Ralph Schugar's Aerial Hearse, a Ford Tri-Motor 4-AT-52 Airplane, Curtiss-Bettis Airport, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1931

Summary

Operators adapted Ford Tri-Motor airplanes for every imaginable use. Pittsburgh mortician Ralph Schugar earned a pilot's license and turned his Tri-Motor into an aerial hearse. The death of a loved one is never easy, particularly when it occurs far from home. Schugar's unusual service reduced wait time and worry for the survivors, at a cost comparable to railroad transport.

Operators adapted Ford Tri-Motor airplanes for every imaginable use. Pittsburgh mortician Ralph Schugar earned a pilot's license and turned his Tri-Motor into an aerial hearse. The death of a loved one is never easy, particularly when it occurs far from home. Schugar's unusual service reduced wait time and worry for the survivors, at a cost comparable to railroad transport.

Artifact

Photographic print

Date Made

09 June 1931

Subject Date

09 June 1931

 On Exhibit

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

64.167.18.27

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 4.75 in

Width: 7.125 in

Inscriptions

Ink stamp on back of image: Harry V. Campbell, / 573 Texas Ave. Annex / Duquesne, Pa.

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