Creepiest thing of the day award

I was gonna do a bunch of research, and put my own words around this subject. But I figure that it is much easier to quote a small snippet of information and give you guys a link to where you can find more information. So here goes:

"The invention of the daguerreotype in 1839 made portraiture much more commonplace, as many of those who were unable to afford the commission of a painted portrait could afford to sit for a photography session. This cheaper and quicker method also provided the middle class with a means for memorializing dead loved ones.

These photographs served less as a reminder of mortality than as a keepsake to remember the deceased. This was especially common with infants and young children; Victorian era childhood mortality rates were extremely high, and a post-mortem photograph might be the only image of the child the family ever had. The later invention of the carte de visite, which allowed multiple prints to be made from a single negative, meant that copies of the image could be mailed to relatives."

Basically what it is getting at, is often. Once a family member was dead. They would be dressed up as a living person, often with eyeballs painted over their eyelids in order to make them seem alive.