(Continued from page 5)

cence or youth. An inverted torch meant sudden death or the sudden loss of an adult life.
• Symbols often reflected membership in an organization or military service.
• A Sears and Roebuck Catalog from about 1912 offered different tombstones and styles that people could order.
• "So if you see several stones with the same pattern, there is a good chance they were ordered through the local market," Hanson said.
• The meaning of gravestone carvings has changed over the years. Wheat or corn stalks once symbolized ripe old age, but now it can mean the deceased was a farmer, Hanson said.
• "Since 1950, with modern etching, you see about anything as far as tombstone markings -- rodeo scenes, airplanes, farm machinery, or a portrait of a person," Hanson said.
• Motion sensors make it possible for a recording to turn on when people walk by the gravestone and light sensitive lamps turn on when the sun sets.
• "Back 100 years ago you wouldn't think of putting a lamp at a grave, but now, a light at the gravesite is a modern symbol of remembering the spirit of that person," Hanson said.
• This moment in South Dakota history is provided by the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising partner of the South Dakota State Historical Society. Find us on the web at www.sdhsf.org