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Beyond the ornate 19th century headstones and crumbling mausoleums lies a world of custom and superstition that dictated death and mourning for more than eighty years. This week on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast Jennie and Dianne explore the complex social norms dictating grief, the rise of spiritualism, and the eerie practices that governed Victorian society. While some of these customs have faded with time, others continue to shape our relationship with death today.  Tune in for this Ordinary Extraordinary journey twixt life and death. "Passing out of the shadows into eternal day, why do we call it dying, this sweet passing away?"

To see additional photos in real time with this discussion, view this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZFWSGVwSujU?si=KNLIH7PE3HDP_NXM

To order our signature tea, "Cemetery Story", follow this link: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=231274

Resources used to research this episode include:
Smith, Nicola. "Mourning the Death of Prince Albert ." https://www.historytoday.com/. 3 Oct. 1983. www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/mourning-death-prince-albert#:~:text=At%2010.50%20pm%20Prince%20Albert,bitter%20and%20agonising%20cry%20'Oh!. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Sebesta, Samantha . "A Royal Marriage: Prince Albert’s Love Letters & Quotes From Queen Victoria ." https://thechroniclesofhistory.com/. 19 July 2020. thechroniclesofhistory.com/2020/07/19/a-royal-marriage-a-prince-albert-love-letter-quotes-from-queen-victoria/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

, Australian Museum . "Mourning - Victorian Era ." https://australian.museum/. 21 Nov. 2018. australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/death-the-last-taboo/mourning-victorian-era/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Celiberi, Stephanie . "Mid-Late Victorian Mourning Dress ." https://www.lancasterhistory.org/. 6 Oct. 2021. www.lancasterhistory.org/victorian-mourning-dress/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

, Compass Rose Design . "History of Victorian Mourning Jewelry." https://www.compassrosedesign.com/. www.compassrosedesign.com/pages/history-of-victorian-mourning-jewelry?srsltid=AfmBOopwBTlQLpCt6ltB_a_S7JXqpBLPokThsX9T8woAOLyCGpnaDKnS. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

, Rosenberg Library Museum. "Victorian Hair Jewelry ." https://www.rosenberg-library-museum.org/. www.rosenberg-library-museum.org/treasures/victorian-hair-jewelry#:~:text=These%20pieces%20of%20adornment%20often,the%20death%20of%20Queen%20Victoria. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Dents Museum Curator , Sarah. "Gloves." https://us.dentsgloves.com/. us.dentsgloves.com/blogs/magazine/queen-victoria-the-etiquette-of-mourning. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Rusch, Barbara . "The Secret Life of Victorian Cards ." https://www.ephemerasociety.org/. www.ephemerasociety.org/the-secret-life-of-victorian-cards/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

, The Solitary Historian . "Mourning the Dead: Funeral Practices in 1870 and 1900. ." https://thesolitaryhistorian.com/. 6 Nov. 2020. thesolitaryhistorian.com/2020/11/06/mourning-the-dead-funeral-practices-in-1870-and-1900/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

, Friends Of Oak Grove Cemetery . "Victorian Funeral Customs and Superstitions ." https://friendsofoakgrovecemetery.org/. 1 Oct. 2008. friendsofoakgrovecemetery.org/victorian-funeral-customs-fears-and-superstitions/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

Step into history with Jennie and Dianne on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast! This week, they uncover the fascinating story of Pauline Cushman, a Union spy and actress who risked it all during the American Civil War. Joining them is living historian MJ Henion, who brings Pauline's courage and determination to life. From stage to battlefield, Pauline's bravery and cunning will leave you inspired. Tune in to discover the Extraordinary life of this Ordinary woman.

Episode available on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/clW3SZ4BV5U?si=9KXnEWnXGnTyicG9

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

The story continues...Jennie, Dianne and Professor Jared Richman continue their discussion about the life and legacy of Mary Shelley. From the heartache of losing three of her four children in infancy, to the tragic drowning death of her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary was often forced to be resilient and rise above darkness and depression. Yet, amidst sorrow, Mary continued to impact the Ordinary Extraordinary world of literary arts forging a path that paved the way for future generations of women writers and cement her place as one of literature's most trailblazing figures.

