So...you want to relive the funeral of your dearly departed? The folks at Hofmann Mortuary, Denver got ya covered, with a 78rpm recording of the service!
Yes folks, this Colorado-related record find actually had me gaping like a Rocky Mountain trout, when I spotted it.
Apparently Hofmann provided the families of the deceased with a souvenir of the funeral. No clue how many of these recordings exist. I did a pretty exhaustive search, to find out if other funeral homes also did this, and could find no other.
According to the Colorado Funeral Directors Association, Hofmann Mortuary was originally located at 301 Broadway (1906), then later relocated to 601 Broadway (1921). It stayed in business, until 1964, when the property was demolished, to make way for office buildings.
Founder Caspar Hofmann passed away in 1957.
Sadly, there are no photos of the original business. According to another site, the building had "a pitched roof, with light and medium dark blond brick. On the front was a Hofmann sign, with clock in the center of 'Hofmann (clock) Mortuary'. The was neon lit in soft neon colors, the clock also had a swing pendulum."
This is incredibly fascinating. I'm researching a colorful character Bishop Oscar Einarsen who's funeral service was at the Hofmann Mortuary on September 24, 1940 at 10:00 A.M. It's probably a long shot, but any suggestions on the possibility of tracking down any additional records the mortuary would have had?
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