Stub (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} just_stub) wrote,@ 2008-06-16 15:12:00 |
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the way they were
This morning I came across my parents' wedding book, and in reading it over again, thought some of you might enjoy it as well. Things were so simple back then! Mom wrote it and I have photographed some of the pictures in it.
The titles are what are printed in the book and what follows is mom's own words.
How We Met:
We were both working for W.J. Lumber; I had just started and Elmer had been there for about 3 years. We very casually became acquainted. Everyone at work sort of pushed us together, and after about 4 months, Elmer finally asked me out. We went to the stock car races. Our first date was August 31, and we went out more or less regularly after that until January 8, 1963 when we became engaged.
Christmas 1962, just dating
I never got a diamond ring, because I had no use for one, and our engagement was never in the newspaper because I didn’t like ostentatiousness. We had been planning a June wedding, but we were building a house and it was not finished by the end of June. We finally couldn’t wait any longer and were married on July 13, 1963.
Showers:
La Don (lastname) gave me my only shower. It was given on July 11, 1963. It was a lovely, balmy night, and a lovely shower with 17 guests present. I received the usual gifts of sheets, pillowcases, towels, dishes, etc. All in all it was the loveliest party I was ever at.
Wedding Gown (etc):
The wedding gown was handmade of white eyelet cotton, princess style with a V-shaped neck.
The bride's corsage was of pink sweetheart roses.
Something old was her grandmother’s engagement ring. A solitaire diamond in a gold setting.
Something new was the wedding gown.
Something borrowed and blue was a blue garter, borrowed from her sister.
The Wedding and Reception:
There were no wedding decorations. There was no music.
The reception was held in (Aunt E’s) basement. There were no decorations. There was no music. The only refreshments were wedding cake, lemon blend, and coffee.
Diary of Our Honeymoon:
We left the reception around 10:30. The first stop was Elmer’s house, where he changed clothes. We washed the shaving cream from the car, took off the toilet paper and old shoes, and went to Judy’s house where she changed clothes. It was then 11:30 but we started for Elmer’s hunting camp where we planned to spend our first night anyway. We reached the hunting camp about 1:30 in the morning, and found to our chagrin that we were without electricity. Elmer looked for a blown fuse but could find nothing. So we undressed by gasoline lantern and turned in about 2:30 am. We awoke about 9:00 the next morning to the sound of rain, so we hurried and dressed and left before we got stuck in the mud. We ate breakfast of hotcakes and sausage at Jerry’s Diner in Marionville. Lunchtime found us near the New York State Line and we decided to get a Tastee Freeze for lunch as we weren’t very hungry. It was still raining. We drove into Niagara Falls about 4:30 Sunday afternoon. It was not raining but it was very humid and overcast. We drove right down to the falls and parked on the U.S. side. We looked around the falls and took pictures until about 6:00, when it started to mist rain. We drove back down Niagara Falls Boulevard and selected our motel for the night. The Sky-Lite Motel. He charged us $9.50 for a single room. We left our suitcases there and went to eat supper. We found a cute little restaurant called the Terrace Restaurant, so we both went in and had spaghetti dinners. We drove back to our motel and went to bed about 11:30 as it was raining and we both were tired. We left Niagara Falls about 9:30 the next morning, not stopping for breakfast as neither of us was hungry. We drove until around 3:30 looking for a good place to eat, and finally stopped at a place called The Buffalo Inn, where they served buffalo burgers for $1.25. We had planned on being home Monday night, but at the last minute, we turned east and twilight found us at Lock Haven. We decided to spend another night on the road, so we stayed in Lock Haven at the Mohawk Motel. We ate supper at a very good restaurant that was part of the motel called the Aztec Room. We had turkey. The next day we visited the Ice Mine, and the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. We started homeward around noon, stopping at a CCC Memorial Park to eat lunch. We finally got home around 6 pm Tuesday night, tired, a day late, but radiantly happy.
Our First Home:
A ranch-type home with 3 bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and bath and a half; we hope to live in it for the rest of our lives. (They did!)
First Callers:
Tom and Marie (lastname) were our first callers. They came on our first “weekiversary.” We sat around and talked and ate potato chips.
We First Entertain:
The first time we entertained was Tuesday Dec. 3, 1963, when I gave a Tupperware party for (list of names). I served cookies and coffee. Elmer wanted no parts of the party.
