History
Funeral directing can first unofficially be seen in ancient times; it is not something new. Most famous are the Egyptians who embalmed their dead. In the United States, funeral directing was not generally in high esteem before the 20th century, especially in comparison to physicians, but because many funeral directors study embalming as part of mortuary science programs, they can be classified as a part of the medical field.
Funeral directors gained higher status that peaked in the 1950s but which later declined in the 1960s and 1970s. Many reputations were eroded as a result of high profile exposés on unethical sales practices and police investigations that followed criminally negligent behavior of some morticians. However, funeral homes remain a necessity in society, though employment growth until 2014 is expected to increase at a slower rate compared to other occupations.
Read more about this topic: Mortuary Science
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“When the coherence of the parts of a stone, or even that composition of parts which renders it extended; when these familiar objects, I say, are so inexplicable, and contain circumstances so repugnant and contradictory; with what assurance can we decide concerning the origin of worlds, or trace their history from eternity to eternity?”
—David Hume (1711–1776)
“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“Both place and time were changed, and I dwelt nearer to those parts of the universe and to those eras in history which had most attracted me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)