Graveyard shift and Dead ringer:

Did you ever wonder where these sayings came from? Some of you may already know, but some may not.

In Victorian times, it was not uncommon to be worried about being buried alive. It did happen. They would hold a mirror under your nose and if you didn't have enough breath to make it steam up, you were considered dead. This could happen if you were in a coma. They had found people who had been buried alive when they were later dug up.

They didn't have all the modern items our doctors today have, so it did happen. People were not embalmed in those days either. One person who was so afraid of being buried alive was Mary Todd Lincoln, so she arranged to have a string tied to her finger with the other end tied to a bell above ground and someone to watch over her grave.

The graveyard shift was when someone was hired to sit in the cemetery at night to listen for any bell that might ring.

Dead ringer was the person who woke in their coffin and rang the bell to be rescued from their grave.

The most wealthy people built mausoleums and were never buried under ground just in case.

Another note is that people would have wakes in their homes with the dearly departed layed out in the parlor. The undertaker would have been the furniture maker in the town. He would come and measure the body and build the coffin to size.

The body would have been taken to the cemetery and the funeral would be at the grave.

The parlor in Victorian homes where always the best rooms in the house and the only room that guest would ever see when visiting. They would be wall papered, had the best furniture and would have had expensive drapery.

As the customs grew more elaborate, businesses sprung up offering to have the wake in style and out of the family home. Hence, the term funeral parlor.

Eventually, the funeral parlor took over all the arrangements from the grieving family. Before embalming became popular, they did put coins on the eyes so they would not open when someone was viewing the body and every now and then, someone would sit up in the coffin. The bodies could also moan from trapped air being forced through the vocal cords when this happened, leaving ladies fainting and men trembling.

Through the years, morticians have become so good at what they do, there are no fears about being buried alive and the family is well taken care of during their grief. Some funeral homes can trace their family involvement back to the Victorian era where it all began.