Friday, September 17, 2010

You are cordially invited...



Subject: Lucy Traulsen, age 24, and George D. Waswo, age 31.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Occasion: Wedding Day
Date: August 18, 1915
Photographer: Unknown

The wedding day of Lucy and George! These are the only two pictures I have found to date from their wedding. I really do not know too much about their wedding. I don't remember my grandmother ever sharing stories about that special day.

I do remember stories about my grandparents courtship. My grandfather was a traveling salesman for the Fleishman Yeast Company. George got this job through his Uncle Fredrick Lueth, who at the time lived in Kansas City, MO. Lucy met George when he visited the family bakery in Milwaukee.

I remember my grandmother telling me, she liked George because he had a job, a car and $500 in the bank! I also remember a scrap book filled with postcards that George wrote her during his sales travels. He also brought back souvenirs from his trips. Many of them were silver spoons from the cities and states that he visited. While I have not been able to find the scrap book of postcards, I do have some of the silver spoons he brought back for Lucy. Spoons that she always treasured.

My grandmother moved next door to us in the late 1960's. At that time, she gave the spoons to my mother. My mother purchased a wooden rack, and displayed some of the spoons in this rack. The rack hung in a hallway near the kitchen. My grandmother was very practical, she gave the spoons to my mother so she would not have to keep them polished. Of course, as I got older, it became one of my jobs to polish the spoons. At the time I did not appreciate it, but now I treasure the spoons as my grandmother and mother did.

Please examine the photographs closely. I love the long white gloves Lucy is wearing. Also note the placement of the flower corsage. In the bottom photograph, I see a cross necklace Lucy is wearing. I do not remember this necklace. It may be packed in a box, as some items I hastily packed, or my mother did give some of the family jewelry to her daughter-in-law.

If you look at George, you also see the flower boutonniere. As in previous photographs, please note the watch fob on the left breast pocket. There was a button hole near the boutonniere, at one end of the fob was a button that was attached to his hole, the chain led down to a small pocket in the coat, where the pocket watch was kept. This was the style of the era, as you will also see this on the photograph of Lucy's brother Henning in a post from July 2010.

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