The Panhandle Plains Historical Museum's Pioneer Town is home to some of the most unique history exhibits in the Panhandle.
One of the most fascinating exhibits is something you might not expect: The history of furniture stores and funeral homes being in the same building.
"Furniture dealers served dual purposes in terms of burial furniture," said the museums Curator of Art Michael Grauer. "Furniture for the afterlife, so to speak."
These furniture dealers/undertakers were located in cities throughout the entire Panhandle. So why were they put together? Grauer said craftsmen were able to create the coffins in addition to furniture because they weren't specialized at the time.
"It was one stop shopping so to speak," he said. "You could get everything that you needed at the furniture store and maybe while you are there, you might be able to buy a chair at the same time. As I said before, it was multi-tasking."
Those days are now long gone. Furniture stores and funeral homes are now usually separate.
More information on this exhibit and many other is at http://panhandleplains.org.
