From Death To Preservation: How Morgues Came To Be EP.#3

Welcome back to another chilling episode of Morgue With Morg… where true crime, death history, and the macabre collide. 🖤⚰️

In Episode 3, we’re diving deep into the disturbing origins of morgues and uncovering the dark history behind how they came to be. From the first public morgues in Paris to the horrifying reality of bodies being displayed for entertainment, this episode explores how death became spectacle… and how modern morgues evolved from some truly twisted beginnings.

Did you know that in 19th-century Paris, thousands of people would line up DAILY just to stare at unidentified corpses behind glass windows? What began as a way to identify the dead quickly became one of the city’s most disturbing tourist attractions. We’re talking public autopsies, body displays, “death tourism,” and the eerie evolution of forensic science. (DesignMyNight)

If you love creepy history, dark facts, true crime, paranormal energy, abandoned asylums, haunted locations, mortuary science, and everything beautifully morbid… this episode is for you.

✨ Expect:
 • The terrifying origins of morgues
 • The Paris Morgue and public body displays
 • Victorian obsession with death
 • Early forensic science & identification methods
 • How morgues evolved into what we know today
 • The psychology behind humanity’s fascination with death

Welcome to the darker side of history… where the dead always have a story to tell.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Hey guys, welcome back. So this is episode three, and this is actually the first episode of my new rebrand, which is Morgue with Morgue. I used to be known as Philly Horragal. My first two episodes were Philly Horragal, but I just kept the two episodes because people were still downloading them, surprisingly. And I was like, if they're good, let them be. I am just going to start off episode three. It's been like almost I think it's been two years since I recorded my last episode, which is insane. It's been so long, and I just been having like dealing with life and all the things in between. And so I'm finally able to like get back at a place where I can sit down and record for you guys. And I wanted the episodes to be amazing, like something you'll like gain insight from. It's entertaining, it's spooky, it's dark, mysterious. And obviously the vibes are gonna remain the same. I am gonna be still doing paranormal, true crime, and horror. I just felt like Philly horror gal. Like it was a cool name, and it did stand out, but I felt like not really connected to it. Like I am from Philly, I do love horror, but I was just like, I don't know, I don't really say gal, like gal, like that's like a southern thing. Um, and I didn't want to say girl, like it just sounded weird. So I my whole life, like my name's Morgan, obviously. So I have been called Morgue my whole life, like even as a little kid, and when I was a little kid, it like traumatized me because I thought of like the morgue where people go when they die. So now it kind of has like a cool like twist to my name. So I was like, we need to do something with that, especially because I do talk a lot about the afterlife on here. I am gonna be getting into a lot of true crime, it almost like they pretty much almost tie in together. Not necessarily saying if you like true crime, you like paranormal, but I do feel like they are like cousins, so yeah. If you guys like true crime, horror, paranormal, that's gonna be all on my podcast of as well as my YouTube channel. Um, so yeah, I really can't wait. I have a lot of episodes aligned up. I've been trying to gather. So, you know what I'm saying? I'm really excited, but yeah, welcome back, my spooky babes. Um, this is Morgue with Morgue, where the vibes are dark, the stories are questionable, and today is actually a really interesting topic. Asking a very important question. Who looked at a dead body and actually had said, let's make a whole building for this? You know what I'm saying? Like, not even trying to be funny, but who started that? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, who started morgues, right? So I figured in today's episode, we're gonna be talking about how morgues came about, how the whole idea arised, and the very interesting yet very dark things that people would do back in the day. I don't even know how to word it. It's like I was reading up on this, and I'm just like, they used to do that, and people were sometimes still alive when they buried them. Like, what? Yeah, so we're gonna get into that in today's episode, and I figured it would be a great, you know, starting point because that's the name of you know the channel, and the podcast is morgue with morgue. So why not know where morgues actually like how they came about, right? You know what I mean? So, yeah, today uh we're just gonna be diving into Dark Strange and honestly, slightly, slightly unsettling history of morgues. So if you guys love all of that, keep watching. Definitely like, comment, share. If you're watching on YouTube, all the things, if you're listening to this, definitely let me know your thoughts in the comment review section and send it to a friend if they're into this type of stuff, because that is exactly what this whole channel is just spooky, creepy, unsettling, mysterious vibes. And it's funny because this is like the dark side of me. Like, I do love true crime. I get all into that in my I believe it's the first episode of my podcast, which I talked about like where the lore came from and like why I'm so obsessed with paranormal and true crime. So I mean this definitely this definitely um I don't even really know what to say. This is one that you just I can't even like I can't even like the more you dig deep into like the past and things and how things came about, you're like, what? Before morgues. Before, you know, the building came to be where that was the last place you went, um, before they actually buried you. Where like what you know, what were people doing prior to that? You know what I'm saying? So before the morgues existed, people just kept bodies. That's how we're starting this video. Sorry if I laugh. I know these like topics can be gruesome, and if I'm laughing, it's just just a nervous laugh. Like it's just because like I actually read that, like what? But yeah, they would keep bodies in their homes, in the streets. What? And um, I'm sorry, excuse me? What you kept them in your home? Like, what did you just put them in like the attic and called it a day or your crawl space, and you were just like, okay, like Aunt Sue, Mary, Liz, Joanna, they're all downstairs, like in the crawl space, Uncle Ed, you know, like I'm just that's absolutely creepy. Really cool fact, um, not completely off topic, but they say if you own a home and you have land and you have like relatives like buried there, it's considered a cemetery, and I believe it's like a tax write-off or some type of tax situation. And then so then your like homes then labeled like a cemetery. I don't know like the full details of that. That'd be actually a cool episode to do. Um, because there's people that do that, but I'm wondering if that was like so. Essentially, your home was the cemetery. So before Morguz exists before morgues existed, I'm assuming you just went in like your backyard somewhere, like that's where they essentially would bury you. And they said the streets too, which is like like you literally just walk them by and see dead people, like that's that's horrifying. But okay. So yeah, there was no re refrigeration, there was no system, there was no organization, just bad vibes, essentially. Like, imagine walking past someone and just oh, there's a body right there. I mean, I feel like I mean, not to take light of people who have drug addictions because that's a serious thing, but like if you go to Kensington right now, it looks like that. Like, there's just people that are like high out on the ground, you don't know if they're dead or not, which is really sad. Um, and I mean that's what I feel like this time would feel like essentially. I mean, maybe not as bad as Kensington, but I feel like you're just passing by the street and you just see like someone on the ground and you're like, yep, there's another one. Like, what? As I'm just, you know, trying to drink my coffee and have a nice, nice morning or whatever they used to do back in that time. It probably wasn't coffee, I don't know, whatever they drank back then. We'll get into that in another episode, but yeah, like just imagine like you're just walking past what your friend and you see a dead body on the ground, and I guess that was just normal to them. So I would be like, no, thank you. I need to move. Like, I am not trying to be looking at dead people on the ground. So, okay, this is kind of where I thought the story got interesting because this is where people during this time, the biggest fear at that time was being buried alive. Like, we're not talking, like they actually were dead and they were buried in that was it, or in their grandmom's backyard, wherever they used to bury people back then. Um, they actually were like, this was like a fear. Um, and it's where this gets crazier. Yeah, people were terrified of being buried alive because medicine back then, not exactly accurate. So sometimes people were declared dead when they actually were not dead. And I'm sorry, what do you mean? Like, that is my worst nightmare, I would think, as of today. Like, if you know, I was declared dead, but I really wasn't. So, like, imagine just waking up and it's dark, you can't move. Yeah, no, I would haunt everyone involved, literally everybody. All of you guys are getting haunted at this point, respectfully. Okay. So, because of this fear, they invented something called safety coffins. So I I actually kind of would be curious to know, like, the first person who was buried alive that didn't that wasn't in a safety coffin, like, I guess they just died eventually, but then like, how did you know? Like, no, like they had to have lived to tell the tale, right? Can you imagine? I would love to like that would be wait, I would love to interview someone that's been buried alive. No, but seriously, like what can you imagine? Like, that's absolutely crazy. So, yeah, safety coffin, which is exactly what it sounds like. These coffins would have bells attached. So if you woke up and you weren't deceased, right? You just woke up from a long nap or a deep comatose state, whatever. I don't even know how people back then just were like, Yep, this person's dead. They didn't answer like three times, so we're gonna just put them in the dirt, okay? But yeah, imagine like that, right? That's like horrifying. But yeah, so they would make coffins with bells, and essentially, if you woke up, you could ring this bell. I'm done. I'm just done. I'm actually done. So now we got people buried underground ringing bells, like, um, hello, ring, ring, ring, ring, not dead, get me out of here. Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, right? So, and someone is supposed to hear that in the middle of the night. Absolutely not. No, that sounds like a horror movie, like a straight up horror film. So, yeah, eventually like they actually would have people at night to listen out for bells. Like can you like imagine and then hear ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, like, oh, Sue isn't really dead. We gotta, we gotta get her out. She's not really dead. Oh, there's another bell. Oh, we gotta get another person. They're not really dead. We gotta go run and get them. Like, I oh god lord. But yeah, so now this is kind of where we're getting into the first morgue, right? Which I was like, I mean, so back then, like I said, before morgues existed, you literally were just thrown in the dirt. You might have been alive, you might have not have been alive, they weren't sure. Like I said, medicine wasn't really like up to par then, you know, the technology, you know, they just pronounce you dead if you didn't wake up. So just imagine, like I said, your uncle, your uncle Steve or Uncle Rom were just sleeping really, really sound. And, you know, they, you know, tried, hey, wake up, wake up, and you didn't wake up. They're like, okay, I guess he's dead. He's going in the dirt. I mean, maybe it wasn't that extreme, but I don't really know. But yeah, so eventually people were like, okay, we need a better system here because this just isn't working. We are burying people that are still alive. Um, it's, you know, the bells just aren't doing it, you know. Let's think of something better, right? So one of the first official morgues was actually established in Paris, if you will, Paris. And get this, it was open to the public. What? This is like when I was reading up on this, I was like, what in the hell? Like, I cannot. I cannot. The public. People would actually go to this, look at bodies like it was an attraction, like an art museum. Like they were just like, what do you want to do today? Let's go to the morgue and see the body exhibit, or whatever they would call it. Like, I ugh, like, I mean, there was a rational reason why they would do this, and then there was a unrational reason why they would do this. So they were called public viewings. So they actually would line bodies up like behind glass, and people would just walk by staring, you know, oh there's uh Earl from down the street, there's Rita, there's Rita from the the bakery, there's well, I'm I'm saying like these people, these people were French. So I don't know, Luminaire from you know the castle. Like, I don't freaking know. Like, literally just walking by, like, you know, we haven't seen him in a couple weeks. Well, there he is. That's that's why we haven't seen him. Yeah, so a lot of people would go to these to identify people that essentially were missing or they couldn't they were just wondering, like I said, you know, Marie Antoinette from down the block, let's go. Alright, she's she's here, she's in the exhibit, so she's deceased, right? And then, you know, people would just go because they were curious. Like, I mean, not gonna lie, I'd probably be one of those weirdos that's like, let's like what the f I actually don't know if I would do that. Like, I think that's so morbid. Um, but like I guess back then it was just normal, you know, to just go to these like public viewings and like it was just no big deal, you know what I mean? Like, I just I don't but yeah, some people would literally just go for entertainment. Um, I'm sorry, this is giving morbid curiosity vibes. Because they were like treating it like a field trip, essentially, you know what I'm saying? It's just like it's just like, hey guys, wanna go look at dead people today? Come on, we'll go, it'll be fun. It was like the real, like, you know how like they have haunted attractions nowadays where people jump out and scare you, and there's like, you know, creepy decorations and stuff. Like this essentially, I guess, was where that all run from. They're like, okay, well, we can't use real people nowadays, so we'll use props. But yeah, like, ugh, no, thank you. All right, so now getting into the refrigeration era, era, excuse me. Eventually, they introduced refrigeration, which I'm gonna be honest, thank God for that. Because before that, can you imagine the smell? I can't. Can't do it. We're not even gonna get into that, but this is when morgue started becoming more like we know them today. Organized, control, less chaotic, you know, just not you know, we could borrow like they're pronounced dead, they're they were just in a deep sleep, bells, smell, putting in the crawl space, having them on exhibit for fun to see if you know you were just curious about where your baker went or your your whoever, you know, your auntie, your m your grandma, whoever, like okay. So here's something interesting. Morgues didn't just change how we handled death, they changed how we see death. It became more hidden, which it should be, you know what I'm saying? Like, we shouldn't have like this out on display like it's a circus show, right? Like these are people who are deceased, like these are people who like they had they we give them some respect, you know, like you're putting them on display like they're an art show. This that's just fucking weird, right? However, um, it became more clinical, more distant, and honestly, that's probably why we are so uncomfortable with it now, essentially, right? Like, because it does feel like mysterious and you know what goes on now, like in the morgues, which I might get into that in a whole other episode, but like I said, for now, this was just how morgues came to be, why we created them and whatnot. So, why morgues feel creepy? Because let's be real, there's something about morgues that just feels off the silence, the cold, the idea of what's inside, and even if nothing is happening, your brain is still like, yeah, but what if it is, you know? And I'm sorry, I don't need that kind of stress in my life. You know what I'm saying? Okay, so me personally, if I ever had to be in a morgue alone, I'm talking to myself the entire time. Everything's fine, nobody's moving, we're good. Because the second I hear something, I'm gone, I'm out. I actually wanted to go investigate like a real morgue, like I thought that would be interesting. Um, I don't know like how I would do that. I've seen people on YouTube do it, but I'm guessing you have to like know somebody or get obviously some crazy permissions to do that. Um, but yeah, that would be pretty interesting. But yeah, today morgues are professional, they're respectful, they're necessary, they help identify people to solve crimes and bring closure to families. But the history behind them is very dark, strange, and honestly a little unhinged. So now I need to know did you already know any of this? Or are you sitting there like, yeah, I'm never thinking about coffins the same again because I'm definitely side-eyeing everything now. Okay, yeah, so if you made it this far, you're officially one of my little spooky besties, my little morgs, if you will. This is morgue with morgue. And babe, if you hear about tonight, you didn't. You didn't hear it, okay? You didn't hear it at all. So let me know your thoughts about this episode. I can't wait to dive into the next episode. I really want to do a series on morgues. I would like to get maybe a little more in-depth, but I do think that the history of it's just crazy, right? Like, who thought, like, let's just, you know, I mean a smart person thought that. A smart person thought that, not just like, you know what I mean? Like, let's just keep dead people just under the crawl space and in the field or you know, wherever. Like, I think it has come a long way. Technology's come a long way, you know, with all the things that we have to identify a person. And like I said, back then they did that like public viewing essentially, because there was no such thing as like identification. There was no such thing as, like I said, like if they I guess unless you were somebody famous back then, they didn't know who you were, and they were like, Alright, we found another one, put them in the wall or behind the the glass, we'll have someone claim them. And I mean, I think that's really sad when you think about it. Like, it's weird, but it's also sad too. Because imagine, like, if you lived by yourself or didn't have family, like, where were you just in the in behind the glass for ever? Like, you know what I mean? Like, or months until they were just like, alright, no one claimed this person, let's move on. Like, it's you know, like a piece of like food on like if you're going to a supermarket, like, alright, it's expired, let's move along. Like, I don't know, it's just definitely crazy. But let me know your thoughts on this. If you guys have any more intake on how morgues came to be, definitely like comment below. Let me know your thoughts. And this was a shorter episode, but I'm trying to like ease my way back into. To doing podcast episodes for you guys, and I hope you enjoyed. And until the next video, I'll see you then. Bye, guys.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

Have you seen my baby? She's not a dame nor a lady. Not in the way she walks, the way she talks, or the way she loves me. Just look at me. I'm like a monkey in a coconut tree. You know I'm overjoyed. Cause boy, oh boy, she's my cat.