The public filed past Elmer in his casket, looking every bit the soldier and nothing at all the decomposing body. Embalming received another boost four years later, when Abe Lincoln's embalmed body traveled from Washington to his hometown in Illinois. The train ride amounted to a promotional tour for funerary embalming, for wherever the train stopped, people came to view him, and more than a few must have noted that he looked a whole lot better in his casket than Grandmama had looked in hers. Word spread and the practice grew, like a chicken heart, and soon the whole nation was sending their decedents in to be posed and preserved.
The public mourned Elmer as they passed by his casket, where his appearance resembled that of a soldier rather than a decaying corpse. This moment marked a notable shift in the perception of embalming, which gained significant traction four years later when President Abraham Lincoln's embalmed body was transported from Washington to Illinois. The journey became a promotional showcase for embalming, attracting crowds who could not help but compare Lincoln's preserved state favorably with that of their own deceased loved ones.
As news of Lincoln's impressive appearance spread, embalming surged in popularity across the nation. Families began to have their deceased prepared for viewing, leading to a widespread cultural acceptance of the practice. This shift indicated a growing societal interest in preserving the bodies of loved ones for public farewell, which had previously been less common. The trend soon transformed into a standard practice, altering funeral customs significantly in the United States.
