<DIV><p>In 1933 the Sayers & Scovill Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio and The Eureka Co. of Rock Falls, Illinois, introduced a daring new departure in funeral car design. This stunning, semi-streamlined new hearse design featured richly-carved imitation drapery panels&mdash;complete with folds, fringes, tassels and tieback cords&mdash;on the sides and rear of the car. The artistic, carved-panel hearse swept the industry overnight. Soon every major funeral coachbuilder in America (with one notable exception) introduced highly individualistic carved-panel hearses of their own design. A less ornate second-generation carved funeral coach that featured stylized gothic-panel church windows instead of faux draperies was introduced in the late 1930s and both types remained until 1948. The classic era of the carved hearse has never been equaled in terms of impressive beauty and artistic individuality, here featured exquisitely in impressive large archival photographs. It was a brief but nonetheless spectacular period of stylistic expression and custom coachcraft&mdash;the likes of which we shall never see again.</p></DIV>