As I was reading a 1909 newspaper today, I noticed how they really jazzed up the obituaries back then. One I saw today for a guy we'll call Ezekiel Fuchs had the headline: Ezekiel Fuchs Answered the Final Summons.
It seemed a bit poetic but also a bit morbid. Saying that he answered the final summons conjures up an image of a guy walking out a door one last time or punching a clock or something like that. It far surpasses the literal: Ezekiel Fuchs Died of a Heart Attack or Ezekiel Fuchs Died in His Sleep Last Night. About one thousand times better than Ezekiel Fuchs Passed Away.
To me, the phrase "passed away" conjures up the image of someone vanishing, but sort of slowly vanishing. The obituaries of olden times didn't sugarcoat death that way. I have even seen obituaries make reference to the Grim Reaper, such as Reaper Calls On Ezekiel Fuchs. I'm also reminded of Hudsucker Proxy when the company announces over the loudspeakers: "At noon today, Wering Hudsucker merged with the infinite." Rather than sweep death under the rug, they made it into a bit of a dramatic event.
Not to mention those who died violently could count on having the details of their death described vividly. The paper included many accounts of cave ins and slate falls in the mines not to mention bizarre accidents in the brickyards and the tin mills. It was not unusual for the first line of a news item to include the phrase "skull crushed." One I saw today ended on a comforting note: coworkers examined the body and determined that the man was killed instantly.
It also seemed like deaths could be dramatic but not at all heroic. Ezekiel Fuchs Defeated by Illness. Then they'll give details about the person's health leading up to their death. Fuchs suffered from the grip for three months. He continually weakened until he was bedridden by February. Finally, he succumbed on March 15.
One bizarre story I read today was about an automobile terrifying a horse. An elderly couple were riding in their buggy on the way to Steubenville, I think, and when an approaching car startled their horse, they were thrown from the buggy. The woman was thrown into a barbed wire fence. The story finished with: It will be months before she is able to go out again.
Certainly some harsh shit going down back in 1909, but I liked how they looked at the brutal realities square on. Maybe I should try to write my own obituary at some point. Perhaps something like: Martin Exits World.
Friday, May 15, 2009
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3 comments:
I hope I get to write your obit. It'll go something like this, "In debt to many, owing nothing." I like the faux poetic, vaguely insulting obits.
But you know, I guess I don't have occasion to read a lot of old newspapers. I knew that they were a little more "tell it like it is" back in the day. I also know that somehow that morphed into like "The National Enquirer" and, in the '60s and '70s, they were all about the graphic details to stories. I wonder if the internet will bring some of that back? There is a lot of gross stuff on the internet.
Either way, I have to wonder why you didn't give Ezekiel Fuch's real name? Is it because YOU are Ezekiel Fuchs, resurrected, brought back to an unnatural life by hoary forgotten practices? Shame on you, Ezekiel, for shunning the laws of God and man! Back to the grave with ye, unnatural golem!
But, Mike. It was you who came from the future to revivify me. You said that there was going to be a war and that if I wasn't there the wrong side would win. You said that I, Ezekiel, was needed in the future to rewrite the history of steel and pottery workers in WV because civilization hinged on it.
Dr Martin, this entry presents many excellent pictures in the mind, one of which being you, relaxing (with a pipe and feet up, perhaps) and reading your 1909 newspaper, as I am sure you do each and every morning.
Very interesting, though. Makes me want to read some 1909 papers. And I think we should bring back their style.
(I apologize for being a creepy student and reading your blog. But it seems to be a good read.)
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