Cremation’s earliest supporters formed societies and associations, which were fed by the transformation of burial practices. By supporting a society or association, members were not only supporting the building of a crematory in their community, they were also pre-paying for their own cremation. An important way for early cremation supporters to get their message out was through propaganda. Cremation societies often published booklets and pamphlets that featured reasons for choosing cremation over burial, locations of the crematories in the US, opinions of notable persons who supported the movement, and photos of retorts and urn selections.
By 1913, there were 52 crematories across North America and more than 10,000 cremations occurring annually. The process of cremation as we know it now only began slightly over 100 years ago. As environmental and financial concerns dominate North American culture, cremation is still seeing a drastic rise in popularity. To learn more about why people are choosing cremation please visit the benefits of cremation section of our website.
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