Welcome to the fifth edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!
When in Nashville …
Hey NFDA Conventioneers — How are you enjoying Nashvegas? If you’ve taken some time to explore your surroundings, you’ve surely marveled at the cowboy boot stores, Broadway bars, and bevy of bachelorette parties. Chances are you’ve seen Nashville’s special brand of “transportainment” — the ubiquitous pedal tavern. Only in Nashville can you and 10 to 20 of your closest friends get drunk together while you collectively pedal your way through the downtown scene. But before you board the party bikes, here are a few things you need to know about pedal taverns:
- Helmets are optional, but might be a good idea depending on your predicted level of inebriation.
- It’s BYOB, and tips are highly encouraged (in other words, you pay someone to serve you your own beverages in an entertaining way).
- Video evidence exists of riders stepping off the tavern and into oncoming traffic (thus, the helmet recommendation).
- Not all seats offer pedal power, so if you’re not up for Flintstones-like exertion, choose a bench.
Could Glass Coffins Be Making a Comeback?
An Irish hearse and limo company has won praise and awards for its “Coffin Pod” invention. A response to families’ social distancing and COVID concerns, the pod is a sealed glass box that will “allow families to have open coffin wakes.” It’s a thoughtful and considerate offering that leads us to wonder … Why not offer a glass casket? As it turns out, the glass casket industry enjoyed a brief season of popularity in the 1920s. According to the Corning Museum of Glass, the few companies that experimented in the craft fizzled before the products were actually produced, so only a few examples from that much-hyped heyday still exist today.
Funeral Home Hosts Food Trucks
We’ve seen funeral homes with in-house event spaces, coffee shops, and speakeasies, it kind of makes sense that food trucks would eventually find their niche. Every Thursday, the parking lot of Bushelon Funeral Home in Birmingham, Alabama opens its parking lot to no less than 10 food trucks and trailers. Not only is the concept an amazing way to give back to and get acquainted with the folks in the community Bushelon serves — it’s also a fantastic excuse to sample some of the best handcrafted food in town, from key lime cupcakes to Jamaican jerk quesadillas.
