DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '03 I => Topic started by: Philippe Cordier on July 01, 2003, 03:45:33 AM
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I've always been bemused the way no one in Collinsport ever seems to be embalmed -- at least, if Angelique had been, wouldn't she have been pretty well preserved for the short amount of time she's been dead?
Also thought of this when Elizabeth was thought to be dead and in her special tomb.
It would have been easy enough for the writers to work in an explanation: "Her last wishes included that she did not want to be embalmed," etc.
>:D
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Embalm them? Hell, corpses in Collinsport were lucky to make it into the ground at all....I always got the distinct impression that they simply left Carl Collins on the curb for the tuesday trash pick-up, he disappeared so precipitously. :(
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didn't her father take care of her remains so he could make sure that she wasn't embalmed so she could come back?
i thought he mentions this somewhere???
jennifer
but good point i always laughed at how fast they had a tombstone up all engraved!
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And didn't Liz ask not to be embalmed? Maybe not, I can't remember for sure.
Anybody know, for sure?
dom
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I don't recall them ever embalming anyone during the course of the show. And now come to think of it, I don't remember them ever holding Wakes either, except for the time when Grandmamama died and they actually held a Wake for her in Collinwood, which is how they held Wakes for the deceased way back when.
It seemed though as soon as someone died they were immediately thrown into the ground with a tombstone all made out as if it were expecting them.
Could you imagine all the hard work Dr.Lang would have had if they did embalm bodies??
Cassandra
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Good point, Vlad! My guess is that there really isn't much point in embalming since so many of them get dug up in a day or two anyway. But as for those "ready-to-go" tombstones, they must have a stash of them somewhere. I still say they should post freshness dates on them as in "Raise before March 20, 1970".
Maybe (real time) Julia should have considered adding to her resume some embalming work at Collinwood because those zombies looked a bit ripe to me. I could imagine her inheriting the practice from Dr. Lang:
"Julia, when you do the embalming ..."
[silly]
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Nothing was ever mentioned about embalming during the death curse debacle. I remember that because a friend of mine who is a nurse was highly amused by the whole plot.
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Not embalming? Isn't that against the law in some states? I guess Maine isn't one of them. But it's hard to believe they didn't at least embalm Angelique. The way she's acting in this storyline might be explained by the lack of blood to her brain. ::)
Brrr. Hafta go, this creepy subject is giving me goosebumps!!! [a2a3]
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Not embalming? Isn't that against the law in some states?
I would have thought that too Cassandra, except that a few years ago the mother of a friend of mine died and had requested not to be embalmed. I never knew why.
Personally, I have no problem with it - I wouldn't want there to be a shadow of a doubt that I had actually moved on.
[haironend]
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Jews and Muslims do not embalm their dead, but rather bury them as soon as possible so I don't think there can be laws mandating embalming except in cases where burial will be delayed for a wake, or other reason.
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Embalm them? Hell, corpses in Collinsport were lucky to make it into the ground at all....I always got the distinct impression that they simply left Carl Collins on the curb for the tuesday trash pick-up, he disappeared so precipitously. :(
Raineypark,
Sorry to correct you, but Tuesday is recycling day. So, hopefully, the genuinely funniest Collins ever will be recycled in Parallel Time as, say, Shecky Collins, New England's greatest stand-up comedian!
Bob the Bartender, President of the Morty Gunty Fan Club.
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I remember Elizabeth telling everyone, Particularly Carolyn how important it was to know that although she would appear to be dead she would not actually be "Dead" were I Carolyn I would assume that meant not to embalm her.
Sarah's [ghost]
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Not embalming? Isn't that against the law in some states? I guess Maine isn't one of them.
It's not against the law, but some undertakers like to give the impression that it is so they can make more $$ (Or so I'm told).
Brrr. Hafta go, this creepy subject is giving me goosebumps!!! [a2a3]
Me too. [peepwall]
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Okay, this morbid topic got me wondering...other than to preserve the body for a Wake, just why is this done in the first place? Creepy as it sounds, it isn't like anyone (outside of Collinsport that is) is going to ever dig someone up to see how well the procedure worked. It kind of seems like a waste of effort in a way. [idontknow]
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Okay, this morbid topic got me wondering...other than to preserve the body for a Wake, just why is this done in the first place? Creepy as it sounds, it isn't like anyone (outside of Collinsport that is) is going to ever dig someone up to see how well the procedure worked. It kind of seems like a waste of effort in a way. [idontknow]
i'm with you CastleBee leave me the HELL alone! :o
jennifer
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I know an undertaker very well and he says that embalming isn't "necessary" unless someone is gonna be up for several days. My mother is friends with a woman who doesn't want to be enbalmed because she thinks it's nothing but a money making scheme. The subect doesn't really creep me out...
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Okay, this morbid topic got me wondering...other than to preserve the body for a Wake, just why is this done in the first place? Creepy as it sounds, it isn't like anyone (outside of Collinsport that is) is going to ever dig someone up to see how well the procedure worked. It kind of seems like a waste of effort in a way. [idontknow]
Well, it was useful when people died far away, and their relatives wanted them brought back home, such as during the Civil War, when it was first widely used. Not to mention the delayed funerals that happened when people had to come in from far away. I'm also inclined to say that with the complete cult that Victorians made of mourning, embalming let them keep the bodies around a lot longer for lengthy rituals.
As to seeing how well the procedure worked, I know of one inadvertent test of that. Anyone else see History Channel's show on the plot to steal Lincoln's body? Here's a link on the story that also gives some background on embalming's history: http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jala/29.1/turner.html (http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jala/29.1/turner.html)
For those not interested in plowing through the article, the postscript re: Lincoln was that due to the bodysnatching attempt, his body wasn't permanently reburied till 1901. Due to worries about his body lasting for the intial train tour and multiple viewings of the body in 1865, it had been embalmed , then "touched up" multiple times. When they opened the coffin to check in 1901 (feel free to do the math), he was still recognizable.
Jeannie
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The way everyone drank in Collinsport there was no need for embalming. They were already pickled.
Gerard
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I watched that on the history channel about two months ago.....It was very interesting. This undertaker I know actually let me see pics of a man who had been exhumed 25 years after death. This is veering a bit off topic however, I think it's interesting to know. The man looked perfect, they just touched up his make up a bit. The reason for his being exhumed was he moved to the states to make money to bring his family to the USA. This was when I was fourteen so my remembering is a bit sketchy, however his family didn't make it to the states till 25 years after he died. They never got to see him after he left Spain, so they ask if it was possible to exhume the body and they did it! I know y'all are thinking, wow, what a weird child TAEYLOR must have been. However, truth be told death hasn't ever bothered me. I made my parents pull over (in the rain) when I was 9 to go explore a Mausoleum in Virginia. It dated back to the 17Th century and fascinated me. I was destined to like Dark Shadows!! I hope y'all don't think I am a freak! LOL My philosphy on death is everyone has to do it sometime~~It can't be that bad! ;)