# The famous crypts in Hollywood. How do they control odors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2018, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-crypts-in-hollywood-how-do-they-control-odors/806007 "2018-01-06T22:55:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-crypts-in-hollywood-how-do-they-control-odors/806007/21 "2018-01-10T00:22:42Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Just curious why you think this is particularly associated with Hollywood? It seems to be a common internment practice, at least across Southern California. I’m assuming it is widespread elsewhere as well. It’s also common in Florida and Louisiana where the water table’s too high for burial to be practical; though usually the mausoleums are much smaller (for only one family or one person). ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-crypts-in-hollywood-how-do-they-control-odors/806007/22 "2018-01-10T00:53:23Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Can’t watch videos at the moment. Whose channel? (I’ll be able to check in half a day, but I’m curious now.) Caitlin Doughty’s Ask A Motician channel. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-crypts-in-hollywood-how-do-they-control-odors/806007/23 "2018-01-10T01:37:00Z")
Sweet! I definitely need to check that out. I loved her first book and didn’t know she’d written a second, so I have to do that, too. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-crypts-in-hollywood-how-do-they-control-odors/806007/24 "2018-01-10T01:42:57Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > This answers your question exactly…including the hollywood angle. > > > Beware, her youtube channel is fascinating; its a rabbit hole. We’ll see you back her in several hours. What a perfect answer to the OP. And that is far more engaging than it should be. I particularly “enjoyed” the shot of the crypt that had had an exploded casket inside. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-crypts-in-hollywood-how-do-they-control-odors/806007/25 "2018-01-10T10:32:21Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Just curious why you think this is particularly associated with Hollywood? It seems to be a common internment practice, at least across Southern California. I’m assuming it is widespread elsewhere as well. I’ve only seen large indoor mausoleums in News footage of celebrity funerals. The most recent was Hugh Hefner a few weeks ago. He’s resting comfortably next to Marilyn Monroe. There used to be a Hollywood celebrity death tour that got attention on shows like ET. Some guy drove tourists around showing where famous people dropped dead and where they were interred. I realize big mausoleums are a thing in other cities. I just never saw them. We have crypts locally. They are small structures usually surrounded by traditional graves. A wealthy family built the crypt for their use. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-crypts-in-hollywood-how-do-they-control-odors/806007/26 "2018-01-10T12:27:55Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Curse you! I just fell down that rabbit hole! Word. When I go I want a mortician like her. If her hair was longer she’d have a whole Morticia Addams vibe going. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-crypts-in-hollywood-how-do-they-control-odors/806007/27 "2018-01-10T13:43:19Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Just curious why you think this is particularly associated with Hollywood? It seems to be a common internment practice, at least across Southern California. I’m assuming it is widespread elsewhere as well. Yes, I was wondering the same thing. I worked for a couple of years at a mortuary in Oakland, which was down the street from [Mountain View Cemetery](https://www.google.com/search?q=mountain+view+cemetery+ca&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS751US752&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG5Oirwc3YAhVL2FMKHRv7CwQQ_AUICygC&biw=1536&bih=734), which has–in addition to regular graves–mausoleums and crypts, (including the crypt of the [Bechtel family](http://mountainviewpeople.blogspot.com/2010/05/stephen-bechtel-1900-1989-influential.html)). On the job I ended up there from time to time, and noticed that some of the burial sites there go back over a century, so these sites would pre-date Hollywood celebrity crypts. I doubt they have all the modern technology mentioned in the video posted above. Nevertheless, I don’t ever recall any bad smells. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-crypts-in-hollywood-how-do-they-control-odors/806007/28 "2018-01-10T14:08:04Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve only seen large indoor mausoleums in News footage of celebrity funerals. The most recent was Hugh Hefner a few weeks ago. He’s resting comfortably next to Marilyn Monroe. > > There used to be a Hollywood celebrity death tour that got attention on shows like ET. Some guy drove tourists around showing where famous people dropped dead and where they were interred. > > I realize big mausoleums are a thing in other cities. I just never saw them. > We have crypts locally. They are small structures usually surrounded by traditional graves. A wealthy family built the crypt for their use. OK, so you are using Hollywood as an example or reference point, rather than an association. Thx. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-crypts-in-hollywood-how-do-they-control-odors/806007/29 "2018-01-11T00:34:22Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > It seems to be a common internment practice[…] It’s “interment.” I wouldn’t have bothered to correct a typo except that “internment” is also a word, and it means something quite different. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-crypts-in-hollywood-how-do-they-control-odors/806007.md?page=1)