A Short History of Lachrymatory Bottles

Perhaps the earliest reference to tear bottles is in the Book of Psalms 56:8 when David prays to God asking, “Thou tellest my wanderings, put thou my tears in Thy bottle; are they not in Thy Book?” According to Lachrymatory.com, “Sometimes women were even paid to cry into these vessels, as they walked along the mourning procession. Those crying the loudest and producing the most tears received the most compensation, or so the legend goes. The more anguish and tears produced, the more important and valued the deceased person was perceived to be.” During the 19th century, tear bottles were made with special stoppers that allowed the tears to evaporate. Once the bottle had completely dried up, the mourning period was deemed over. Other bottles from earlier periods remain intact with their centuries-old tears trapped inside.
Tear bottles call to mind Thomas Edison’s last breath, supposedly captured in a test tube and stored at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
** Timeless Traditions is a wholesale supplier of historically-inspired tear bottles.
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