If you’ve ever sat across from a funeral director and heard the word “embalming,” you may have felt two things at once: curiosity and uncertainty. Some families picture an old-fashioned practice that belongs to a different era. Others assume it’s required, or that it’s primarily about “making someone look like themselves” for a viewing. The truth is more nuanced, and—like so much in end-of-life care—rooted in both history and practical needs.
Modern embalming in the United States didn’t begin as a routine funeral step. It became widely visible because of war, travel, and the deep human desire to bring someone home. Over time, it helped reshape the funeral industry itself: where funerals happened, who provided care, what families expected, and what choices felt “normal.” Understanding that story can make today’s decisions feel less mysterious, and more like what they really are: options.
Before the Civil War: Embalming Existed, But It Wasn’t “Funeral Practice” Yet
Long before embalming became associated with American funerals, body preservation methods existed for religious, cultural, and scientific reasons. In the U.S. and Europe, early chemical preservation was often tied to anatomy and medical study rather than family rituals. Techniques varied widely, and the goals were different: preserving a body for examination, transport, or display rather than supporting a public visitation for loved ones.
By the mid-1800s, experiments with arterial injection had already begun influencing what would become modern technique. The National Museum of Civil War Medicine notes that French chemist Jean Gannal introduced a method in the late 1830s that injected preservatives into an artery—an approach that looks familiar today in its basic logic, even if the chemicals and standards have changed dramatically. That early “arterial” idea mattered because it created a repeatable, teachable method. In other words, it was a technique that could scale.
The Civil War: The Moment Embalming Became a Public Need
The Civil War turned private loss into a national reality. Soldiers often died far from home, and families who wanted burial in a hometown cemetery faced a grim barrier: time. Without preservation, transportation was limited and often impossible. Embalming—temporary preservation through injected chemicals—became a way to buy days when days mattered.
That demand didn’t stay abstract. It turned into a visible, sometimes controversial business that followed armies and families. According to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Dr. Thomas Holmes (often called the “father of modern embalming” in the American context) offered embalming services during the war, and the practice spread rapidly as families sought to reclaim the dead for burial at home. The museum describes how Holmes embalmed thousands of soldiers and how embalming became both sought-after and criticized—respected as a service, resented when it looked like profiteering.
This is where the emotional engine of the story lives. Embalming wasn’t popular because Americans suddenly developed a taste for it. It spread because it answered a painful question with a practical possibility: “Can we bring him back?” Even when the answer was imperfect, even when it was expensive, the ability to transport someone’s body home changed what families believed was possible.
Lincoln’s Funeral Train and the Power of Seeing
If the Civil War made embalming useful, Abraham Lincoln’s death made it unforgettable. Lincoln’s funeral rituals were not small, private affairs. They were national mourning on a scale the country had never seen—viewings, public processions, and a funeral train that carried his body across multiple states. The sheer visibility mattered: millions of Americans saw an embalmed body presented for public respects, and it reshaped expectations.
The Library of Congress explains that for many Americans, Lincoln’s funeral was their first exposure to an embalmed body, and his preserved appearance left a lasting impression on the public imagination. In a similar vein, Smithsonian Magazine describes how Lincoln’s death helped move embalming from wartime necessity into peacetime custom—partly because it reinforced a new idea of what a “proper” farewell could look like.
That matters for families today, because so much of modern funeral practice is still shaped by this cultural memory: the belief that seeing the body can be part of acceptance, and that time—time for travel, time for gathering, time for a viewing—can be part of care. Whether a family wants that or not is personal. But the reason it became common in the first place is not random. It grew from a very specific moment in American history.
From Battlefield Service to Funeral Industry Standard
Once embalming had proven itself as a practical solution, it didn’t disappear when the war ended. It migrated into civilian life, and it helped shift death care from the home to professionals. The Library of Congress points out that embalming’s growth contributed to body preparation moving away from families and into the hands of licensed undertakers. That shift wasn’t only about chemicals. It was about a changing nation: growing cities, different housing patterns, and new expectations about hygiene, scheduling, and public services.
Professionalization followed. Trade groups formed, training became more formal, and equipment and supplies became an industry of their own. The Library of Congress also notes that the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) was formed in 1882—an important milestone in the emergence of funeral service as an organized profession in the United States.
When you step into a modern funeral home today, you’re seeing the long-term outcome of those shifts: facilities built for preparation and visitation, a staff trained for care and logistics, and a system designed to coordinate timelines—especially when families are traveling, when paperwork is required, and when services are planned over several days.
How Chemistry Changed Embalming: From Arsenic to Modern Fluids
It’s important to name an uncomfortable truth: the chemicals used historically were often hazardous. In the 1800s and early 1900s, arsenic solutions were commonly used, even though they posed risks to the people handling them. A peer-reviewed overview in PubMed Central explains that arsenic was frequently used as an embalming fluid in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but was later supplanted by formaldehyde-based solutions.
That transition is part of why “embalming” today is not the same thing it was in the Civil War era. The University of Michigan Clements Library notes that chemical advances—including the adoption of formaldehyde to replace arsenic-based fluids—improved the process. Modern embalming is also shaped by regulation, licensing, protective equipment, ventilation standards, and workplace safety practices that simply did not exist in the 1860s.
Families don’t need to become chemistry experts to make decisions—but it helps to understand the arc: embalming became common before modern safety standards existed, and it evolved as the profession evolved. If your hesitation about embalming is rooted in concerns about chemicals, that’s not a strange worry. It’s part of the practice’s history, and it’s one reason some families explore alternatives.
