Commercial Auto Dealers

The drug wars are taking their toll on the people along the Mexico and United States border. At the Ciudad Juarez cemeteries, the evidence manifests in the number of Cadillac hearses that visit the final resting places on a daily basis.

More than 4,000 people have been buried in Juarez since January 2008 as the result of violence. There is also a huge section at the municipal cemetery for unidentified victims. Currently, about 40 freshly dug graves are ready for new internments. Altogether, about 90 shooting victims get taken to one of the 20 cemeteries throughout Juarez for their final burial. The hearses speed through the cemeteries so quickly and there is so much work to keep up with the demand that some cemetery employees are even getting injured.

“The unfolding slaughter in Juarez should chill us all,” wrote Vanessa Johnson, a columnist for The El Paso Newspaper Tree. “We need to be reminded that each death diminishes us all.”

About 10 percent of the people buried as the result of violence were innocent bystanders who just got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many of them are children. It’s a sad situation and there just does not seem to be an end in sight any time soon.

It may have come 160 years too late, but Edgar Allan Poe finally got a funeral that he deserved earlier this month complete with hundreds of mourners, Cadillac hearses and flowers. A man who only had 10 people at his original funeral because his cousin neglected to announce Poe’s death is now memorialized for the genius that he was as a writer.

“This is our chance to make amends for what wasn’t done in 1849,” said Jeff Jerome, the curator of Baltimore’s Poe House and Museum. The organizers of the “funeral” placed a replica of Edgar Allan Poe in a pine casket so people could get the feeling of being there when the actual funeral occurred. Actors also played the roles of his contemporaries, including Walt Whitman and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. John Astin of The Addams Family fame served as the master of ceremonies.
In addition to having nobody come to his original funeral, Poe’s tombstone was destroyed when a train derailed and ran into it before it even got placed on the grave.

Poe will forever be remembered for such works as The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Pit and the Pendulum, just to name a few. Rest in peace, Mr. Poe.

Whenever there is a car show to display some of the greatest and best vehicles ever made, a Cadillac hearse often shows up and becomes the star of the show. Outkast’s car show was no different.

As rows of classic cars shined in the sun’s rays on Main Street in Mitchell, South Dakota, a Cadillac hearse was the star of the show. The 1948 classic hearse was painted black and orange and had a 1951 Harley Davidson motorcycle in the back where the bodies usually lay. The back windows also had stylish black curtains with white fringe at the top for extra decoration.

The owner of the Cadillac hearse – Doug Barlow – bought it a few years ago from a private owner. He bought the motorcycle a couple years before that and he wanted the hearse to match the motorcycle so he painted it black and orange. That’s right – Harley Davidson colors. He also wanted the bike to ride with him in the back.

“One way of the other, it was going to fit inside the car,” Barlow explained while discussing the motorcycle. “It’s always been a hobby of mine, then I made it into a business six years ago full time.” He spent a year on each vehicle restoring them to the condition they are in today.

Many people are choosing to go green these days. But most of those people are still alive. Although fewer people are choosing to be green after their death, that number is steadily growing. And the funeral industry is changing along with them to suit their posthumous needs.

Today’s funeral practices are going back to the way they used to do it a couple hundred years ago. Some funeral directors are getting away from using embalming fluid, a practice instituted during the American Civil War to preserve bodies so they could be transported home for a proper burial. Concrete burial vaults are also being used less and less as they disrupt the natural ecology of things. Hearse manufacturers are also making changes to Cadillac hearses and other brands to make them more efficient and cleaner-burning to make them more eco-friendly as they transport bodies around.

“Green death care may sound like just another trend in the eco-chic movement, but it’s actually the way most of humanity has cared for its dead for thousands of years,” explained Joe Sehee of the Green Burial Council. “Things live, they die, they decay and they are reborn. This happens all around us. And with green death care we can take ownership of this in a more environmentally conscious way.”

When local school officials announced that it had plans to shut down Sam Houston High School in San Antonio, Texas, parents created an uproar. If this happened, they say, the East Side of the side would die. And they staged a demonstration involving hearses and funeral cars and Cadillac hearses to make their point.

The school district held a meeting regarding the announcement. The meeting was open to the public so many parents and taxpayers showed up to express their disagreement with the proposal. The district discussed the three restructuring plan options for the San Antonio Independent School District, but all three plans involved closing down Sam Houston High School. Closing down the school and others that are not seeing much growth lately would save the district millions, but it would reduce the number of schools by 15 or 19. Where do all those kids go?

There were more than 500 people at the meeting and were ready to voice their concerns. Many of them began talking and shouting their disapproval before the meeting even got started.

“There is no reason you need to shut down the East Side,” exclaimed one concerned taxpayer. And that’s exactly what you are going to do if you shut down Sam Houston.”

Would you buy a hot dog from a man selling them out of a Cadillac hearse? You wouldn’t think a man could have a business by doing this, but Lakeland’s Jim Belcher is not afraid to be a little different.

