Victrola, Furniture, & Undertaking Business

Jerry B. · Post by **Jerry B.** » Sun Oct 27, 2019 12:36 pm

Here's a receipt from W.C. Froehley & Son which specialized in Victrolas, pianos, furniture, and undertaking. Since Thursday is Halloween, the receipt is a bit macabre because it's a receipt for a funeral and services provided. The funeral was for Dr. Francis Granville Barnes and is dated Oct. 27, 1921. I thought it interesting that the total cost of $416.10 which was around the cost of a new 1921 Ford Model T. Dr. Barnes must have been a prominent and much loved individual. He went out in style.

Jerry Blais

phonogfp · Post by **phonogfp** » Sun Oct 27, 2019 1:41 pm

As soon as I saw that dealer's name, a bell went off. Hamburg is about 90 minutes west of us, and I have something, somewhere around here, from the firm...

Dr. Barnes would no doubt be surprised that his funeral expenses of 100 years ago today are not only preserved, but being disseminated worldwide...!

George P.

YouTube · Post by **JohnM** » Sun Oct 27, 2019 4:27 pm

$5929.42 in 2019 dollars.

Retrograde · Post by **Retrograde** » Sun Oct 27, 2019 5:02 pm

phonogfp wrote:As soon as I saw that dealer's name, a bell went off. Hamburg is about 90 minutes west of us, and I have something, somewhere around here, from the firm...

Dr. Barnes would no doubt be surprised that his funeral expenses of 100 years ago today are not only preserved, but being disseminated worldwide...!

George P.

The Internets knows everything!
Findagrave ...but what happened to his wife Ada? Did someone just not get around to updating the head stone?And don't forget poor little John.

zenith82 · Post by **zenith82** » Sun Oct 27, 2019 7:42 pm

Thanks for sharing. A very interesting invoice, if I say so myself.

In a lot of smaller towns, it wasn't unusual for furniture and general merchandise dealers to also have a product line of coffins. My hometown was the same way, with the coffin business getting spun off into a separate undertaking venture around 1907 or so.

If the common practice back then wasn't to have the viewing at the deceased's home, I would wonder if they used the acoustics of the viewing parlor to sell their phonographs...

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Sun Oct 27, 2019 10:06 pm

I've posted this dealer tag from my Victrola IV before, but here it is again, as it seems appropriate here. Boo...

Mike

Benjamin_L · Post by **Benjamin_L** » Mon Oct 28, 2019 11:40 am

Wasn't there a casket company that also made an off-brand?

MikeB · Post by **MikeB** » Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:04 pm

Actually, Edison may have been working on the Necrophone. This would have made for some interesting Diamond Discs.

https://www.hellystar.com/en/necrophone-thomas-edison/

Mike

Post by **emerson** » Mon Oct 28, 2019 8:57 pm

Well, after reading the post and replies----definitely a good Halloween story.

Post by **edisonclassm** » Mon Oct 28, 2019 9:22 pm

Jerry,
What a small world we live in. I live in the town of Hamburg and know of this Undertaker. They buried my father when he died in 1984. This funeral home is no longer in business now but had been a well known and established business in town. I had no idea they sold Victrolas and pianos. Now I know. PB

Victrola, Furniture, & Undertaking Business

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