Halloween Decor Looks Back to Our Victorian Past

As South Orange residents decorate for Halloween, a popular motif is faux gravestones, leaning this way and that, spaced around the yard. These are especially appropriate in front of Victorian homes, for it was the Victorians who popularized the “rural” cemetery that inspires such décor. One local answer to London’s Highgate Cemetery, the epitome of Victorian death culture, is Fairmount Cemetery, just over the border in Newark, and visible from South Orange Avenue.

Newark has a number of cemeteries, whose rich history reflects Newark’s own past. NewarkHistory.com explains that, until the 1820s, the Old Burying Ground downtown was where the deceased were laid to rest. By 1858, no new cemeteries were permitted within the bustling center, and cemeteries were established on the edge of the city. A note in the Newark Daily Advertiser reads, “The rural cemetery has superseded all other forms of sepulture, as being not only better adapted to the purpose, but as affording greater certainty that the remains of the dead will remain undisturbed by the extension of the city."

Fairmount Cemetery opened in 1855, as a non-sectarian resource, Victorian in style and influence. It offers wide spaces between graves, curving paths and shaded areas. Families strolled and picnicked there. A note in the Newark Daily Advertiser featured its wilderness views: “The situation of the Cemetery is very fine, within the city, yet overlooking the beautiful country toward the Orange mountains. From the gateway, with its neat cottage lodge, winding avenues lead past and around reserved circular plots, tastefully planted with shade trees… The lots are carefully enclosed and neatly kept, and each year adds to their beauty.”

My source at Fairmount tells me that there are no ghosts in the place, but there are famous burials, including Harriet Adams, pseudonymous author of many books in the Nancy Drew series and a few in the Hardy Boys series; a number of prominent Newark brewers; James Fairman Fielder, governor of New Jersey from 1913 to 1917; Clara Maass, a nurse who died as a result of volunteering for medical experiments to study yellow fever; Gerhard Heinrich Mennen and William Heinrich Mennen of the Mennen Corporation, both of whom reportedly lived in South Orange; and the Stengels, Charles and Annie, both of whom survived the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. There is also a large section dedicated to Civil War soldiers. If there were ghosts about, they would be interesting to meet.

The Victorian monuments—which our Halloween decorations seem to emulate—had a code of their own. The elaborate carvings and detailed figures had significance, and it’s interesting to view Halloween decorations with those meanings in mind. A partial list follows. See if you can crack the code of Fairmount’s finest monuments and local decorations, as well. And if you’d like more history, historian Jeffrey Bennett , who took these wonderful photos, offers a seasonal walking tour peopled with memories, the next best thing to a ghost.

Obelisks represent eternal life.
Draped palls represent sorrow.
A cut tree represents a short life.
Ivy represents long memory and friendship
An anchor represents hope
A rock that serves as the base of a monument symbolizes a firm religious foundation.
A lion represents bravery.
Clasped hands, pointing fingers represent the afterlife.
Wheat or a sickle suggest “reaping” the afterlife.
Trees can represent human life; the willow is a symbol of mourning.

Thanks to www.morbidoutlook.com/art for the info, which I also found in an untitled pamphlet I received at London's Highgate Cemetery.