Jim Belcher has a successful business going around to various events around his hometown and selling his Hellacious Hotdogs from a black hearse. His funeral-themed food shocks many people while intriguing many others. He calls his plain hot dogs “stiffs” and he also offers “body bags of chips” as well as “cold soda from the morgue.”

One bystander – Carolyn Hanes – was flabbergasted when she first saw Belcher’s hot dog stand. “I didn’t know what to think because I saw a hearse and a hot dog stand and I said, ‘those two don’t go together,’” she told FOX 13. “But it’s cool,” she said after thinking about the novelty of the idea.

Currently, Belcher sells his funeral-themed food in front of Kathleen Tires, just a couple minutes north of Lakeland. He said most of his customers are younger or middle-aged and they tend to get a kick out of his gimmick while older people are not too fond of his schtick, but he still sells enough hot dogs and other foods to have a thriving business.

We all know what the classic Cadillac hearses look like. Most of us have probably seen dozens of these throughout our lifetime. But did you know that hearses date all the way back to 350 B.C. in Russia?

Of course, they didn’t have Cadillac hearses or even motorized ones at that time. They simply used a wooden framework decorated with candles. The body was placed inside the structure and it was carried to the final resting place.

Hearses have come a long way since those days. Even in the last couple decades, hearse manufacturers have created some unique vehicles in which to transport loved ones to the grave. Most people think they can only choose between a white or a black hearse, but the options are so much more than that. The Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors is holding a National Bereavement Awareness Week this month. Officials plan to show the variety in today’s hearses. People can choose something as traditional as a black Cadillac hearse or something more contemporary like a streamlined funeral car. Motorcycle hearses have become quite popular in recent years, too.

“Choices like these are about trends to add a sense of celebration at a time of grief, and to reflect a life well lived. It comes down to not being afraid to be different,” said Alun Tucker with SAIF. What kind of hearse would you choose for your funeral? Would you be on the more traditional side or would you something that was a little out of the ordinary?

If you are a fan of classic cars, the 2009 Glenmoor Gathering of Significant Automobiles is for you. This special event takes place at the historic Glenmoor Country Club near Jackson Township, Ohio from September 18-20.

This year’s event is going to feature “The Automobiles of Edsel Ford.” The featured cars will be ones that Edsel Ford either influenced, designed or owned himself.

Some of the more interesting displays will include a 1941 Lincoln Continental cabriolet, a 1938 Lincoln Brunn limousine, a 1934 Ford Brewster town car from the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House collection and a 1915 Winton limousine, just to name a few.

In addition to all of those, there will also be a 1959 Cadillac hearse and limousine alongside a 1938 Packard Twelve hearse and flower car. A 1927 Henney hearse and a 1937 Buick hearse will also be on display.

The three-day event also includes a silent auction, a tour of the Crawford Auto Museum, a trip to the Kent State University Museum of Fashion and Decorative Arts and a gala dinner in the Glenmoor Country Club Chapel dining room. You can read more details about the entire event here.

Whether you are a classic car enthusiast or not, this is going to be a fun time!

Listening to a mix CD of soothing songs while driving a body to its final resting place in a Cadillac hearse is a great way to forget about the busyness of life and the noise on the outside. If you have never tried listening to some of these calming songs, here is a list of some that may relax you whether you are driving a hearse or your own personal car.

1. Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley – You may not know this song by its title, but you would know it once you started listening to it. After a couple listens, you won’t be able to get enough of this soothing song.
2. 100 Years by Five for Fighting – Piano music is a great way to enjoy the music without getting excited. This song has plenty of it and a good message, too.
3. I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie – This emo band has many calming and soothing songs, but this one is particularly soothing. It is a must-have for your mix CD of soothing tracks.

Few jobs make you think about death and mortality more than one related to a funeral home. Even if you only drive a Cadillac hearse for a funeral home, you can still look at life from a different perspective and have a greater appreciation for it.

The bad economy has hit all facets of our daily life, but did you know it could be hurting our afterlife, too?

Historic cemeteries are not doing upkeep on their grounds and, as a result, some of the gravestones are getting discolored. Some of the older ones are even starting to deteriorate and crumble because cemeteries cannot even afford to pay for their upkeep.

When Cadillac hearses drive into the idyllic Greenwood Cemetery in New York, acid rain has eaten away the tips of angel wings and some fingers in prayer hands have crumbled away. Noses are falling off faces and some stones are even cracking. And as if that were not bad enough, vandals are coming in and stealing some statues and other valuable parts from the cemetery.

The residents of the cemetery do not know what is going on above them as they continue to lie quietly at rest. But the historic committee has been trying to raise $200,000 to pay for the services and upkeep needed to keep everything looking spectacular and serene.

Do you have some cemeteries in your area that are in various stages of deterioration? If so, why not take an afternoon and see how you can help out one day. It’s a calming and soothing experience.