Embalming Surgeon

Portrayed by impressionists Ralph Aitkin, he provides an informative yet respectful insight into the techniques of embalming. Demand for the practice grew significantly during the Civil War when there was a need to preserve the dead for a long journey home. 

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Civilian Embalming Surgeon Ralph Aitkin explains the practice of embalming during the Civil War to onlookers.

When the embalming was complete, the body was placed, along personal belongings, in a wooden box usually lined with zinc. A civilian embalming surgeon would often “set up shop” near field hospitals. Early fees for embalming were $50 for an officer, $25 for an enlisted man, but as demand increased, those figures rose to $80 and $30. Making far more in this “private practice” than military surgeons, distain and rivalry between these practitioners grew. Doc Peters and Surgeon Aitkin will sometimes do a play act on this historic tension to the amusement of spectators.