Watch this episode on YouTube! https://youtu.be/xCcNVXpUPuw?si=u8GwoUax5wl5R5tS

Tickets for the 4th annual Beyond the Grave: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-grave-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-tickets-986081605627

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

This year's Beyond the Grave event honors Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but who was the woman behind the iconic novel? Born to radical parents Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, Mary Shelley navigated a life of intellectual fervor, passionate relationships – including her tumultuous marriage to Percy Bysshe Shelley – and literary friendship with none other than the bad boy of English literature, Lord Byron. Yet, her life was also marked by profound loss, evident in her frequent visits to her mother's grave, a sanctuary where she sought solace and inspiration as a child and young woman.

Professor Jared Richman, English Literature Professor at Colorado College, joins Jennie and Dianne to explore how these influences shaped Mary's masterpiece. Tune in to Part 1 as they dive into the Ordinary Extraordinary story of how a teenaged Mary Shelley forged a timeless classic.

Watch this episode on YouTube!
https://youtu.be/BKxnYsfBuOE?si=Wo8Wk0ebPMlvhTur

Tickets for the 4th annual Beyond the Grave: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-grave-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-tickets-986081605627

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

This week on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast; while Dianne is away, Jennie welcomes a new guest, JoEllen Hundeland, to share her passion project, "Hillside Cemetery: Middletown, New York: Beyond the Graves". From school bus curiosity to researching incredible local stories, JoEllen's journey is as fascinating as the book itself. JoEllen shares how the cemetery reveals the extraordinary stories of her ordinary hometown and the lasting impact it has had creating her love for cemeteries and photography.

Watch this episode on YouTube!: https://youtu.be/xIvlXCYTuOU?si=wPiHmyR2FC8JeZ0L

Visit these links to purchase your copy of "Hillside Cemetery: Middletown, New York: Beyond the Graves":

https://www.through-time.com/collections/latest-books/products/hillside-cemetery-middletown-new-york-beyond-the-graves?fbclid=PAZXh

https://a.co/d/5kNl6ra

Tickets for the 4th annual Beyond the Grave: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-grave-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-tickets-986081605627

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

Join The Ordinary, Extraordinary Cemetery podcast for a milestone episode - our 200th!

For this special episode Dianne and Jennie welcome back returning guest Kristen Allen of Bloombridge, the cemetery flower delivery service, to share exciting updates on the organization's remarkable growth since its inception in 2021. Discover how Bloombridge has formed connections across the US, weaving powerful stories of the departed that transform the lives of the living. Stay tuned for a very special, Ordinary Extraordinary story about a flower delivery to Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau's tomb in St. Louis Cemetery #1 in the mystical city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

We wish to thank all our Ordinary Extraordinary listeners for tuning in each week, for sharing your stories, your feedback and your episode suggestions. We wouldn't have made it this far without you!

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RXoRXS5HFks?si=1cgcWcgDCGUDeIba

To become a Bloombridge customer or runner, visit https://bloom-bridge.com/
Discount code: cstn

Tickets for the 4th annual Beyond the Grave: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-grave-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-tickets-986081605627

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

Jennie and Dianne are excited to share Part 2 of our discussion with author Joy Giguere on "Pleasure Grounds of Death: The Rural Cemetery in Nineteenth-century America".
They explore how the rural cemetery movement transformed the funeral industry, especially following the civil war. The rise of funeral homes to handle the duties surrounding the deceased, hospitals as a place for the dying, and how cemeteries took on more management of their grounds providing stricter guidelines for monuments and plot decorations and how all of this impacted our modern relationship with death and grief.

Watch this episode on YouTube! https://youtu.be/vjWF5MPDUlU?si=G4_DXkM3B3-JsiIp

Visit any of these links to purchase your copy of "Pleasure Grounds of Death:The Rural Cemetery in Nineteenth-century America":

University of Michigan Press
https://press.umich.edu/Books/P/Pleasure-Grounds-of-Death3

Barnes and Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pleasure-grounds-of-death-joy-m-giguere/1144258523?ean=9780472056897

Amazon
https://a.co/d/8BVMJdN

Tickets for the 4th annual Beyond the Grave: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-grave-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-tickets-986081605627

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

This week on The Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery, Jennie and Dianne welcome Joy Giguere back to discuss her new book "Pleasure Grounds of Death: The Rural Cemetery in Nineteenth-century America". They chat about the rise of rural cemeteries in the United States, including Mount Auburn Cemetery's pioneering design to the nationwide movement it inspired. Tune in for part one of a conversation about the intersections of death, culture, and society, and how these Ordinary Extraordinary 19th-century burial grounds continue to reflect America's past and present.

