Friday, August 24, 2007

A Special Anniversary

Were they still with us, today would be my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.

Reproduced below (in two sections, scanned from a tabloid page) is the nicely-detailed wedding announcement that appeared in the Brookfield News (in Brookfield, Wisconsin) on September 12, 1957, just short of three weeks after the ceremony.

Half a century ago, apparently, the bridegroom was an afterthought in a news story about a wedding, relegated to a short sentence at the end and unworthy of inclusion in the accompanying photograph. Things have changed; now Jay Leno regularly puts articles about weddings in his "Headlines" segments on The Tonight Show, and the bit simply wouldn't work if the bridegroom was not featured on an equal basis with the bride.

Click to embiggen, then read down through both JPEGs, returning to the top again for the full story.



A good number of members of the wedding party listed above were able to attend my sister's wedding three years ago in Las Vegas. That was quite a reunion!

Speaking of my sister, she has the official wedding photos from August 24, 1957, in her possession. But I was able to dig up a few snapshots taken by an unknown photographer.

Fortunately, she (I can tell by the handwriting that the Unknown Photog was female) wrote captions on the back of each photograph, which I transcribe below:


"Joanne with Jug Girouard in background, Camille in foreground - Maria way back, Miriam real close, and Theresa to the side"


"Dick & Joanne immediately after ceremony"


"Dick & Joanne
Have you ever seen Richard so happy?"


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rick, I don't know you (though I see your name on a lot of local blogs), but this post caught my eye. My parents' 50th anniversary just passed (8/17). They're still with us, so to speak, but I'm keenly and painfully aware of the passing years. I think it's lovely that you comemmorate their anniversary in this way.

Unknown said...

Rick, it's been 32 or more years, I believe, since we've spoken. It's Kathy from 70th Street. Cathy & I have kept in contact, sort-of, over the years but more often lately. She sent me the link to your blog about your parents. It was great to see old pix of them. They hold a special place in my heart, as you & Cathy do. Hope all is well. Get my email from Cathy. I'd love to catch up. Take care & keep up the great work. Kathy