The Imagineers who worked on the Haunted Mansion drew heavily on reference material, combining a surprising number of real Victorian ghostly and sepulchral traditions, flourishes and details, which is all part of what makes the Mansion such a rich, immersive experience.
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Some of my favorite gags are the rhyming tombstones in the small graveyard in the queue area, each of which pays tribute to one of the Imagineers who worked on the Mansion (e.g. "At peaceful rest lies Brother Claude, planted here beneath this sod" for Claude Coats).
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These turn out to be the McGuffin of a late Victorian novel, 1874' s "Out of the Hurly-Burly," by Charles Heber Clark (under the pen-name "Max Adeler"), about an obit writer who publishes doggerel about the deceased.
exclassics.com/hurly/hurly.pdf
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exclassics.com/hurly/hurly.pdf
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Typewriter historian @HarrySKeeler published a fantastic thread that collects many of these, and they are unmissably great. Here are three of my faves:
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https://twitter.com/HarrySKeeler/status/1318591502239424512
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1. The death-angel smote Alexander McGlue,
And gave him protracted repose;
He wore a checked shirt and a Number Nine shoe,
And he had a pink wart on his nose.
And gave him protracted repose;
He wore a checked shirt and a Number Nine shoe,
And he had a pink wart on his nose.
No doubt he is happier dwelling in space
Over there on the evergreen shore.
His friends are informed that his funeral takes place
Precisely at quarter-past four.
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Over there on the evergreen shore.
His friends are informed that his funeral takes place
Precisely at quarter-past four.
https://twitter.com/HarrySKeeler/status/1318591731458138114
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2. Willie had a purple monkey climbing on a yellow stick,
And when he sucked the paint all off it made him deathly sick;
And in his latest hours he clasped that monkey in his hand,
And bade good-bye to earth and went into a better land.
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And when he sucked the paint all off it made him deathly sick;
And in his latest hours he clasped that monkey in his hand,
And bade good-bye to earth and went into a better land.
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Oh! no more he'll shoot his sister with his little wooden gun;
And no more he'll twist the pussy's tail and make her yowl, for fun.
The pussy's tail now stands out straight; the gun is laid aside;
The monkey doesn't jump around since little Willie died.
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And no more he'll twist the pussy's tail and make her yowl, for fun.
The pussy's tail now stands out straight; the gun is laid aside;
The monkey doesn't jump around since little Willie died.
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3. Little Alexander's dead;
Jam him in a coffin;
Don't have as good a chance
For a fun'ral often.
Rush his body right around
To the cemetery;
Drop him in the sepulchre
With his Uncle Jerry."
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Jam him in a coffin;
Don't have as good a chance
For a fun'ral often.
Rush his body right around
To the cemetery;
Drop him in the sepulchre
With his Uncle Jerry."
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I don't know if the Disney Imagineering archive and library had a copy of Out of the Hurly-Burly (it's been years since I had access to it), but these are so reminiscent of the "family plot" tombstones at the Mansion that I have a hard time thinking it's a coincidence.
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