Anyways, they have a sneaky way of doing this. So they go into small towns and they buy out smaller funeral homes. So what they do is they'll keep the same charming small town name for the business. So the community and everybody trust them.

But the company will go in and like jack up the prices. So when families go to the small town funeral home, they assume that they're not being ripped off. You know, they trust this family owned funeral home that's been in town forever. I mean, why wouldn't they? You know? So some people believe they're being scammed

because of this. And it goes way beyond overcharging people for services they don't need. Let me introduce you to Doug Cassidy. Come on up, Doug. He's actually here now. Just kidding. So Doug was the head of a company

called National Prearranged Services or NPS. And this business offered a prearranged funeral contract to customers. What does that mean? Well, this contract would allow customers to pay for their funeral ahead of time. So you'd be like, okay, when I die, like you make all the plans yourself, right?

And then you get a contract and then you pay and then you're like, Borset, so my kids don't have to worry about it. And like NPS would put their payment into a trust and regardless of like inflation, they would get the funeral that they paid for with no extra fees. And you know, for the customer, it was like,

oh, this is so nice, I don't have to worry about my family having to like pay for everything, you know? Like get this fat bill and everything would be taken care of. But you know, of course it was too good to be true. Instead, MPS, they were taking like customers' money and just putting it right into their pockets. They're like, daddy needs a boat.

So I guess they were running like a Bernie Madoff type Ponzi scheme. Yeah, I could see that, I could see that. When the money was paid to the company, it was then used to pay the top officers of NPS, you know, for their yachts. Then when a customer did die, their funeral would be paid for

by the money of a new customer, and so on and so on. So as long as like new customers kept coming in, NPS was able to skim money off the top. But like any Ponzi scheme, the whole thing, you know, came crashing down. Sadly, this left many victims of the scam without their money and without the funerals that they were promised.

And it was just not great. This scam ran for like over 16 years. And during this time, NPS and this guy Doug Cassidy had collected like $450 million. Eventually the scam was uncovered and then Doug and like several other NPS officers, they were sentenced to prison time. It's like lock them up forever. But they didn't. They served like less than 10 years and then they were released. But Doug specifically, he did die in 2020 of natural causes. So I wonder if he got buried or cremated. Did he have a package plan? But I do hope when he was

alive he was haunted by ghosts from the people that he screwed over. Right? So when you think about death today, you know, there's a lot of technology happening around us. Hi, welcome to the future. So many people are like looking to ditch traditional ways of doing things and people are like coming up with some very unique alternatives to the old school way of doing things. So cremation, still popular, still hot, but many new businesses are popping up with options for what to do after a cremation.

There's this one option you could do where you can turn your loved one's ashes into like a diamond and then be made into memorial jewelry. I like this idea. And I was like, oh, I wanna do this with my dog. Didn't do it. But I like that idea, right? That sounds nice.

The actual percentage of ashes to diamond is very low, but like the ashes are still technically in there. So, yeah. There's also an option to have ashes pressed into a vinyl record. Oh yeah. So your family, your loved ones can play you and your favorite song forever.

If you did that, let me know down below. I would love to know which song they picked. I would want mine to be like, dirty pop. Sick and tired of this. Dirty Pop. Mm. Sickened out of things, I don't think I'm gonna That's my name I'm not even with a copy Yeah?

Cause every time you hear that song, like, you wanna dance. And that's how I wanna be remembered. By Dirty Pop. You heard it here first. Look, there's other options. I've heard of many people, many people mixing their loved ones' ashes with tattoo ink. Yes, so you can get a tattoo in honor of them.

Pretty. And finally, this is my favorite one that I learned about. You can actually have your ashes incorporated into fireworks. What? Yes. Oh yes. I was like, this is it right here.

Cause you can like truly send uncle Bob off with a bang. And he probably wants that. You know that uncle who likes to party? That's for him. Right? Sounds like the most fun. Could you imagine though though you're all like gathering with your friends and you're there to watch the fireworks and then like for a second

you're like oh can you have me another beer and then it like blows up and then you miss it and you're like oh shit okay because it's just one time did anyone record that okay uh whatever that might be a good option too. I like that idea. Many people are also thinking about the environment after they die. Like, they want their body to be broken down in a way that isn't harmful to like Earth's atmosphere. So one of these ways is aquamation, which uses water instead of fire to break down a body. Oh yeah. And there's this brand new thing

that has yet to be tried on humans, but you know, let's just wait. I'm sure next week it'll happen. It's called promession. So it takes the body and it turns it into fertilizer. Yep. And then that fertilizer can be given to the family for like a home or a memorial garden.