The First Monthiversary:
Our first “monthiversary,” Bill and Charlene (lastname) invited us to go with them to a small tavern called the Hilltop Inn. They had some excellent hillbilly music and we stayed until the musicians went home (around 1:30 am), when we went to the Sarver VFW where we sat and talked until around 3:30 am.
Our 6 Months Anniversary:
We didn’t celebrate a six-months anniversary because Elmer and I were both working, and it was cold and raining. Indeed we scarcely realized we had been married for six months already. The days really fly. We get along wonderfully, with scarcely an argument. We are planning our first baby in another year if everything goes well.
We have bought a new car, a 1963 Corvair. As soon as it is paid for, Elmer has promised me I can quit work and take up housekeeping.
The First Anniversary:
When we had been married a year (my doesn’t time fly?) we had Tom and Marie over for supper. Marie is expecting a baby next month. We had sauerkraut and wieners. After supper we sat around the living room and sang songs and Elmer played the guitar. About 8 o’clock Daddy and David came and we sang some more and Daddy played the ukulele. We ate pretzels and drank coffee. About 10 o’clock we cut the top layer of our wedding cake and ate it with ice cream Daddy had brought. Maw and Paw (mylastname) and Billy stopped in for a short time.
THE END.
Some notes by me: Dad got mom an engagement ring for Christmas sometime around their tenth Christmas together. He had always wanted to get her one.
Also, Dad told me once, and various aunts and uncles have told me again since his death, that Dad had been praying for God to send him a wife for some time before they met. When he walked into the office that day that my mom started and saw her, he went home and told his family his prayers had been answered and he knew who he was going to marry. At the time of their marriage dad was 34 and mom was 23. (I love that story!)
"Elmer wanted no parts of the party" Cracks me UP! I can just imagine dad at a Tupperware party.
The house was still not finished when they got married and they lived in Aunt E's basement for about a month before they could move into their own home. Mom told me once that people suspected she was pregnant and thought that's why they were in such a big hurry to get married. But she didn't have me until 1965. They were just very much in love and didn't want to wait any longer.
Mom did quit work when she got pregnant with me, and 'kept house' until Rick (5 years younger than me) was old enough to go to school, at which time she went back to work part time in the post office.
And a final note on the dates on the pictures: apparently people didn't take a lot of photographs back then, so it could be many months before the pictures were developed. I think mom was lucky to have any pictures of the wedding at all, besides the professional ones!
This morning I came across my parents' wedding book, and in reading it over again, thought some of you might enjoy it as well. Things were so simple back then! Mom wrote it and I have photographed some of the pictures in it.
The titles are what are printed in the book and what follows is mom's own words.
How We Met:
We were both working for W.J. Lumber; I had just started and Elmer had been there for about 3 years. We very casually became acquainted. Everyone at work sort of pushed us together, and after about 4 months, Elmer finally asked me out. We went to the stock car races. Our first date was August 31, and we went out more or less regularly after that until January 8, 1963 when we became engaged.
Christmas 1962, just dating
I never got a diamond ring, because I had no use for one, and our engagement was never in the newspaper because I didn’t like ostentatiousness. We had been planning a June wedding, but we were building a house and it was not finished by the end of June. We finally couldn’t wait any longer and were married on July 13, 1963.
Showers:
La Don (lastname) gave me my only shower. It was given on July 11, 1963. It was a lovely, balmy night, and a lovely shower with 17 guests present. I received the usual gifts of sheets, pillowcases, towels, dishes, etc. All in all it was the loveliest party I was ever at.
Wedding Gown (etc):
The wedding gown was handmade of white eyelet cotton, princess style with a V-shaped neck.
The bride's corsage was of pink sweetheart roses.
Something old was her grandmother’s engagement ring. A solitaire diamond in a gold setting.
Something new was the wedding gown.
Something borrowed and blue was a blue garter, borrowed from her sister.
The Wedding and Reception:
There were no wedding decorations. There was no music.
The reception was held in (Aunt E’s) basement. There were no decorations. There was no music. The only refreshments were wedding cake, lemon blend, and coffee.