What Embalming Is Today, In Plain Language
In modern funeral homes, embalming is typically a temporary preservation process that helps slow physical changes after death and can support a calm, dignified presentation for viewing. It’s often paired with other preparation steps—washing, dressing, hair care, and light cosmetics—depending on what the family wants and what is appropriate.
If you want a straightforward explanation of what happens and why, Funeral.com has two resources families often find calming: What Really Happens During Embalming? A Plain-Language Walkthrough for Families and What Is Embalming, Really? History, Process, and When Families Can Say No. The goal in both is the same: to help you make a decision based on understanding, not assumptions.
One of the most helpful mental shifts is this: embalming does not “stop” death. It is not permanent, and it is not a guarantee of a certain appearance. It is a tool that can help when time, travel, and viewing plans require extra support. For some families, that tool feels aligned with the kind of goodbye they want. For others, it doesn’t—and that is equally valid.
Do You Have to Embalm? The Legal and Practical Reality
Many families are surprised to learn that embalming is usually not legally required. The Federal Trade Commission states that embalming is not required by law except in certain special cases, and that you typically have the right to choose arrangements that do not require embalming—such as direct cremation or immediate burial.
In everyday terms, the decision often comes down to what you want the days immediately after death to look like. If you want a public visitation with an open casket, or if the schedule involves longer delays, embalming may be recommended or required by the funeral home’s policies. If your preference is a simpler timeline or a private goodbye, refrigeration or other forms of care may be offered instead.
- Families often choose embalming when they want a viewing, when relatives are traveling and timing is uncertain, or when a service is planned several days out.
- Families often decline embalming when they prefer minimal intervention, when they are choosing direct cremation or immediate burial, or when faith and cultural practices emphasize prompt burial.
None of this is about “right” versus “wrong.” It is about matching the plan to the family.
Where Embalming Fits in Today’s Landscape: Cremation, Urns, and Memorial Choices
One reason embalming has become less automatic in many communities is that disposition choices have changed. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the U.S. cremation rate was projected to be 63.4% in 2025, with long-term growth continuing. The Cremation Association of North America reports a U.S. cremation rate of 61.8% in 2024. Those numbers reflect a larger trend: more families are planning services in ways that don’t require embalming, or they are choosing memorial services without the body present.
That is also where families encounter a different set of decisions—decisions that can feel surprisingly emotional in their own way. If cremation is your path, you may find yourself looking at cremation urns and realizing how many styles and sizes exist, from a primary urn to keepsake urns designed for sharing. You may also be considering cremation jewelry—especially cremation necklaces—as a way to keep a small portion close, while the main urn stays in a home memorial or is placed in a cemetery niche.
For families who want to browse calmly and build a plan one step at a time, these Funeral.com collections are designed to make comparisons easier without turning the experience into a hard sell: cremation urns for ashes, small cremation urns, and keepsake urns. If you’re planning for a beloved companion, the parallel choices matter just as much: pet urns and pet urns for ashes, including pet cremation urns in figurine styles and pet keepsake urns for sharing or creating multiple memorial spaces.
If jewelry is part of the plan, you can explore cremation jewelry and cremation necklaces, and read Cremation Jewelry 101 if you want a practical explanation of how these pieces work and what questions prevent regret.
Funeral Planning Today: The Decision Is Less “Tradition” and More “Fit”
When families ask, “Do we need embalming?” they’re often asking a bigger question: “What are we trying to create?” A funeral with a viewing is one kind of goodbye. A memorial service weeks later is another. A private gathering at home is another. In 2026, funeral planning is increasingly about building a plan that fits the family’s schedule, beliefs, and budget—rather than following a single default model.
Costs influence these choices, too, and it is reasonable to look at the numbers without feeling cold-hearted. The National Funeral Directors Association reports national median costs that many families use as a starting benchmark (for example, a funeral with viewing and burial compared with a funeral with cremation). If you want a practical walk-through of price components and what tends to increase totals, Funeral.com’s guide how much does cremation cost is designed to help families understand common fees without overwhelm.
For many families, the most “modern” approach is not radical at all. It is simply honest: choosing what feels right. If keeping the body present for a viewing supports grief and closure, embalming may be part of that plan. If it does not, you can plan differently—and still have a meaningful service. If cremation is chosen, the next questions are often about home placement, sharing, and timing. Funeral.com’s guide on keeping ashes at home addresses legal and practical considerations in a steady, family-first way, and the guide on water burial helps families who are drawn to a ceremony connected to the ocean or a beloved shoreline.
If you’re still deciding what to do with ashes, it can help to treat the decision as a plan rather than a purchase: where will the main urn live, will anyone want a keepsake, and will scattering or a water ceremony happen now or later? Many families start by reading How to Choose a Cremation Urn so the options feel understandable instead of endless.
Why This History Still Matters
The Civil War did not invent grief, and it did not invent the desire to bring someone home. What it did—through sheer scale and distance—was make preservation a practical necessity, and then a public story. Lincoln’s funeral made that story national. The late 1800s turned that story into an industry with training and standards. The 1900s turned it into something many families assumed was “just what you do.”
And now, families are returning to a more personal question: what do we want, and what do we not want? That question is not a rejection of tradition. It is, in many ways, a return to the core purpose of funeral care: dignity, time, and a goodbye that fits the people who are living through it.
If you’re making these decisions now—whether you are planning ahead or grieving in real time—your best guide is clarity. Learn what embalming is, what it is not, and what alternatives exist. Ask for the reasons behind recommendations. Build a plan that matches your values and your timeline. Whether you choose embalming, decline it, select cremation, or plan a memorial weeks later, you are allowed to choose what feels steady.
And if you want a practical starting point for the broader logistics, Funeral.com’s How to Plan a Funeral in 2025 guide is written to help families move from confusion to a workable plan—one decision at a time, without pressure.