Watch this episode on YouTube!
https://youtu.be/nM6FWBgDIrY?si=p64orIt5H3oS-982

Visit any of these links to purchase your copy of "Pleasure Grounds of Death:The Rural Cemetery in Nineteenth-century America":

University of Michigan Press
https://press.umich.edu/Books/P/Pleasure-Grounds-of-Death3

Barnes and Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pleasure-grounds-of-death-joy-m-giguere/1144258523?ean=9780472056897

Amazon
https://a.co/d/8BVMJdN

Tickets for the 4th annual Beyond the Grave: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-grave-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-tickets-986081605627

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

Saddle up, partners as Jennie and Dianne 'shoot' the breeze with Josh Taylor of the Wild West Extravaganza Podcast (and YouTube channel) while they pay their respects at the graveside of infamous outlaw Billy the Kid and his Ordinary Extraordinary life and legacy that ended before it had barely begun.

Available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DcdxHH7S8cc?si=unnJIo-w_DCJJKxm

Ticket link to the 35th Annual Cemetery Crawl at Central City's IOOF Cemetery: Gilpin Historical Society 35th Annual Cemetery Crawl: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gilpin-historical-society-35th-annual-cemetery-crawl-tickets-934551547837?aff=ebdsshother&utm_share_source=listing_android

Tickets for the 4th annual Beyond the Grave: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-grave-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-tickets-986081605627

For more "true tales from the wild and woolly west", check out the Wild West Extravaganza podcast: https://www.wildwestextra.com/

Photo Credits: 
*Portrait of Billy the Kid - Public Domain
*'Billy the Kid' Tombstone - Public Domain
*'Pals' Tombstone - www.fortsumner.net
*Ft. Sumner Cemetery Gate - M.Robinson 

Send us a text! We love hearing from listeners. If you'd like a response, please include your email.

In part 1 of "The Great Eiffel Tower Swindle" Jennie and Dianne share the humble beginnings of a man who became known as one of the world's greatest swindlers, Victor "The Count" Lustig; and left listeners hanging after recounting his notorious first sale of the Eiffel Tower in 1925. In part 2 the ladies follow Lustig's escape from authorities in Paris and his return to the US to continue his life of crime and cons, only to be brought down by one of his greatest weaknesses...an Ordinary Extraordinary woman!

Available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mFb3MLHqqXU?si=buZwcgG6kJtYpNGl

Ticket link to the 35th Annual Cemetery Crawl at Central City's IOOF Cemetery: Gilpin Historical Society 35th Annual Cemetery Crawl: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gilpin-historical-society-35th-annual-cemetery-crawl-tickets-934551547837?aff=ebdsshother&utm_share_source=listing_android

Tickets for the 4th annual Beyond the Grave: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-the-grave-mary-shelleys-frankenstein-tickets-986081605627

Photo of Lustig grave by: Rick Gleason and posted to: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/176656691/victor-lustig#view-photo=152334006

Resources used to research this episode include: Various news articles found on www.newspapers.com & documents from www.ancestry.com

Laidlaw, Katherine. "The con man who sold the Eiffel Tower — twice ." https://thehustle.co/. 15 Mar. 2024. thehustle.co/originals/the-con-man-who-sold-the-eiffel-tower-twice-1. Accessed 4 Aug. 2024.

King, Gilbert. "The Smoothest Con Man That Ever Lived ." https://www.smithsonianmag.com/. 22 Aug. 2012. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-smoothest-con-man-that-ever-lived-29861908/. Accessed 4 Aug. 2024.

Linning, Stephanie . "The man who conned the world ." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/. 12 Aug. 2021. www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9880185/The-man-conned-world-Audacious-scams-career-criminal-Victor-Lustig-told-new-book.html. Accessed 4 Aug. 2024.

Malvenuti, Edorardo. "Victor Lustig, the Bohemian Scarlet Pimpernel." https://www.progetto.cz/. 27 Oct. 2020. www.progetto.cz/victor-lustig-la-primula-rossa-boema/?lang=en#:~:text=A%20savoir%20faire%20blending%20with,end%20Victor%20Lustig's%20maritime%20adventure. Accessed 4 Aug. 2024.

Sanford, Christopher . The Man Who Conned the World Victor Lustig. 1st ed., 2022. Gloucestershire, The History Press, 2022, pp. 1 - 320.