Diary of Our Honeymoon:
We left the reception around 10:30. The first stop was Elmer’s house, where he changed clothes. We washed the shaving cream from the car, took off the toilet paper and old shoes, and went to Judy’s house where she changed clothes. It was then 11:30 but we started for Elmer’s hunting camp where we planned to spend our first night anyway. We reached the hunting camp about 1:30 in the morning, and found to our chagrin that we were without electricity. Elmer looked for a blown fuse but could find nothing. So we undressed by gasoline lantern and turned in about 2:30 am. We awoke about 9:00 the next morning to the sound of rain, so we hurried and dressed and left before we got stuck in the mud. We ate breakfast of hotcakes and sausage at Jerry’s Diner in Marionville. Lunchtime found us near the New York State Line and we decided to get a Tastee Freeze for lunch as we weren’t very hungry. It was still raining. We drove into Niagara Falls about 4:30 Sunday afternoon. It was not raining but it was very humid and overcast. We drove right down to the falls and parked on the U.S. side. We looked around the falls and took pictures until about 6:00, when it started to mist rain. We drove back down Niagara Falls Boulevard and selected our motel for the night. The Sky-Lite Motel. He charged us $9.50 for a single room. We left our suitcases there and went to eat supper. We found a cute little restaurant called the Terrace Restaurant, so we both went in and had spaghetti dinners. We drove back to our motel and went to bed about 11:30 as it was raining and we both were tired. We left Niagara Falls about 9:30 the next morning, not stopping for breakfast as neither of us was hungry. We drove until around 3:30 looking for a good place to eat, and finally stopped at a place called The Buffalo Inn, where they served buffalo burgers for $1.25. We had planned on being home Monday night, but at the last minute, we turned east and twilight found us at Lock Haven. We decided to spend another night on the road, so we stayed in Lock Haven at the Mohawk Motel. We ate supper at a very good restaurant that was part of the motel called the Aztec Room. We had turkey. The next day we visited the Ice Mine, and the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. We started homeward around noon, stopping at a CCC Memorial Park to eat lunch. We finally got home around 6 pm Tuesday night, tired, a day late, but radiantly happy.
Our First Home:
A ranch-type home with 3 bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and bath and a half; we hope to live in it for the rest of our lives. (They did!)
First Callers:
Tom and Marie (lastname) were our first callers. They came on our first “weekiversary.” We sat around and talked and ate potato chips.
We First Entertain:
The first time we entertained was Tuesday Dec. 3, 1963, when I gave a Tupperware party for (list of names). I served cookies and coffee. Elmer wanted no parts of the party.
The First Monthiversary:
Our first “monthiversary,” Bill and Charlene (lastname) invited us to go with them to a small tavern called the Hilltop Inn. They had some excellent hillbilly music and we stayed until the musicians went home (around 1:30 am), when we went to the Sarver VFW where we sat and talked until around 3:30 am.
Our 6 Months Anniversary:
We didn’t celebrate a six-months anniversary because Elmer and I were both working, and it was cold and raining. Indeed we scarcely realized we had been married for six months already. The days really fly. We get along wonderfully, with scarcely an argument. We are planning our first baby in another year if everything goes well.
We have bought a new car, a 1963 Corvair. As soon as it is paid for, Elmer has promised me I can quit work and take up housekeeping.
The First Anniversary:
When we had been married a year (my doesn’t time fly?) we had Tom and Marie over for supper. Marie is expecting a baby next month. We had sauerkraut and wieners. After supper we sat around the living room and sang songs and Elmer played the guitar. About 8 o’clock Daddy and David came and we sang some more and Daddy played the ukulele. We ate pretzels and drank coffee. About 10 o’clock we cut the top layer of our wedding cake and ate it with ice cream Daddy had brought. Maw and Paw (mylastname) and Billy stopped in for a short time.
THE END.
Some notes by me: Dad got mom an engagement ring for Christmas sometime around their tenth Christmas together. He had always wanted to get her one.
Also, Dad told me once, and various aunts and uncles have told me again since his death, that Dad had been praying for God to send him a wife for some time before they met. When he walked into the office that day that my mom started and saw her, he went home and told his family his prayers had been answered and he knew who he was going to marry. At the time of their marriage dad was 34 and mom was 23. (I love that story!)
"Elmer wanted no parts of the party" Cracks me UP! I can just imagine dad at a Tupperware party.
The house was still not finished when they got married and they lived in Aunt E's basement for about a month before they could move into their own home. Mom told me once that people suspected she was pregnant and thought that's why they were in such a big hurry to get married. But she didn't have me until 1965. They were just very much in love and didn't want to wait any longer.
Mom did quit work when she got pregnant with me, and 'kept house' until Rick (5 years younger than me) was old enough to go to school, at which time she went back to work part time in the post office.
And a final note on the dates on the pictures: apparently people didn't take a lot of photographs back then, so it could be many months before the pictures were developed. I think mom was lucky to have any pictures of the wedding at all, besides the professional ones!
