I remember my great-grandfather (1913-2008) telling me about when his father passed (around 1935-1940) that they brought his body home, and laid him underneath the front living room window. He proceeded to chuckle and say that's why he was scared of dead people, because his fathers body stayed in the house with them for a couple of days.

I'm curious, would anyone know as to why they would bring the body home? Was it just customary thing to do for the time? A cultural thing or just a cost effective method?