David Charles Sloane

Well, cultural trends are one of the most difficult things to parse out.

Well, cultural trends are one of the most difficult things to parse out.

So part of it is we know that the number of dead is actually declining. Everybody knew somebody who had died in 1900. It's just part of the parcel of life. By 1950, 1960, not so much. The infant mortality rate, for instance, in 1890s New York City is something like 130 per thousand. And by the 1960s, that's going to be in the low teens.

So part of it is we know that the number of dead is actually declining. Everybody knew somebody who had died in 1900. It's just part of the parcel of life. By 1950, 1960, not so much. The infant mortality rate, for instance, in 1890s New York City is something like 130 per thousand. And by the 1960s, that's going to be in the low teens.

So part of it is we know that the number of dead is actually declining. Everybody knew somebody who had died in 1900. It's just part of the parcel of life. By 1950, 1960, not so much. The infant mortality rate, for instance, in 1890s New York City is something like 130 per thousand. And by the 1960s, that's going to be in the low teens.

So it's a really different thing. So it's easier to distance yourself. Yeah.

So it's a really different thing. So it's easier to distance yourself. Yeah.

So it's a really different thing. So it's easier to distance yourself. Yeah.

No, it was very intense and very public.

No, it was very intense and very public.

No, it was very intense and very public.

So the classic thing, Victoria. Victoria's beloved husband dies. She never wears anything but black for the rest of her life, right? And this is not unusual. In Italy or in England or in Italian neighborhoods in New York, it wasn't like you were a widow so you were on the open market for marriage. you were grieving for at least a year or two years.

So the classic thing, Victoria. Victoria's beloved husband dies. She never wears anything but black for the rest of her life, right? And this is not unusual. In Italy or in England or in Italian neighborhoods in New York, it wasn't like you were a widow so you were on the open market for marriage. you were grieving for at least a year or two years.

So the classic thing, Victoria. Victoria's beloved husband dies. She never wears anything but black for the rest of her life, right? And this is not unusual. In Italy or in England or in Italian neighborhoods in New York, it wasn't like you were a widow so you were on the open market for marriage. you were grieving for at least a year or two years.

There's whole etiquette books about how long you have to wear black and how you can then move to some parts are black and some parts aren't. I mean, there's a really intimate relationship with death and with the dead.

There's whole etiquette books about how long you have to wear black and how you can then move to some parts are black and some parts aren't. I mean, there's a really intimate relationship with death and with the dead.

There's whole etiquette books about how long you have to wear black and how you can then move to some parts are black and some parts aren't. I mean, there's a really intimate relationship with death and with the dead.

Yeah, but it's exactly the opposite. Where death becomes less part of your life, you hide more. And where death is really in your life, you actually embrace the realities of death more. Interesting. A quick example, the gay and lesbian community of the 1980s. During the HIV AIDS crisis, yeah. Right? I know people close to me who went to 50 funerals.

Yeah, but it's exactly the opposite. Where death becomes less part of your life, you hide more. And where death is really in your life, you actually embrace the realities of death more. Interesting. A quick example, the gay and lesbian community of the 1980s. During the HIV AIDS crisis, yeah. Right? I know people close to me who went to 50 funerals.

Yeah, but it's exactly the opposite. Where death becomes less part of your life, you hide more. And where death is really in your life, you actually embrace the realities of death more. Interesting. A quick example, the gay and lesbian community of the 1980s. During the HIV AIDS crisis, yeah. Right? I know people close to me who went to 50 funerals.