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→Beginnings of Post-Mortem Portraits and Photography
In the 1840s and much of the later 19th century, most people continued to die in their homes. Thus the tradition began where after a loved one had died the local photographer would be summoned to the house. Initially, families did not do much to make the deceased appear better or nice in the photograph. However, even poorer families began to develop a new taste for clothing or scenery to help remember their loved one. Different traditions did begin to emerge in Europe and the United States. In the US, families began to take photos and put them in boxes or mantels that would help remember the dead. In Europe, photographs were sometimes publically displayed to memorialize the deceased to others. Famous individuals such as Victor Hugo were photographed shortly after death with these photographs publically displayed.
By the late 19th century, photographs of the recently deceased became more elaborate. Now it was routine to even open the eyes of the dead and make them as living as possible in photographs. Families would even do family portraits with the diseased in them made to look like they are still living.
==Establishment of the Tradition==
