Just In Time for Halloween: A Short History of Hearses and Those Who Collect Them-- Part 1

From the Oct. 30, 2019, Chicago Tribune "Honk, but only if you're macabre" by Christopher Borrelli.

This is an article about people in the Chicago area who collect hearses.There are even clubs devoted to collecting hearses named Hardcore Hearse Club, Grim Rides Chicago and the Las Ryd's Hearse Club.

I've seen the occasional hearse as car shows.

SOME HISTORY OF HEARSES

The hearse, or "funeral coach" as the industry prefers, is actually a custom car  When a fleet of hearses are ordered it is not likely that any two will be 100% identical.  The traditional hearse is essentially a single luxury vehicle that has been split in two, outfitted with a long chassis to extend the length and then sculpted back into shape.

Hearses were initially pulled by horses, but the first one to use a standard combustion engine appeared in 1909, a year after the Model T was introduced.  The hearse industry, like the larger car industry, began in the Midwest, except the car-makers did not have hearse divisions.

The first motorized hearses were made by Crane & Breed of Cincinnati and advertised being able to travel at "fifteen miles-per-hour faster than any hearse should have to go."  About a decade later, the president of the company, Austin Breed, poisoned himself to death and they switched to caskets.

--Riding Out With Style.  --Cooter