Allen Funeral Cards

I've always been interested in traditions surrounding southern funerals. While I still find it odd that we like to photograph the deceased, or family members at a funeral, I'm intrigued with the old tradition of funeral cards and mourning jewelry. I've a friend who collects mourning jewelry and each piece is both haunting and beautiful.

Here are the funeral cards for my maternal grandparents, Ethel DAVIS ALLEN and Vada Atlas ALLEN. They died within a year of one another and these plastic laminated cards were provided to the family by the funeral home.

My mother kept them in my father's Bible, almost like bookmarks. I don't know if one was provided to each family member, but that would have been a lovely idea. These seem much more celebratory of a life than a picture of the deceased lying in their coffin. 

Vada Atlas Allen