Customs: The Business of Dying

The American funeral director—that dispenser of authoritative and soothing advice—has suddenly found himself shouted at, reproached and de plored in a clamor that has shattered the hush of the nation's funeral parlors and made many an undertaker sweat uneasily beneath his decent black suit.

In what seems a sudden concerted attack, Americans all over the country are rebelling against the high cost of dying. Funerals, it seems, just do not mean as much to most people as undertakers would like them to.

Pre-need Competition. The big funeral once beloved by first-generation Americans is...

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