Product Review

On average over 5000 people die in America every day. And with a standard funeral costing over $5000 death in America is big business. In this unique program MODERN MARVELS takes a long hard look at the funerary industry. With insights from insiders such as the President of Quiring Monuments and the Senior Vice President of Operations for Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks and Mortuaries find out what's involved behind the scenes when someone dies. Historians reveal how cultural attitudes about death have evolved over time and how economics has long been integrated into these views--the ancient Greeks for example put coins on the eyes of the deceased to pay the required tolls for entering the afterlife. Nowadays a basic casket will cost a deceased person's family thousands of dollars while more elaborate arrangements such as sending ashes into orbit around the moon are far more expensive. CEMETERIES is a thought-provoking profile of one of the most stable and lucrative industries in America.