# Hearse: What's the deal with the scroll symbol on the side? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690 "2004-06-10T19:56:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pessor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pessor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pessor)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/1 "2004-06-10T19:56:35Z")
In watching the Presidential funeral proceedings at lunch yesterday, this was the discussion that some friends and I were having. I’ve seen plenty of hearses in my life, and they all seem to have that semi-“s” shaped scroll where the side windows would be. Is this tradition? Decoration? Any clues would be appreciated! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/2 "2004-06-10T20:05:02Z")
I belive I’ve heard that it’s supposed to look like what they used to use to lower the coffin into the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/3 "2004-06-10T20:10:52Z")
[Here](http://www.themarksite.com/hearse/contributors_pictures/hearse15b.jpg) is a picture in case some people can’t visualize what the OP is asking. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/4 "2004-06-10T20:13:37Z")
I think those are called landau bars. Here’s a picture, though in this case not on a hearse.[landau bars](http://www.hubcapcafe.com/ocs/pages01/bird6502.htm) The ones you refer to are decorative but at one time landau bars were used to raise the top of the hearse, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/5 "2004-06-10T20:16:35Z")
**Cub Mistress** has it right, at least according to a hearse enthusiast organization. From [here](http://www.professionalcar.org/index.html) > [@](#): > > For the 1938 model year Sayers & Scovill introduced the industry’s first landau or victoria-style hearse, featuring a heavily-padded leather or vinyl roof with a blind quarter panel decorated by S-shaped irons inspired by those used to lower the tops on horsedrawn victorias in the 19th Century. ---
**Author:** ![Pessor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pessor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pessor)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/6 "2004-06-10T20:35:54Z")
Thanks for all that. But I guess I’m wondering why they still bother. Is there such thing as changing the design, or will hearses always look the same? Must be just as traditional as wearing a tie to a funeral. We just thought it was odd. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/7 "2004-06-10T22:41:24Z")
If I recall correctly, when Harold customized his Jag into a hearse in “Harold & Maude”, landau bars were part of the package… ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/8 "2004-06-11T01:24:17Z")
Didn’t Harold have a Corvette? ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/9 "2004-06-11T02:38:23Z")
The hearse was a Jag: "She has his hearse demolished and buys him a Jaguar; he turns it into the best-looking hearse I have ever seen. " from: [http://www.geocities.com/evil\_spoon/haroldandm71.htm](http://www.geocities.com/evil_spoon/haroldandm71.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/10 "2004-06-11T03:21:17Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > If I recall correctly, when Harold customized his Jag into a hearse in “Harold & Maude”, landau bars were part of the package… Ah, Harold and Maude!! ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/11 "2004-06-11T07:18:24Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > If I recall correctly, when Harold customized his Jag into a hearse in “Harold & Maude”, landau bars were part of the package… [Quite so…](http://www.templeofazrael.org/images/Jag-Hear.jpg) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/12 "2004-06-11T15:30:55Z")
> [@Pessor](#): > > Is there such thing as changing the design, or will hearses always look the same? Must be just as traditional as wearing a tie to a funeral. We just thought it was odd. I’m going to guess that the landau bar is an iconic association with the funerary industry. I assume it to be akin to the barber pole and the three balls for pawn brokers. They have no real connection to us today, but in the past they were probably more widely recognized. Now those sorts of things have a cultural inertia behind them that keeps them going, even if the origin is lost on most of us. ---
**Author:** ![Pessor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pessor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pessor)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/13 "2004-06-15T11:15:48Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > I’m going to guess that the landau bar is an iconic association with the funerary industry. I assume it to be akin to the barber pole and the three balls for pawn brokers. They have no real connection to us today, but in the past they were probably more widely recognized. Now those sorts of things have a cultural inertia behind them that keeps them going, even if the origin is lost on most of us. Excellent analogy, **adam yax**! Thank you for that… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearse-whats-the-deal-with-the-scroll-symbol-on-the-side/249690/14 "2004-06-15T17:38:39Z")
> [@Pessor](#): > > I’m wondering why they still bother. As **adam yax** says, cultural inertia is a powerful thing. I’m guessing we’ll still be saying we “dial” a phone number for decades after the last person who stuck his finger in a hole in a rotating disc on the front of a telephone has died.