Funeral Service & Flower Cars Photo Archive

Throughout history, flowers have accompanied the deceased to their final resting place. At first, flowers were carried in the hearse with the casket, or in a separate carriage. With the advent of the automobile funeral, flowers were transported to the church or cemetery in big touring cars with their tops let down. But in the1930s an entirely new kind of funeral vehicle -- the Flower Car -- blossomed in America. Flower cars were built on all makes of chassis, from luxury Packards, Cadillacs, LaSalles and Buicks to Pontiacs and Chevy El Caminos. The only book ever dedicated to these unique professional cars documents the evolution of the flower car from the 1930s to the long, low coupes de fleur still being built today. A bonus feature includes a section on the other workhorse of the funeral home fleet, the Service Car, which transported the deceased from home or hospital to the funeral parlor and hauled caskets and other funeral service paraphernalia to the church or cemetery.