Baltimore, Maryland

Burial or Cremation?  If someone is cremated, the problem becomes what to do with the ashes, or cremains. Option 2: Bury the ashes above ground. The advantage is that you have to buy only a burial niche. The disadvantages are (a) you get only a small tableau on which to recount the person's virtues and (b) you get a home that looks very vulnerable to the vertical. Let's hope this is not an earthquake-prone area. New Cathedral Cemetery. [2014]

Chicago, Illinois

Burial or Cremation?  If someone is cremated, the problem becomes what to do with the ashes. Option 1: Bury the ashes below ground. Burial of cremains seems to be out of favor, however. The advantage is that you join your ancestors, most of whom are underground simply because that was the time-honored way of disposing of the dead. The disadvantage is that your remains will be underground and you didn't like that idea to begin with. What are the other options? Graceland Cemetery. [2015]

San Diego, California

Burial or Cremation? Postindustrial cemeteries are constantly looking for new ways to turn a profit. Voila! Private Estates. They may take the form of a family mausoleum, but the current trend is to fence- or hedge-off a small "cemetery within a cemetery" for a single family. They are usually designed to receive either remains or cremains. Greenwood Cemetery. [2013]

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Burial or Cremation?  That price is probably for the burial space alone, not for opening the grave or the funeral. Remember that the purchase of a burial space does not mean you own the land, you own a single-use permit to use the land for burial in perpetuity. Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens. [2014]

Brunswick, Georgia

Burial or Cremation?  Billboards can be used to advertise anything, including cremation. Rarely, though do you see them advertising cemeteries themselves. What factors determine whether a person is buried or cremated? And, if cremated, whether the ashes are buried or scattered? [2012]

Huntington, West Virginia

Burial or Cremation?  Some institutions are promoting cremation as a less costly alternative to burial. Here is a billboard that tries to persuade the pre-dead and the dead's survivors. Embedded in the message is an affirming vocabulary that shapes the narrative: society (as in high), tri-state (as in widely popular), affordable (as in not cheap), licensee (as in we can be trusted), new (as in get with the times). Then, there is the arboreal element: What do you make of the tree with deep roots? [2014]

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Burial or Cremation?  Compare the price of an immediate cremation and a traditional burial. How would you do that? By reading the advertisements on the sides of Albuquerque's buses. Today, however, cremation costs an average of $1100. And the price on the bus for a traditional burial does not include the funeral, which will run the bill up to an average of $11,000. Of course, it might be cheaper if you pre-plan. [2017]