HOUSTON — The items on display are exactly what you’d expect to find in the National Museum of Funeral History, but the vibe in the 13,000-square-foot facility is very unexpected.
"People come in with their own preconceived notion that ‘Oh, my god, this is going to be morbid. It’s going to be creepy. It’s going to be scary,'" said Genevieve Keeney Vazquez, the museum's president. "But really, it’s not. It’s very enriching. It’s very historical. It gives you an insight into different types of customs and rituals surrounding a funeral."
Those customs and rituals include hearses, coffins and caskets from all eras.
"You can kind of see how they were constructed over the years," Keeney Vazquez said.
There is a lot to see in the museum, so if you’re not sure where to start, try the scavenger hunt. Its questions will help guide you through the museum.
"If you like hunting for stuff, then coming in with the scavenger hunt is fun because you really have to read some of the text panels to find the answer," Keeney Vazquez said.
A sample question: How many mourners could ride in the 1916 Packard Funeral Bus? (The answer, according to the bus' text panel is 20.)
"The funeral museum is an awesome neutral environment to approach the subject with your children and learn more about different types of customs and traditions," Keeney Vazquez said. "The whole museum is family-friendly."
It opened in 1992, fulfilling the dream Robert L. Waltrip had for 25 years. He wanted to preserve the tools and trinkets of the funeral trade.
"They pretty much were ending up in the landfill, as was the history of our industry," Keeney Vazquez said. "It was a vision of his to be able to hold on to the rich history and heritage of our funeral industry."
That history is now told through exhibits that cover everything from jazz funerals to the embalming process to what funerals look like for the Pope and U.S. presidents.
"We listen to our visitors. We like to hear their feedback and things they would like to learn more about," Keeney Vazquez said. "We’re always evolving."
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In fact, the museum just launched a capital campaign to bring in a new exhibit.
"The most famous burial of all time: the Shroud of Turin," Keeney Vazquez shared.
Starting Oct. 1, a family-friendly haunted house will open in the museum and a Halloween classic car show is on the calendar for Oct. 29.
“The parking lot will just be filled with cars from all different time periods and they’ll all be dressed up for Halloween," Keeney Vazquez said, adding that kids should get dressed up too because the event will include trunk-or-treat and a costume contest. “It’s a really fun, family-friendly event.”
You can learn more about the museum and its events here.