In the old days when a person was "in mourning" how long did they stay that way?

Answer 1

Till about midday, just like today!

Answer 2

It pretty much depended on the individual and upon their standing in society. Queen Victoria wore mourning clothes for years following the death of her husband, while others mourned for a year and still others got on with life after a few months. The poorer you were, the less time you spent mourning.

Answer 3

It depended on for whom, but it was usually at least six months, and, for close family members, especially a spouse, at least a year--a "decent interval." (You'll notice that many people even today feel uncomfortable about anyone's remarrying less than a year after the death of a spouse.) Some widows, especially those widowed in later life, stayed in mourning for the rest of their lives. Queen Victoria, who was only forty-two when Prince Albert died, wore mourning for him until her death thirty-nine years later.

Answer 4

if, by the "old days" you mean Victorian times, it depended on your relationship to the deceased. Specific periods of time were considered appropriate for mourning. A widow was expected to mourn her husband for at least two years. Deep mourning lasted one year, and required not only an all-black wardrobe, but also an extremely circumscribed social life. Jewelry was generally not worn the first year. After one year of deep mourning, a widow progressed to half-mourning, and could trade her black crepe dress for a silk one. Half-mourning allowed for jewelry made of pearls, amethysts, black cut glass, and jet. A popular trend was to incorporate a lock of the deceased's hair into mourning jewelry. After a year of half-mourning, a widow could freely wear any color, although many followed the lead of Queen Victoria and remained in black for the rest of their lives.


No other relation was mourned quite so long as a spouse. Parents who lost a child wore deep mourning for nine months and half-mourning for three. Children mourned deceased parents for a similar length of time. The death of a sibling required three months of deep and three months of half-mourning. The deaths of in-laws, aunts and uncles, cousins, and other relatives each demanded some degree of public mourning, ranging from six weeks to three months. It was not unusual for an individual to spend the better part of a year dressed in mourning for one departed relative after another.

Answer 5

It depended on the society and who died. I've read somewhere that the Hebrew were supposed to mourn for seven or so days when a woman died and thirty or so for a man. Sexist, yes, but that was back two thousand years or so.

Answer 6

a year

Answer 7

I heard If you were a widow you'd be in morning for at least a year and should mostly wear black or other similar dark colors

Answer 8

til they felt better