2nd old funeral home score in less than 2 months

Been far busier than normal of late. Leaving for a convention too and will try to give this thread the updates it deserves over next few days.

Considerable legwork went into tracking current owner of a closed (by several years) funeral home. Managed to get inside it - and several surrounding properties. Anticipation made the drive breezy and care free. Hundreds of miles simply clicked away. (Images don't illustrate immense effort put forth to even be in the position of taking them though.) Took a close friend and we secured several buys already so far. Turns out that almost everything is for sale, mainly via offer, a few have prices. The two of us are not done acquiring items yet so no further location details.

Last resident was not just a hoarder but one of those old cat ladies. She fed over 40 daily, some had the run inside, some remained feral. Couple rooms were so acrid with strong ammonia from cat urine that it was difficult to breathe. Feces seemingly were everywhere cats were allowed. Few dead cats about too. Even had 2 day old kittens fall on my head (literally!) from an 8' high beam.

Heaps of unassuming 'stuff'. (Never use word 'junk'.) Hours dissipated in 88 degree heat. For once, I swapped spiders for ticks! Not that brown recluse are an upgrade...

One incredibly cool aspect? Family's history with funeral homes (parlors) dates back to the late 1700s. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Although remaining family is officially out of the funeral business and the latest funeral home started being used last century, we knew that was a high probability of finding much older items.

Which happened.

So much Victorian furniture in wonderful shape. Some impeccable pieces were made in 1830s-1840s. Even found items that originated from large Plantations - also in same family. I'll include a portion as this thread progresses.

Hearse is still in gorgeous shape. Black '89 S&S with a maroon velvet interior. Inadvertently keys were not on site. What's the name for their wavy grain top treatment again?



3 of these little guys initially fell on my head from the back corner behind hearse. I think they were migrating toward my voice from their beam and lost balance. An hour later after hearing more tiny 'mews' and some tricky climbing, 2 more were pulled down. Then later, another. Finally still, repeating process hours later brought down the remaining live one and one (likely) stillborn. Umbilical cords still attached.



Many unsold new caskets. We're still negotiating for all of them and are not far apart. These are but a few.






My friend bought this entire sample vault floor display.

Count these two church trucks among my purchases.



My friend grabbed a pair of these adjustable height torchiere lamps.



He also bought this neat original '62 A100 service/removal vehicle. Yes, landau irons are on wrong sides. Yes, they're ironically '59-'60 Superior also. Whomever placed '57-'58 Lancer hubcaps on it was genius.



This '80-'81 w/ MM landau irons is a considerably larger removal vehicle. Black wood paneling inside. A story was relayed how employees would sneak out and smoke in it, using as a secret hiding place.



Only other quasi-related procar on property is '74 Sedan DeVille family car. Of course we'd hoped it was going to be a limo. Under dirt was a well-preserved example though.



Early gurney. Late '40s-early '50s Steve? Couldn't find an ID plate but my non-ambulance guy perspective thinks that it's close to a #21.



Friend bought this embalming table as well. Cast top, simpler rolling base/cart. Stripping/repainting legs would enhance appearance. Too many layers of paint currently. Rather than assume this must be older, it is probably just a lesser model offered same time as hydraulic porcelain embalming tables.



Hadn't mentioned roof cave ins yet, have I? Yeah. Unstable fun.

Thanks for sharing, would like a pm with more photo's. Don't have any plans on purchasing anything at this time, but enjoy looking.

Italian made and shipped from. Used for a flight anyway. Only the very top was visible initially. We had to crawl 30' over 6' tall piles of who-knows-what to get to it. Shouting for a price was met with a reasonable enough response that we spent 45 minutes extracting. Not the most fun I've had.



These confuse me. Such square roller design begs for a later model fit but they're cast brass. We found a few other pieces and my friend bought them all. Back end frame is steel. Rest of frame is wood. He now thinks it is/was a '30s extend table. Anyone familiar?



Here are the rest after placing them together.



To provide an idea what we were dealing with>>>>>




Even garage lofts are packed. Don't see Victorian wheelchairs often.



Found a few sets of heavy (likely) '50s hearse drapes hanging from rafters. We bought them all. Tatty, tassels still attached, best as patterns.



Say, is that what I think it is pinned in down there?



To be continued.....

Find

What an awesome find !! Just imagine how many of these are still out there. A couple of years ago in Detroit, they even found bodies in caskets in a closed funeral home !

Atti, another great find!!!
The top you were asking about on the S&S in the first post, if its a deeply grained rubbery kind of material it is called a cobra top.

Atti,do you charge anything for novices to hang onto your coattail when you go on one of these hunts,because sir you are one of the best treasure hunters I have seen in a long time.

I had a cobra top on my '68 MM Citation.

I loved it !

The only thing not so good is that it holds water after washing or it rains.
Takes a lot more effort to dry it.


Great finds bro !

Looking forward to more photos and story on this find.


Take it easy,
Darren

Thanks guys. I've already uploaded another 40 pics. On road and will keep putting them up as time allows. 2 loads already left there, another 3 today...

Keep in mind unlike any made for TV fake reality show, this stuff is REAL!

Attila wrote:

Keep in mind unlike any made for TV fake reality show, this stuff is REAL!



YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN !!!
I know all about the "anything but reality" of reality TV !!!



Way to go bro !
Darren

This has got me real excited I was contacted by a lady who is closing up her funeral home and the business dates back to the late 1800's and I get to be
The first to go check it out. Thanks for all the great pics though, looks like a lot of great stuff there.

Oops!!

Doug Kelley said:

.....A couple of years ago in Detroit, they even found bodies in caskets in a closed funeral home !

Click to expand...

I guess they were in such a hurry to close down the FH, they just forgot the bodies' disposition or it just slipped someone's mind!! LOL I know that it's a serious subject though, no disrespect intended; probably waiting for the family to come up with some money for the funeral/burial/disposition and they closed before that happened....

If you all come across a one-man multi-level cot in any shape let me know! I am in dire need.

3 more loads left today, including some of the new caskets. A deal was reached on all of them. Another load (mainly caskets) leaves property tomorrow.

Perpetually levitating 3' over floor.



And then came embalming bottles. Many many dozens of embalming bottles. Boxes of 24, cardboard largely disintegrated.



Boxes of 24 in decent shape.





We ended up buying about 200 total. Mainly Dodge bottles, at least 12 different labels. I'm not greedy and will only keep small portion thereof, if you need cheap display filler in your collection.



Sent a different friend to retrieve something non-funeral related today. He ended up buying these radios too.



Picked this child's casket up too.

Let's take a short intermission and view more garages and house contents, shall we?




^There's something lurking in the background here I'll revisit later.






The following horse trophy table's detail is simply incredible. It was appraised recently at $17,500(!).

Two way radios

very good find! E.F.Johnson radios,1960's vintage.we used them as our first radio communications system when we started Professional Ambulance in 1971. a minor modification made them increase in power from 5 to 30 watts output.

from that we graduated to motorola low band radios (T-51GGV) a little better,but not much.

Ahh,the good old days!!!!!!

Welcome back. Tucked in aforementioned garage background was this amazing pair of wrought iron lamps. They originally came from a large plantation house's front porch. Can't even begin to fathom how much they could go for at auction. Beautiful. My friend bought them.



Two more vintage church trucks I had my eye on late yesterday. Each was covered and not seen until right before leaving. Thought about them for hours driving away.



Actually, what would this one be called - casket bearer? Doesn't collapse and has 6 wheels. I absolutely love ornateness. Unfortunately (for me), my friend made a strong offer on this and took it home today. Sigh. Guess buying off him is still a possibility. Not seen another like it and am open to learning anything further of course.



These samples are about half scale. Felt equally as heavy as full size though let me tell you.



Fern and wreath stands/displays. Friend snapped them all up to adorn garage walls behind hearses. I like his idea.



Remember that skeleton rack peeping? It ended up being quite the ordeal to get out - almost as long as Italian casket took! Funny enough, after my friend helped me with it, both of us dripping in sweat, he said "We're even.", referencing my assistance on his casket. We both broke out laughing.

Look at what else is in the picture.



Make this three skeleton racks I've found and purchased in as many months. The one piece above is likely the same I already have. They're both early-mid '60s. ID plates are in different locations and although I have them together already, I have not had time to note any subtle differences. Compare/contrast photos of them in a few days.

The two piece skeleton rack came about through an eagle eye. The short half was in plain view hanging vertically in a garage. Didn't have much interest in 1/2. Hours later after traversing the same heaps through caved roof building, I noticed the tip of the single bier pin mount end sticking out 4' below where I was walking! I thought that it can't be the match...even after spending 20 minutes digging it out I wasn't 100% positive. (Probably more shock than doubt setting in. Needle/haystack scenario.) Circling back to the other garage the shorter piece was pulled down before laying next to each other. Voilà!!!



Property owner stated "You're one of the only guys I know that could have located and realized that. The only other possibility is your buddy over there." Ha! What an awesomely humbling compliment.

Given rarity of skeleton racks, I'm elated to have found some this year. Even better, El Presidente Paul asked me to locate one for his C/B Chevy awhile ago. The two piece skeleton rack is a period correct match! As such, I'm even more gratified coming up with a VHTF piece for it.

This weekend was the Bartlett FH auction. (There wasn't need to mention name before auction.) 47 degrees at 7:30am was a bit brisk in short sleeves. Between camaraderie of old friends, meeting new ones, and auction getting blood moving that chill waned long before reaching mid-60s high.

As bidders, our tight group of friends is rather organized. We discuss who wants what prior to an item going live. We don't bid against each other. We look out for each others interests. We also use walkies when not within eye shot. We split larger lots that contain different types of items. We share multiples. And most importantly - we have a lot of FUN!!!

Here's Bartlett FH after having been closed for 12 years. Not easily made out is the beautiful intricate wrought iron adorning the length of the entire porch across the top. Note spiral staircase as well.



The only item with a reserve was the '89 S&S. 30k original miles. Freshly tuned and included a new fuel pump, new gas tank, and new battery. Bidding went to $2200. We found out after the sale that the owner had dropped reserve from $4k to $3k. If someone wants more info, I'll put them directly in touch with owner.

Hearse was in our way when it came time for loading. I can relay that it drives/handles well...



Trailer hasn't been emptied yet and more pics will be added. A start to some lots I won~

Pre-1900 embalming kit in a nice leather case (with key!). Large bottles are DODGE and FRIGID.



New old stock still in original shipping box from SUPERIOR FUNERAL SUPPLY was this torchiere glass shade. I already had lamp that was displaying a reproduction glass shade and luckily this one fit. Inset shows shipping label.



Don't know precisely what vintage this gorgeous, heavy silver new old stock casket handle set is but a friend present at auction wanted it badly. Of course the auctioneer hit stuff randomly and he wasn't around or answering walkie when it went up! I made sure to come out on top.



Then ended up trading him said casket handle set for this FUNERAL sign stack (there are 6 total). We had decided he would bid as long as he sold me a couple. After looking at them post auction, I thought it best to keep the set together. Not the best condition but they're awesome nonetheless. Guessing they're not newer than '50s vintage. On left in picture is a HTF cast aluminum reconstruction skull. Not seen another come to market that still has matching cast facial features. This was *the* most popular funeral related auction feature among typical uneducated Joe Public, all thinking they would score a cool Halloween prop on the cheap. A dozen bidders nickel and dimed money up before my first bid was placed @ $150. From there only heavy hitters played. Found out after auction my two other competitors were funeral directors.

A close out of state friend has been searching for one like this for the better part of a decade. I would not be denied as it goes to him.



Small items can have just as much charm. Leaving this pic larger to see slightly more detail. Placed several yardsticks together from different auctions to show variety. '68 Superior calender in upper left corner is a favorite that came in a box lot, as many of the items in the bottom right did. Among those box lots came numerous Bartlett calenders of varying sizes, collapsible Bartlett drinking cups, NOS Bartlett metal thermometers, both flat and folding Bartlett fans, vintage heavy metal Harris Vault Company clipboard, Edgecombe Casket bottle opener, and Winston-Salem Casket gripee.

Inset along bottom left is a trifold Miller-Meteor ruler/yardstick shown larger than 1:1 scale. It was missed in a different box lot that went to someone not in our group. I immediately went and tried to buy it to no avail. Best I managed was a pic. Opposite side read COLLINS COACH SALES. Now you guys have something else neat to scour eBay for!



Both of these small items are super cool and were new in box. Vintage Atlantic Casket items are virtually made of unobtanium. Here's their sailing ship logo is crisply applied to a large metal paper clip. Vintage round metal pocket Winston-Salem tape measure is personalized with Mr. Bartlett"s name on reverse.

A FD demanded I sell him the paper clip. Wrong attitude to take - as he learned.



At least one other PCS site member was in attendance. Maybe he'll get some of his pics up too.

great pics, looking forward to see more, great find, thanks for sharing . steve

Well done! Great finds! Really enjoyed the vans and '74 DeVille. Was it black inside?