That's nice. Isn't that nice? So the simplest and like most popular forms of burials these days come in the form of a green death. In a green death, the body is not embalmed. There is no coffin or concrete vault. Instead, the body is wrapped in like an all-natural cotton burial cloth

and then lowered into a grave or like in the ground. If you think about it, we've been spending so many years building more and more elaborate death rituals and it seems like we kind of like circled back to the simplest form. Should I just put the body in the ground and let nature take its course? It might turn into a tree or something and wouldn't that be nice? But also don't get too excited because I'm sure in a few years they'll find a way to charge you like 10 grand to do that too, huh? Yeah. So every civilization has had their own way of remembering the dead and they almost always sound crazy to like every other civilization. American school kids are... is disgusted the right

word? They're maybe fascinated by the ancient Egyptian practice of taking a person's brains out through their nose before being mummified. And to ancient Egyptians, you know, that was their shit. And like, they're like, putting your loved ones ashes into fireworks seems a bit odd, but okay. The point is, unfortunately death is here and will happen to all of us. And a lot of people like want to be remembered after their time is up.

But it seems like your lasting presence will probably be the funeral bill. That's depressing. I mean all we can really do is just do your research, which I hate saying, but like yeah, do your research and just hope for the best, I guess. How much does it cost to be put in a firework? I'm very interested. Hey, let me know down below. Have you ever tried memorializing your loved one with like a diamond or a record? Did you bury them in your backyard? Let me know. I'm curious to hear what you have to say, what other options are out there,

what you did, is the ring cute? What's it look like? I wanna know. So we just learned what many of the options are when it comes to death, but what about birth? Huh? I mean, there is no death without birth. And certain people think it's their life's mission

to create the perfect human. I recently learned this phrase called designer babies. Oh God, I know. I was like, oh great, what is this? So when I heard that I immediately imagined a little toddler running around in Louboutins like, pack your bags, we're going to Milan. But let me tell you even though the

phrase designer baby sounds kind of cute and chic it's kind of it's it's a twisted subject with a very dark history here we are again huh for years people have been obsessed with the idea of creating the perfect human from eye color to IQ. A whole secret industry has popped up and many say is trying to play God. And it all started back in the early 1900s with something called the Better Baby Contest and is happening today with cutting edge genetic technology. Downside, the whole concept of this has roots in something called eugenics.

You know eugenics, we've mentioned it a lot here. It's an idea that like only certain people should be, should breed and you know, undesirable people should be eliminated. Helen Keller was a eugenicist. Did you know this? But she was blind and deaf. So technically she believed that she should be eliminated, but not her. But she was like technically, but she would fall under undesirable. That one always kind of tripped me up. Just throwing that out there. What was that about? Helen Keller? Anywho.

So join me next week as we dive into the dark history of designer babies. Well friends, thank you for hanging out with me today. Don't be sad that we talked about death. It's not that scary. Smile. You can join me over on my YouTube where you can actually watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. And while you're there, you can also catch my murder mystery in makeup.

Hi on Mondays. Yes you can. So don't forget to subscribe because I'm here for you weekly with new content. I love to hear you guys' reactions to today's story, so make sure to leave me a comment and tell me what's up with death or something. I don't know, because maybe in a future episode,

you might be featured. Now let's read a couple of comments that you guys have left me. The real booty, alright, the real booty left a comment on our Kennedys episode saying, fun fact, met Joe at about age eight in the 1980s at a sizzler. The real booty. The real booty, listen, do you have a picture? Let me know. Because I can't imagine him in a sizzler.

You know, I love sizzler. They have really good clam chowder. And I know it's probably gross, but I love their clam chowder. It's so good. So maybe he went for the clam chowder. Got pics? Let me know down below. Dusty Ramos13 left me a comment saying,

Bailey is my new therapist. Dusty, I'm honored. Thank you. I am cheaper than therapy. I will say that. But if you can, I would say get a real therapist. You know, you don't wanna listen to me. I'm a little off sometimes, you know?

But I appreciate that. I hope you're okay. Cyrus Moonside left us an episode suggestion. I love seeing Paul coming to life in the oh wrong episode to mention the life huh I love seeing Paul coming to life in the latest episodes. I hope someday Bailey will do a dark history episode on Abercrombie and Fitch. Paul's dead. Sorry. But I like it too. But he died. Oh my god. This is wrong time. Okay. If Paul were here, I would let him know what you said. I'm sure he would like it. I'm sure he would like it.

But thank you for the suggestion. You know, I was a teenager once and Abercrombie and Fitch was like the shit. Normally the cool people would shop there and then he would walk in the store and it would give you a headache because it was like so intense in there and everyone was so mean, nothing fit. I hated it, but it's like,

I wanted to like wear it cause it was cool. And that's my story with Abercrombie Fitch. You know, recently I discovered, okay, look, they've been doing a re, let me go on a whole rant right now. They've been doing a rebrand and stuff. And recently I discovered their jeans and I,

I'm so sorry. I love their jeans. They fit me like the curvy, the curvy ones. They are so good. I'm sorry. I know it's not what you want to hear. You want to hear an expose. I know we can do it because they have a shady past,

but I like their jeans. So, we'll stay tuned. Well, I love you guys for watching and I appreciate you for engaging. Leave a comment because maybe you'll be featured. And hey, if you don't know, Dark History is an audio boom original. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian.

I hope you have a good rest of your day. You make good choices. I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye. good choices. I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye!